Up first this week is Infinite Santa 8000. This is an animated film about Santa Claus, but make no mistake, this is NOT for the kiddos. It’s about a post-apocalyptic world where Santa fights monsters, robots, cyborgs and more. He has a little robot girl named Martha and when a deranged Easter Bunny kidnaps her, Santa must fight a crazy scientist who wants his DNA to make an invincible army. It’s just different enough to be watchable and has cult flick written all over it. The animation style is cool and reminds me of Heavy Metal and other 1980s adult oriented cartoons. I think it’s based on shorts, but I’m not 100% sure. It will definitely find a cult audience if it doesn’t already have one. Would I watch it again? Maybe not, but like I said, it’s just different enough to stand out and be good for a watch. But if you love stuff like this you’ll completely dig it. I know people who will eat this up and make it a yearly Christmas watch.
Sticking with Christmas, next is Blue Christmas. I love noir, but so many new films that try noir aren’t good. That’s the case with this film. Based in the early 1940s, it has the right era for noir, but the acting is very bad and the characters don’t seem right. It’s also a take on Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol. A cop turned private dick is visited by the three ghosts to help solve the murder of his partner. The ghosts really don’t make sense. The Ghost of Christmas Past is supposed to be the ghost of Bonnie from Bonnie & Clyde, but the actress has a nose ring. The Ghost of Christmas Future is Elvis which makes no sense because the detective has no idea who Elvis is. The film also uses current $100 bills not 1940s era money. All that could be overlooked if the acting wasn’t so bad. Most of the film takes place in the office of the private dick so they should have spent more of the budget on people that weren’t so wooden. I give it credit for trying something different I just wish the outcome was better.
Next we have a 4K release of The Invasion. Starring Nicole Kidman and Daniel Craig, this 2007 film is another version of Invasion of the Body Snatchers. Not only had I never seen the film, I don’t think I even knew it existed. After watching it, I see why. It’s a by-the-book re-telling of a sci-fi classic that despite having big name actors in it, is very generic and flat. Nothing about it feels new or fresh and the special effects of the organism going through people’s bodies is bad even for 2007. The movie is so forgettable that despite being about a pandemic and the country almost shut down and having vaccines made to fight the invasion, nobody talked about it during 2020 when we were all watching movies like Contagion, Outbreak and other pandemic flicks at home. It looks like it was a box office dud and I understand why. It’s just so generic and plain. Kidman tries her best (and looks fantastic), but the story has been done many times before and done much better. But if you are a fan, the 4K includes special features like a brand-new audio commentary, a new visual essay, vintage featurettes with cast and crew interviews, trailer, an illustrated collector’s booklet with essays, and a double-sided fold out poster with new and original artwork.
Elvira: Mistress of the Dark also gets a 4K release this week. Is the movie great? No, of course not, but it’s campy and fun and I’ve always enjoyed the gimmick of Cassandra Peterson’s persona of Elvira. As a horror kid I was well aware of Elvira in the 80s with her big hair, gothic vibe and cleavage. The film tried to capitalize on her fandom and finds her leaving her TV show when she inherits a house, dog and recipe book from a dead aunt in Salem. Of course the town folk don’t know what to do about her and it has the same energy as Weird Al’s UHF. It’s fun and rewatching it today, it feels like a throwback to the 1980s despite actually coming out in the 1980s. It’s a beloved cult classic starring a beloved cult icon. The 4K bonus features include three vintage audio commentaries, a feature length making-of documentary with cast and crew, a featurette on the special effects, an introduction by the director, original storyboards, image galleries, and an Illustrated collector’s booklet with essays. Fans of the film and Elvira will very much enjoy this 4K release.
Last is Oddity. This actually came out in late October, but my copy was delayed. Another movie that’s just different enough to be watchable, it opens with a woman having a patient of her doctor husband knocking on her door at night. He claims someone snuck into her house and he’s there to help, but she won’t open the door. It jumps to her twin sister who’s blind and has psychic abilities and her husband who is in a new relationship. The blind twin runs an antique shop of oddities and shows up at the house her sister died in. She thinks there is more to the death of her sister and brings a wooden golem with her. The new girlfriend wants to leave, but can’t find her keys and is weirded out by the entire situation. The doctor leaves for work, but there might be more to him than meets the eye. It’s not great, but it held my attention. The actress playing the dead sister and blind sister is good and the movie keeps it pretty simple even if some of it doesn’t add up. I can see it gaining a following on home video and streaming.
The Nerds Templar 