Hisanel Cuellar I spent entire days watching this movie around Christmas time as a little boy here in Miami. (The original Mexican version.) I loved it. My little sister and I couldn't get enough of it. We watched it so much that our parents based the Santa Claus stories they would tell us on it. Watching it now as an adult I can see the faults of the movie and why people think it's so bad but I can't bring myself to hate it. I am a very hard critic of movies but I still love this movie. The nostalgia it brings me is unparalleled and I wish that I could go back to the times where I would go to bed late because I was watching the movie and woke up early to watch it again. Great film, definitely not for everyone. You will hate it if you don't have an emotional connection to it.

Anders Twetman I want to say, right from the start, that this film is boring, the pacing is unbelievably slow, every single scene takes a really long time. The film is also pretty poorly made, with bad set design, and poor acting but those are minor details compared to the all pervading slow pacing. You cannot fathom how boring a film could be until you have seen this, trust me, watching paint dry is more exciting.The lack of action aside, I consider it a pretty good film, not as the children's movie it is supposed to be, because this is not for children. What I like about it is how messed up this stuff is; let me give you a few examples.The film starts with an introduction of Santa's workshop which is not run by elves, but by children, Santa seems to think child labor is a good thing. To make it even more offensive, the children are all a bunch of racial stereotypes. Further more, Santa spies on all the children of the world with his high tech surveillance equipment built by the clearly deranged wizard Merlin. After watching a few of the children's rather creepy dreams, Santa goes down to earth to deliver presents but ends up fighting Satan instead. I tell you, this stuff is bizarre, I just wonder how they were able to make it so boring.

TheLittleSongbird Santa Claus is not as bad a film as its reputation suggests, in fact I quite enjoyed it despite the obvious flaws. Is it a good movie? Not really. Is it entertaining? I think so. And I think it is better than Santa Claus Conquers the Martians which was hysterically bad but somewhat a must-see just to revel in its awfulness.To say that Santa Claus is strange is an understatement. The story is pretty much a shambles, with incoherent and disconnected scenes, and the writing is awful but makes me laugh, one of the few times when writing as bad as it is brings a smile to my face. The Devil himself looks very, very fake, while they do bastardise Santa Claus a bit. There are also some very night-marish images, as a child I got night-mares from the reindeer alone, as an adult I am not so scared any more but I do get the shivers even looking at them.That said, it is better paced than Santa Claus Conquers the Martians, it has better effects I think(they're not great but they aren't appalling either) and sets and colours wise it is quite lavish. The film is a good length, it starts off quite well with some interesting songs, the climax is thrilling and while they are not great by any stretch of the imagination the actors look as though they are having a ball.All in all, this is a very creepy and strange movie, but I was entertained. 5/10 Bethany Cox

johnstonjames Feliz Navidad. i mean that from the bottom of my heart. i'm sorry that most reviewers here showed their other bottom to this interestingly quaint film. to all of the gringo schmucks in this country that trash anything that seems too different or foreign...Hello! this film is a foreign film from another culture. of course it seems foreign and strange to Americans. but be honest. no stranger or more convoluted or complicated than half the nonsense we watch here. is this movie really any weirder than 'Avatar' or 'The Matrix' or any of the endless parade of weirdness on the sci fi channel or in all these idiotic reality shows? probably not.i like this Christmas movie. i think it's kind of imaginative and really very lavishly produced. and yes. i think it's still pretty strange even though i have tried to come to terms with it and understand it. look. i first saw this on MST 3000 and thought it was one of the strangest films i'd ever seen. considering all the really strange entertainment i have exposed myself to most of my life, that really said something. i was immediately taken with the film and made an effort to find out more about it and acquire it on DVD. whatever you may think of the quality of this production, most people who reviewed it seemed to think it stood out good or bad. some people even claim it's the worst ever. if it's the worst EVER, that's quite an achievement.it's hardly the worst ever. but is it genuinely a good film? this is kind of scary, but i'm not sure. i believe in reserving too much judgment, so i'm not sure if my brains have become wack from too much tolerance. when i was younger i used to sit back and cackle and trash every bad movie i saw. now that i'm much older i think the subject of bad movies and entertainment is more complicated. i try to understand the films and the filmmakers more, rather then just sharpening my knives and attacking them. there is so much misunderstanding in the world and people should also realize that every judgment they make comes with a lot of baggage of preconceived notions. i really shouldn't have to tell any of you that.this film is not without quality. the production looks like it had more money sunk (did i say sunk? doesn't sound good) into it than a lot of so-called bad movies. it features a fairly authentic Santa Claus and some striking enough surrealism. the Little red haired kid with the bouffant hair style looks like a kid designed by Henry Selick.speaking of Selick. this whole movie sort of out bones Selick's 'Monkeybone'. it's very surreal but i don't think it really understands how over the top it's being with the whole "pitch" thing, the laughing reindeer, and Lupita's dream sequence with some scary life-sized rag dolls.i do have to also add how hilarious the American stereo type was. American whites have so classically stereo typed so many cultures and ethnicities that they deserve the weird stereo type this film has of America. when all the little children of the world sing in an international sequence, they show all the children of the world in there cultural attire. when it comes to the United States, they show children dressed in cowboy outfits strumming a guitar and singing "mary had a little lamb". well. how insulting. not all Americans are frick'in cowboys and not all Anglos sing the Anglo/English song "mary had a little lamb. but we deserve that weird condescension.all in all i think this movie is one strange hoot. but i love it. just like the American Christmas classics 'Frosty' or 'Rudolph', i welcome this off the wall classic from Estudios Churubusco in Mexico. it now seems like the holidays wouldn't be the same without it. "FELIZ NAVIDAD" to everyone around the world. and especially from all us Cow boys and girls here in the States i sing, "mary had a little lamb all ya dawgies. yee haw".