Santa Claus vs. The Devil (1959)

November 17, 2022 7:45 AM

Merlin the magician helps Santa (José Elías Moreno) save children tempted by the devil to be naughty.

This one got the RiffTrax treatment.

Directed by René Cardona. (His son, René Cardona, Jr. directed Night of 1000 Cats!)

40% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes.

Currently streaming in the US on Tubi, The Roku Channel, and Fandor. JustWatch listing.

dorothyisunderwood was kind enough to support MeFi with a donation. Their request was for six of the weirdest Christmas films I could find. I'll be posting them under the hashtag #illbeweirdforchristmas.

Donate $20 or more to MeFi and you can MeMail me a request for a themed day of your own. I'll fill up the sidebar on FF with six movies that fit your theme.

posted by DirtyOldTown (4 comments total)

DOT, I'm really enjoying your donation posts; I can tell what theme you're going for by the titles and descriptions you create. It's fun to see them lined up in the feed. I may not watch these films but you are surely doing the work of Jeebus by introducing us all to so much new, and often bizarre, content.
Carry on and thanks again.
posted by winesong at 8:22 AM on November 17, 2022 [2 favorites]

I know that people heavily into weird/cult film likely know most/all of the ones I've posted today, but I was making a conscious effort to share the crème de la bizarre with a broader audience.

Any two of these would make a highly memorable movie night with friends.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 9:03 AM on November 17, 2022

This was actually the first MST3K episode I ever saw.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 12:50 PM on November 17, 2022

One of greatest Santa vs the Devil films ever made. Deserves a 4K remaster.
posted by Ashwagandha at 6:32 PM on November 17, 2022