A Bad Christmas Movie

[saintmort]

did someone say Ernest Saves Christmas

[AndyC]

You know, I'd considered that one year. I just don't remember if I did it or not. I'll have to check, but it might be a possibility. I kind of think it was just too goofy. Bad comedy is exceedingly hard to make fun of.



Post Edited (12-13-04 19:25)

[JohnL]

How about The Night They Saved Christmas a 1984 TV movie starring Jaclyn Smith and Art Carney?

An oil company's blasting endangers Santa's city at the north pole. Jaclyn Smith and her kids find out about this and have to find a way to stop the oil company before they destroy Christmas. If I remember correctly, it features a rocket-powered sleigh. IMDB says it's available on tape from Amazon.

[Wence]

Two weeks ago I saw Troll 3 and was surprised - it came up to expectations!
This fantasy-movie is a firework display of bad taste and the mythical plot fits with christmas.

[The Burgomaster]

Here is the definitive answer:

THE CHRISTMAS THAT ALMOST WASN'T

When I was a kid, it used to come around to the movie theaters every year.  They ran a saturation advertising campaign to convince all the gullible little kids to go see it.

It stars Rosanno Brazzi (from SOUTH PACIFIC . . . and later . . . FRANKENSTEIN'S CASTLE OF FREAKS . . . so, you can see what happened to his career . . . )

It has cheap-looking sets and miniatures (the town looks REALLY fake).  Santa only has about 3 or 4 elves.  And, to top it all off . . . it's DUBBED.  When it was released on DVD a year or two ago, I bought a copy . . . and I was not disappointed.  It' bad, but it's also a lot of fun to watch.  See if you can find a copy!



Post Edited (12-15-04 05:43)

[AndyC]

It's on DVD? Have you seen it in any particular store chain lately?

I'd dread going into Best Buy or Wal Mart this weekend, but a good, bad Christmas movie might be worth slipping in early Monday morning.

[AndyC]

Wow. Just read the IMDB listing. Jaclyn Smith, Art Carney, June Lockhart and Paul Williams? A really idiotic plot with mom and kids defending Christmas magic from eeeevil corporate types? I love it. Of course, if I have to order it, I'll never get it in time. A good one for next year.

Funny that most of the comments on IMDB are from semi-literate people who think it's the best Christmas movie ever.

[The Burgomaster]

And here is the IMDB's plot Summary for "The Christmas That Almost Wasn't (1966)"

"Sam Whipple, an attorney in once-upon-a-time-land, is startled to receive a visit from Santa Claus shortly before Christmas. It seems that when he was a child, Sam wrote a letter thanking Santa for the presents he'd received, and offering to return the favor someday. That day is now - a mean old soul named Phineas Prune, who holds the deed to the North Pole, is demanding back rent. Otherwise, he's going to evict Santa, Mrs. Claus and the elves and take all the Christmas toys. It's up to Sam and Santa to find a way to pay off Prune and prevent Christmas from being canceled."



Post Edited (12-15-04 17:01)

[AndyC]

Haven't had any luck in tracking down some of the titles suggested, at least not in time for this Christmas. Called around, and found Rudolph and Frosty's Christmas in July at a local video store. I don't think I've seen this since it came out, so I barely remember it, but it looks suitably bizarre. Anybody know if this would be a good candidate?

[JohnL]

I'd like to change my recommendation for goofy Christmas movies. The other day I was flipping channels and ran across something so mind-boggling goofy (to me anyway), that it makes the Jaklyn Smith/Art Carney film look like a masterpiece in comparison. I didn't watch all of it, but what I saw had Kathy Ireland playing Santa Claus's daughter, Kristin Klaus, hopping in a sleigh pulled by 2-4 reindeer, including Rudolph sporting a big, red clown nose, and going for a ride through the air, where she's spotted by another woman who is driving/flying a rocket-powered car! It didn't even take place at the North Pole, but rather in a typical suburban neighborhood.

Apparently there are two movies in this series, Once Upon a Christmas and the creatively titled Twice Upon a Christmas.

I don't believe either is available on tape (the IMDB page for Twice Upon a Christmas gives a link to a Warner Brothers animated film), but if you have access to the Hallmark channel, both are going to be on twice more, so you could always tape them for next year;

- Once Upon a Christmas - The daughter of Santa Claus must prove the spirit of Christmas.
Hallmark Channel, Saturday, December 25 11:00 AM  
- Twice Upon a Christmas - When a widower proposes to Santa's daughter, his children try to discover the truth about her past.
Hallmark Channel, Saturday, December 25 1:00 PM  

- Once Upon a Christmas - The daughter of Santa Claus must prove the spirit of Christmas.
Hallmark Channel, Saturday, December 25 11:00 PM  
- Twice Upon a Christmas - When a widower proposes to Santa's daughter, his children try to discover the truth about her past.
Hallmark Channel, Sunday, December 26 1:00 AM

[AndyC]

That does sound bizarre.

I've settled on Christmas in July, though, mainly out of convenience. I watched it Monday, and it will do fine. As soon as I saw the opening, in which Rudolph and Frosty approach each other and shake hands (as if to say 'we meet at last'), I knew what I was getting. Utterly cheesy, with the cast of an Irwin Allen movie, plot holes you could drive a sleigh through, and a story that reminds us that Rankin and Bass were working on their Tolkien cartoons around the same time. We laughed ourselves silly.