Santa Claus Conquers the Martians (1964)
November 17, 2022 7:45 AM - Subscribe
Martian ruler Kimar (Leonard Hicks) is upset that the children of Mars are lazy and under the influence of too much pop culture from Earth. They are obsessed with the planet's television programs and don't want to do much of anything. In an attempt to get the kids peppy again, Kimar orders the kidnapping of Santa Claus (John Call), hoping that the jolly old toymaker will know how to cheer the children up again. But two Earth children are also nabbed, and this complicates things for Kimar.
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22% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes.
Currently streaming on more services than it makes sense to list. 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.
RiffTrax isn't missing on these...
22% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes.
Currently streaming on more services than it makes sense to list. 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.
The theme song: "Hooray for Santa Claus." You're welcome.
posted by Halloween Jack at 9:36 AM on November 17, 2022 [3 favorites]
posted by Halloween Jack at 9:36 AM on November 17, 2022 [3 favorites]
I haven’t seen this for at least ten years but I immediately got the theme song stuck in my head just upon reading the title.
posted by skycrashesdown at 9:43 AM on November 17, 2022
posted by skycrashesdown at 9:43 AM on November 17, 2022
Also available in Rifftrax (live), MST3K, and Cinematic Titanic versions which make it quite a bit more watchable.
posted by sevenless at 10:21 AM on November 17, 2022
posted by sevenless at 10:21 AM on November 17, 2022
Watched this at some point as a kid, must've been on one of the local unaffiliated stations. I remember it being bad but also enjoying it. This movie is ripe for a remake. Stop remaking good movies, start remaking bad movies like this one.
(Tim Burton could have a lot of fun with this...)
posted by jzb at 10:23 AM on November 17, 2022 [2 favorites]
(Tim Burton could have a lot of fun with this...)
posted by jzb at 10:23 AM on November 17, 2022 [2 favorites]
I remember it being terrible, with the only notable thing about it is that it features a very young Pia Zadora in her first role.
Yup; Pia Zadora would go on to a long career of appearing in terrible movies.
By the way, my kids used to love this movie when they were little.
posted by Gelatin at 1:08 PM on November 17, 2022 [2 favorites]
Yup; Pia Zadora would go on to a long career of appearing in terrible movies.
By the way, my kids used to love this movie when they were little.
posted by Gelatin at 1:08 PM on November 17, 2022 [2 favorites]
My favorite fact about this movie is the names of the characters of the Martian family represent their roles: Kimar is the KIng MARtian, his wife Momar is the MOm MARtian, and their kids are Bomar, the BOy MARtian and Girmar, the GIRl MARtian.
While make no mistake, it's a bad movie, there is definitely a charm to it. Kimar and Voldar turn in entertaining performances. Dropo is kind of hard to watch, though he might actually be the most respected actor in the movie, played by Bill McCutcheon, who played Uncle Wally on Sesame Street and was in Steel Magnolias.
The techno group The Laziest Men on Mars, who made the ancient meme songs All Your Base and The Terrible Secret of Space, did some fun songs based on the movie. I personally like Nothing Can Stop Torg. They used to have a site that distributed them, but as we should know by now, websites are by no means forever. They can still be found scattered around the internet. One place you can find them (for now) is on the Internet Archive.
posted by JHarris at 10:44 AM on November 19, 2022
While make no mistake, it's a bad movie, there is definitely a charm to it. Kimar and Voldar turn in entertaining performances. Dropo is kind of hard to watch, though he might actually be the most respected actor in the movie, played by Bill McCutcheon, who played Uncle Wally on Sesame Street and was in Steel Magnolias.
The techno group The Laziest Men on Mars, who made the ancient meme songs All Your Base and The Terrible Secret of Space, did some fun songs based on the movie. I personally like Nothing Can Stop Torg. They used to have a site that distributed them, but as we should know by now, websites are by no means forever. They can still be found scattered around the internet. One place you can find them (for now) is on the Internet Archive.
posted by JHarris at 10:44 AM on November 19, 2022
There's also the Laziest Men on Mars' SonicHits page.
posted by JHarris at 10:48 AM on November 19, 2022
posted by JHarris at 10:48 AM on November 19, 2022
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posted by bondcliff at 8:19 AM on November 17, 2022 [2 favorites]