--- title: "Santa Claus Conquers the Martians" year: 1964 kind: "film" canonical: "https://film.one/film/santa-claus-conquers-the-martians" fi1m_score: 40 critics_score: 38 critics_reviews: 5 published: "2026-09-16T14:21:37.763554+00:00" updated: "2026-09-16T14:21:48.744408+00:00" region: "US" licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL." --- # Santa Claus Conquers the Martians (1964) Directed by Nicholas Webster · 1h 21m · MPA NR · Comedy, Fantasy, Science Fiction **Fi1m score: 40** · Critics 38 (early) from 5 reviews *In a sentence:* Kidnapping Santa turns out to involve rather more waiting around than we had hoped > John Call brings some warmth to this awkward Christmas abduction. The colourful sets help, but Nicholas Webster cannot make the jokes move, and 81 minutes is a long time to spend forgiving a children’s comedy. ## Synopsis On Mars, the children need cheering up, and the adults decide to import Christmas. Their plan is to kidnap Santa Claus (John Call) and bring him to their planet, treating the holiday as something they can acquire by taking the man who delivers it. Kimar (Leonard Hicks), Voldar (Vincent Beck) and Dropo (Bill McCutcheon) are part of the adventure; Girmar (Pia Zadora) is among the Martian children. Santa’s Christmas duties now involve another planet, whose inhabitants want his help but have chosen to take him captive. ## Review Nicholas Webster’s *Santa Claus Conquers the Martians* has an agreeable premise and makes a poor comedy of it. The adults on Mars want their children to be happy, and kidnapping Santa seems to them a practical way of arranging it. The film is plainly aimed at small children, and its directness is not itself a fault. The problem is that Glenville Mareth’s screenplay expects this initial absurdity to supply far too much of the amusement across its 81 minutes. John Call gives the film its most persuasive reason to exist. His Santa has an easy warmth, and his willingness to extend it to his Martian captors makes the situation briefly feel worth pursuing. We were touched by that generosity: he treats these strange hosts as people who might benefit from a little kindness. The performance offers a useful centre for a children’s fantasy, though the film keeps requiring his good humour to do the work of a joke. The surrounding performances are harder going, with Leonard Hicks as Kimar and Vincent Beck as Voldar caught in the film’s stiff delivery. Glenville Mareth gives the cast a situation that sounds funnier than it plays, and Nicholas Webster does little to loosen it. The children are easier company, including Pia Zadora as Girmar. Their straightforward presence helps, especially when the adults are labouring to make the nonsense amusing. The colourful sets are among the few pleasures that need no special allowance. David L. Quaid’s cinematography lets that colour register, though it cannot make the surroundings feel much less makeshift. Ramsey Mostoller’s costumes add to the cheerful artificiality rather than disguising it. We have no quarrel with visibly modest scenery in a children’s fantasy, where pretending is part of the pleasure. Here, however, Nicholas Webster’s staging is too stiff to turn those surroundings into much of a game. William Henry’s editing does not find a sufficiently brisk rhythm to help the comedy along. An abduction supplies an obvious opportunity for urgency, even in something this harmless, but the pacing makes the business of taking Santa to Mars feel unnecessarily laborious. Milton Delugg’s music contributes some cheer, and the theme song has a useful lack of embarrassment. The scenes themselves need more of that spirit, and rather less time to get through their business. Adults arriving for an evening of accidental comedy may have a different disappointment. The film’s cult following is understandable, because the premise is odd enough to describe with pleasure, but sustained hilarity is scarce. We were bored by the stiff exchanges around Santa, which kept promising something livelier than the comedy on screen. A children’s science-fiction fantasy can get a long way with simple pleasures, but it needs to keep finding them beyond the novelty of its visitors and their surroundings. The intended audience deserves a quicker, funnier film, however forgiving it may be about the scenery. We would not choose this for a family Christmas viewing, and an appetite for bad-film comedy is no guarantee of enjoying it either. Approach it only if the Santa-on-Mars premise is itself enough of an attraction. *Fi1m score 40, published 16 September 2026.* ### Reviews we read (5) - **The New York Times**, Howard Thompson (50/100, inferred): The critic describes the film as a Christmasy little movie with science-fiction trimmings aimed straight at the very small fry. It singles out the appealing child performers and the economical production for note. [Read](https://www.nytimes.com/1964/12/17/archives/santa-vs-martians.html) - **Radio Times**, Robert Sellers (30/100, inferred): The critic calls the film one of cinema's great howlers, with a ridiculous plot involving Martians kidnapping Santa to cheer up their planet's youth, plus a theme song. Direction is schmaltzy, production values and acting amateurish, though it has gained cult status among bad-movie fans. [Read](https://www.radiotimes.com/movie-guide/b-wfy5h5/santa-claus-conquers-the-martians/) - **Los Angeles Times** (10/100, inferred): The critic describes the film as one of the worst movies ever made, akin to Ed Wood productions, but notes it has become a cult favorite. It highlights the plot of Martians kidnapping Santa Claus and mentions a digitally restored screening as part of a holiday film festival. [Read](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/la-xpm-2011-dec-05-la-et-sider-20111205-story.html) - **/Film**, Quinn Bilodeau (75/100, inferred): The critic finds the low-budget 1964 sci-fi holiday film more charming than its reputation as one of the worst movies suggests, highlighting its corny kitsch, colorful sets, and especially John Call's warm, delightful performance as Santa Claus who embraces his Martian captors. [Read](https://www.slashfilm.com/2050706/santa-claus-conquers-the-martians-best-bad-holiday-movie-streaming-tubi/) - **Eye for Film**, Jennie Kermode (35/100, inferred): The critic finds the film a poorly made mix of genres with dreadful acting and low-budget flaws that fails to achieve hilarity but remains compelling in its oddity. She notes its cult status due to being one of the strangest Christmas films and the debut of Pia Zadora as a Martian child. [Read](https://www.eyeforfilm.co.uk/review/santa-claus-conquers-the-martians-1964-film-review-by-jennie-kermode) ## Details - **Director:** Nicholas Webster - **Director:** Nicholas Webster - **Screenplay:** Glenville Mareth - **Cinematography:** David L. Quaid - **Editor:** William Henry - **Music:** Milton Delugg - **Costume design:** Ramsey Mostoller - **Producer:** Paul L. Jacobson - **Cast:** John Call as Santa Claus; Leonard Hicks as Kimar; Vincent Beck as Voldar; Bill McCutcheon as Dropo; Victor Stiles as Billy Foster; Donna Conforti as Betty Foster; Chris Month as Bomar; Pia Zadora as Girmar - **Runtime:** 1h 21m - **Certificate (MPA):** NR - **Release (the US):** 14 November 1964 - **Genres:** Comedy, Fantasy, Science Fiction - **Budget:** $200,000 - **Trailer:** https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X06DV3Hx_Q4 ## Where to watch in the US - Amazon Prime Video: free - Tubi: free, hd - Amazon Prime Video: add-on - The Roku Channel: add-on, hd - Amazon Prime Video: rent $1.99, sd - Amazon Prime Video: buy $7.99, sd *Checked 2026-09-16.* Also available in: AU, CA, EC, FR, GB, IE, MX, NZ, PA, US. Add `?region=XX` to this URL for another country. ## If you liked this - *The 5,000 Fingers of Dr. T.* (1953): Another peculiar children’s fantasy, with rather more invention in its strangeness. - *Santa Claus* (1959): More Christmas oddity, this time with a willingness to become properly strange. - *The Snowman* (1982): For the childlike Christmas wonder this Martian expedition struggles to provide. - *A Town Called Panic* (2009): Homemade-looking chaos with the pace and comic invention missing on Mars. - *The Day the Earth Stood Still* (1951): A more serious alien visitor, and rather better reasons to listen. --- © Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/film/santa-claus-conquers-the-martians