Santa Claus Conquers the Martians (SCCTM) is a notoriously bad movie. The first time I watched it was a Rifftrax Live event where a trio of comedians mocked the film in front of an audience. The event was hilarious. In the recent joint release between AGFA and Something Weird, the movie stands alone, and it is up to the audience to decide whether they are bored by a bad movie or laughing at the failed attempt to make a holiday classic (including a ray gun with literally no visual effect and the worst looking polar bear I’ve ever seen on film). There are some trailers at the beginning of the film and an added intermission that makes it feel more like other AGFA releases. For those that have not seen it, SCCTM revolves around a Martian leader kidnapping Santa Claus in an effort to change the future generations of Martian culture. There is, of course, one Martian that feels like this is a corruption of Martian culture and wants to sabotage the mission, and once Santa is captured, tries to kill St. Nick. Santa doesn’t conquer anyone as much as wins them over with his sincerity and good nature. So, for anyone expecting Santa go into battle, you will be disappointed.

There is a load of special features on this disc. AGFA provides another one of their “roadshow” clip shows coming in at around 60 minutes. A lot of the roadshow includes messages from local theaters appreciating their customers and wishing them a merry Christmas. The other most common clip was public service announcements from celebrities about the dangers of Tuberculosis (including Gene Hackman and Elizabeth Montgomery). There are also many included Christmas themed shorts, most involving stop-motion animation and each one between 5 and 10 minutes. Some of the character designs are truly terrifying (thinking specifically about “Santa in Animal Land”). Many of these shorts were also included in Rifftrax shows as appetizers to the main feature and I realized that I had already watched many of them. One of the most surprising shorts was a 30-minute Liberace Christmas special in which the viewer is treated to many Christmas standards performed by a masterful pianist. Honestly, that was probably the most talent displayed on the entire disc.

The feature is from Something Weird’s 16mm print and the rest of the shorts come from Something Weird’s S-VHS masters. The picture quality ranges quite a bit depending on the short and given so many original sources, it is not surprising. The cover is appropriately kitschy and inside the case is a postcard and an insert with writing from Lisa Petrucci from Something Weird. While the movie isn’t great, the sheer amount of interesting material (282 minutes) on the disc provides a lot of entertainment. I have to give this one a recommend for anyone who is a fan of the combination of Christmas and kitsch.