Holiday Frivolity
An Alamo holiday tradition: Santa vs. Satan is coming to town courtesy ofFoleyvision
Santa and Satan.
They both wear red and black. Their names are only two letters apart. And you never see them in the same place at the same time.
Except in a bizzaro 1959 gem of a foreign film created by Mexican director Rene Cardona simply called Santa Claus. Cardona, who normally made lucha libre (Mexican wrestling) themed films, demonstrates in this odd creation that he was slightly familiar with American Christmas tales about Santa Claus.
In Cardona's unintentionally amazing holiday movie, Santa lives in space, is buddies with Merlin the Wizard, controls a team of terrifying robot reindeer... and is maybe an alien? Throw in a mischevious Satan in balloon shorts trying to steal all the Christmas joy from the world and you've got a trippy new spin on about nine classic tales.
If that's not enough to convince you this is the most awesome movie option available this holiday season, Sunday's screenings will be presented in Foleyvision. That means all of the sound from the film will be dubbed over with sound effects and voice overs by many of the same brilliant minds that brought you the live-action comic book/radio show, The Intergalactic Nemesis.
Specifically, Nemesis co-writer Chad Nichols will provide the dialogue, amazingly inventive Nemesis sound effects guy Buzz Moran will provide the foley art, and Nemesis musician Peter Stopschinski will provide the musical accompaniment and scoring. The overall effect is an old-timey picture show where the humor is fueled by the ridiculous images playing out on screen.
For fans of the Alamo's Master Pancake Theater, Foleyvision is an even more layered version of comedic film commentary. For lovers of strange and unbelievable cinema, Satan vs. Santa will be a necessary check off the always expanding must-see list.
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Tickets are still available at the Drafthouse website for Sunday's screenings of Satan vs. Santa. For trusting parents, the 7:25 showing will be "kid-friendly" and the 9:50 showing will be "swear-friendly," according to Moran.