Santa Claus Conquers the Martians

(aka SANTA CLAUS DEFEATS THE ALIENS)(1964, U.S.) color 81 minutes (released on November 14)Embassy Pictures / Jalor ProductionsStory: Paul L. JacobsonScreenplay: Glenville MarethArt Director: Maurice GordonCinematography: David L. QuaidMusic: Milton and Anne DeluggProduced by Paul L. Jacobson, Arnold Leeds, Joseph E. LevineDirected by Nicholas Webster   SANTA CLAUS CONQUERS THE MARTIANS is a movie which has become a laughing-stock of Western civilization, suffering the butt of a million bad-movie jokes from posers and buffoons. However, when one takes the time to really watch the movie, one finds that SCTM is one of the most innovative, exciting and ultimately successful examples of early 1960’s independent cinema, much like similar genre titles CARNIVAL OF SOULS and NIGHT TIDE. The filmmakers knew that “Cheap Sci-Fi” and “Cheap Fairy Tale” were popular (and virtually indistinguishable) genres, so in true post-modern fashion they spliced the two concepts together willy-nilly, even com