A loose remake of the film, titled silent night, was released on december 4, 2012, starring jaime king and malcolm mcdowell. Directed by rene cardona, a guy from mexico city who also did some wrestling movies, santa claus 1959 concerns a slavedriving santa jose elias moreno who lives up in the sky and has a whole sweatshop army of little kids doing his work for him. Why silent night, deadly night was so controversial. Actually there have been two controversies about silent night deadly night. Explain to the students that the youtube video is poor quality because it is old. Because martian children only get to see santa claus on tv signals beamed from earth, their parents decide to abduct santa to make them happy. I enjoy this movie for what it is, an 80s campy slasher flick. But when it was released it caused a massive controversy. The good thing about the movie is the special effects. Dec 23, 2019 rare exports begins on a mountain in lapland, where an eccentric millionaire has funded an archaeological expedition to uncover the tomb of santa claus. The legend of santa claus is put in jeopardy when an unscrupulous toy manufacturer attempts to take over christmas. However, bad press is good press, and curious onlookers wanted to take a. Top 5 christmas movies for the horror movie fan the. The santa clause is a 1994 american christmas fantasy family comedydrama film written by leo benvenuti and steve rudnick, and directed by john pasquin.
It seems strange at first that the producers of the superman movies would move on to an epic about santa claus. The lively series focuses on the give and take interaction and opinions of its knowledgeable and often contentious cohosts, gene siskel, film critic of the chicago tribune and roger ebert, film critic of the chicago suntimes. A winner in the best family film category at the 1959 san francisco film festival, this fantasy story from mexico about a goodhearted saint nick is geared primarily to the younger set. Although the abrupt shift in tone from the first half of the movie to the second is jarring, of greater concern is the constant. Gordon murray import santa claus, 1959, directed by rene cardona view the tcmdb entry for santa claus 1959.
November 9, 1984, december 23, 1984 rerelease director. Ebert mentions that siskel liked the film future war 1997 video. The santa clause so named after the clause on santa s calling card that requires scott to take over the job is often a clever and amusing movie, and theres a lot. Rare exports was the best christmas horror movie of the. The whole concept of a cynical santa claus, done later to much better effect in bad santa, was a good one, but they obviously couldnt run with it seeing that this was a disney movie after all. The santa clause is utterly undemanding, but its firmly rooted in the sort of good oldfashioned holiday spirit missing from too many modern yuletide films. Gene siskel seemed much more stuckup and snooty than ebert, which usually meant he would nitpick a movie and measure its pros and cons. Elves, santa claus, and christmas vacation 2 20 tv episode. It is the last major fantasy film produced by the parisbased fatherandson production team of alexander and ilya salkind.
Parents groups complained that the tv ads, posters, and trailers for the film were actually making their kids afraid of santa claus. The santa clause 1994 rotten tomatoes movie trailers. The worst christmas movies of all time business insider. Santa claus conquers the martians 1964 the scifi movie santa claus conquers the martians was the creation of nicholas webster. Silent night, deadly night is a 1984 american slasher film directed by charles e. Fever pitch, one magic christmas, santa claus the movie, starchaser. Roger ebert s choice for worst movie of the year, a movie gene siskel.
The story concerns a young man named billy, who suffers from posttraumatic stress over witnessing his parents murder on christmas eve and his subsequent upbringing in an abusive. With johnny carson, ed mcmahon, doc severinsen, chevy chase. The film was criticized for its oddity and poor special effects. Right now im leaning toward home alone, but theres also the 1951 version of a christmas carol with alaister sim to be considered among a few others one dark horse candidate though is bad santa, im not quite sure where that fits in with the christmas movie pantheon but i do know that i absolutely love that movie. Btw rudolph, charlie brown, and mickeys christams carol dont count. The santa clause so named after the clause on santas calling card that requires scott to take over the job is often a clever and amusing movie, and theres a lot.
The film garnered no critical praise but became famous because of the backlash. Silent night, deadly night outgrossed wes cravens landmark slasher a nightmare on elm street, which opened the same day. The movie needs a superscrooge, and all it gets is the kind of bad guy ralph nader might have invented. Released 1985, santa claus stars dudley moore, david huddleston, john lithgow, burgess meredith the pg movie has a runtime of about 1 hr 47 min, and received a score of out of 100 on. Genes idea about kidnapping santa is sort of the plot for the nightmare before christmas in 1993.
With dudley moore, john lithgow, david huddleston, burgess meredith. Why silent night, deadly night was so controversial screen rant. Aide pedro cesareo quezadas offers the hero jose elias moreno a new toy, leading to a wild narrative turn and the introduction of villain pitch jose luis aguirre, in the k. The movie is a 1985 britishamerican christmas film starring dudley. Gene siskel and roger ebert at the movies 1986 discuss the movies in theaters for christmas. Enter an extraordinary world, where every day is halloween. From the imagination of tim burton comes the nightmare before christmas. Despite a financial success the first week, protests and the castigation of siskel and ebert led tristar to abandon sndn before west coast distribution.
The first part of the story concerns santas origins, showing how he went from being a normal man to the icon of christmas he is today and how his legend. December 4, 2018 january 5, 2019 firstmagnitude 1824 views 8 comments 1985, fever pitch, one magic christmas, santa claus the movie, starchaser. While boasting a controversial release, the film was popular enough to spawn 4 sequels including silent. There is also an intriguing theory, handled in a throwaway line of dialogue, to explain how santa is able to visit everybodys house on christmas eve. Guess he never saw the 1970 rankin bass production santa claus is comin to town, which has the origins of santa with him as a baby and as a young, thin man. According to both critics and audiences around the movies 1985 release, a lot. Preassessment of the film, the late gene siskel recounts the backlash the 1984 slasher tale encountered for depicting santa claus with an axe in the tv spots. As the movie opens, scott calvin tim allen, of tvs home improvement is a man who does not believe in santa claus. Most of the movie is actually composed of clips from the first silent night, deadly night so much so that the cast and crew of both movies are listed in the credits as ricky freeman, the little brother of original santa claus killer billy caldwell, recalls events from the first moviethat there is no way he could possibly remember. The first film in the santa clause film series, it stars tim allen as scott calvin, an ordinary man who accidentally causes santa claus played by tim allens actual movie stunt double, steve lucescu to fall from his roof on christmas eve. Its christmas in the shopping mall, but theres more to santa than meets the eye in this underrated little. The film was directed by jeannot szwarc and released in north america on november 27, 1985, by tristar pictures. Task the students with guessing the title of the tv hosts. Dec 23, 2010 silent night, deadly night 1984 studio.
The church lady dana carvey talks to danny devito about his socalled new family friendly movie, throw momma from the train, then invites him to sing here comes santa claus while she performs a drum solo. Sadly, these protests against silent night, deadly night, combined with a public shaming of the filmmakers by iconic film critics gene siskel and. The movie is a 1985 holiday film that is both about the origin of santa claus and the story of an evil toymaker played by john lithgow who seeks to take over christmas with the help of a prodigal elf played by dudley moore. Fever pitch, one magic christmas, santa claus the movie. The nightmare before christmas vhs trailer trailer. They said it was crude and mean spirited and that the profits made from the movie were blood money.
But arent holiday movies supposed to be tacky and elaborate. However, the pta was offended by the films violence and demanded the films removal. Dec 09, 2019 i enjoy this movie for what it is, an 80s campy slasher flick. Dec 04, 2018 guess he never saw the 1970 rankin bass production santa claus is comin to town, which has the origins of santa with him as a baby and as a young, thin man. The santa clause provides at least one valuable service. The movie is not only my absolute favourite christmas movie, it is one of my favourite movies full stop. Jan 06, 2012 john lithgow and dudley moore in santa claus. Even before the film was released a couple of weeks ago, its tv ad campaign caused a furor with its brief depiction of an x caring santa claus. Santa claus 1985 stream and watch online moviefone. But its the drawing style that really distinguishes batman. The biggest crisis is when a couple of reindeer come down with runny noses.
They read the names of the films production crew on air, shaming them and again encouraging viewers to send hate mail. Siskel and ebert hated the film so much they went through its entire credit list, saying shame after reading each name. Michael takes santas list and reads it in front of television news cameras gathered outside the park, proving that santa claus is real. It explains exactly how santa is able to get down chimneys that are too small for him, and how he is able to enter apartments through hot water radiators and heating vents. With tim allen, martin short, elizabeth mitchell, eric lloyd. And one of its punniestrejected titles for this inventory include merry christmassacre, i saw santa claus killing mommy, stocking snuffers, slashing through the snow, and a christmas peril. However, not siskel, who waits patiently until ebert finishes to deliver a perfectly contemptuous wow, wheres your big red suit and beard, santa. The movie is a 1985 britishamerican christmas film starring dudley moore, john lithgow, and david huddleston in the title role. Top 5 christmas movies for the horror movie fan the retro.
The movie was released, but i dont know that i would have liked santa claus. Roger eberts choice for worst movie of the year, a movie gene siskel recommended. However, the tv hosts are very professional, so we want to copy their style. One dark horse candidate though is bad santa, im not quite sure where that fits in with the christmas movie pantheon but i do know that i absolutely love that movie. Parents were upset with the ads which featured a murderous santa claus. Join us for the gene siskel film center movie club, which will include a postscreening conversation and a complimentary beverage. Subject this week the controversial santa claus killer movie silent night deadly night. Terrible films with the shortest theatrical run screenrant. Theyre christmas specials, not feature length movies. I was eager to read the novellisation and it lived up to my expectations. And while roger ebert was right when he said the movies plot was a little thin, arent most santarelated movies based on a bunch of dumb.
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