Santa Claus (1959)

42% of users liked it
(2,223 ratings)

Yet another oddball Mexican fantasy brought to American audiences by cut-rate exploitation titan K. Gordon Murray, this seasonal tale concerns Santa Claus (Jose Elias Moreno), who we discover doesn't work out of the North Pole after all. Instead, Santa and his friend and associate Merlin the… More Yet another oddball Mexican fantasy brought to American audiences by cut-rate exploitation titan K. Gordon Murray, this seasonal tale concerns Santa Claus (Jose Elias Moreno), who we discover doesn't work out of the North Pole after all. Instead, Santa and his friend and associate Merlin the Magician have a base of operations in a castle orbiting the Earth on a small satellite, upon which they observe the activities of children both good and bad through an elaborate surveillance system. While kids all over the globe (most of whom apparently wear stereotypical native costumes at all times) are trying to be good, the Devil wants to increase youthful misbehavior. With this in mind, he sends his emissary Pitch (Cesareo Quezadas, aka Pulgarcito), a demon with a digestive problem, to Earth and Pitch starts his reign of terror by attempting to goad a little girl from a poor family into stealing the doll that she wants. Eventually, Santa and Merlin catch up with Pitch for a final battle of Good vs. Evil. Santa Claus also offers new insight into St. Nick's weight, eating habits, and mode of transportation; the film played the kiddie matinee circuit for years, and later was analyzed by Mike Nelson and his robot pals on Mystery Science Theater 3000. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Rating, Runtime: Unrated, 1 hr. 34 min.
Directed By: René Cardona
Genres: Kids & Family, Art House & International, Comedy

In Theaters: Nov 26, 1959 Wide
On DVD: Oct 5, 2004

Critic Reviews

John J. Puccio, Movie Metropolis
The fact that VCI have reproduced it in a widescreen, high-definition Blu-ray transfer only makes it seem all the more bizarre. (Blu-ray edition)
John J. Puccio, Movie Metropolis
I couldn't help feeling as I watched it that it must have a strong cult following somewhere simply because it's so...strange.
Phil Hall, Film Threat
Ho Ho Horrible!

Critic ratings and reviews powered by RottenTomatoes.com

Fresh (60% or more critics rated the movie positively)

Rotten (59% or fewer critics rated the movie positively)

Featured Audience Ratings

AJ V

This movie is incredibly bad, I really do not recommend watching this one. The story is silly, I mean Santa lives in space and the devil is trying to stop him from bringing toys to kids by making them behave bad? That's crazy.
Lafe F

On the surface, a cute kids' Christmas film from Mexico. But this has many religious overtones. The Devil whispers in childrens' ears to do bad things; Santa is watching through a telescope from his cloud-castle in the sky and makes note of which kids are good or bad. This… More
On the surface, a cute kids' Christmas film from Mexico. But this has many religious overtones. The Devil whispers in childrens' ears to do bad things; Santa is watching through a telescope from his cloud-castle in the sky and makes note of which kids are good or bad. This is portrayed in an authoritative manner, as if the gospel truth; it ends up feeling creepy and exploitative. The production values are cut-rate, adding to the cheese-factor. It's truly laughable and fits into the so-bad-it-becomes-good-category.
Sarah P

This was really weird with having the devil in a movie about Santa Claus and also that Santa doesn't live at the North Pole, but a weird cloud floating in space...
Marion R

Santa Claus, The Devil and Merlin. If that doesn't sound like a recipe for a bad film! Okay, it is pretty bad, but such fun when mocking it.