Watch The Christmas That Almost Wasn't For Free

I love this movie so much

Strong and Moving!

Absolutely brilliant

It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

There are two ways to look at this movie. If you have the ability to look through the eyes of a child, you will see a wonderful, creepy, and oddly-dark-at-times morality tale which takes place during the quintessential Christmas season in the quintessential Christmas town. If you've got any innocence left, you will feel the snap of the cold on Paul Tripp's nose as he hangs garland from the antique street lamps. You'll taste the snow on your tongue as you and your friends run through sepia-toned Dickensian back streets. You'll smell the mold and dust of the frightening haunted house that Mr. Prune calls his home. And if you are viewing as an adult, you will be treated to a classic cult movie that just happens to be set around Christmas. The dubbing is hysterical--you have to laugh at the Italian accents slipping in and out. The acting is all character acting: very broad, yet extremely touching. The cuts and edits are choppy and endearing. The crummy miniatures are priceless. Santa is depressed, his wife is amazing, the dwarfs are creepy, and the sets are quite surreal. This is a cheesy, wonderful, low-rent relic of another time, which also just happens to have a terrific (and arguably underrated) musical score. Relax, go easy on the special effects, and enjoy this movie. This kind of stuff does not happen too often in life.

I remember the commercial for this movie more than I do the film itself! It featured the line where Rossanno Brazzi would bellow, "Merry Christmas I don't think!!" It was very scary for someone just starting school! The commercials would show up each December on the Birthday House show with Paul Tripp. The movie would run as a matinée at local theaters, and I remember the place being pretty crowded. My sisters and I dragged our poor mother out to see it for a few years running. I guess it was great marketing. It must all be pretty arcane, because every now and then I'll quote the bellow, and no one seems to know what I'm referring to.

I love this movie for how truly creepy it is. The shabby Santa and disturbing Mr. Whipple are just a delight. For my family it's a slice of rotten holiday fruit Cake perfect for goofing on. Crowd pleaser Mischca Auer, a desperate 6'+ elf from a nightmare, kind of makes you want to throw up. It's incredibly quotable... Paul Whipple to young boys " Up! Up! Up!" Mischca Auer, "Doesn't strike a spark somehow.." Mrs. Claus "Oh I do declare! You men are just children!" The musical soundtrack uses the "Gilligan's Island" sum technique explaining the plot in song during the opening credits. "Prune Prune was his name. He was a man who had no shame. Prune, Prune was his name if there was no Christmas, he's to blame. " Creeepeee and loving' it!

For reasons that cannot be explained in their entirety, this film is the absolute standard in holiday entertainment in my household. The music *must* be played (I burned a CD) while we decorate the tree, and the film *must* be watched (my brother burned a DVD) before going to bed on Christmas Eve. Either of course is subject to being played again in the background the following morning while presents are unwrapped. Why? We don't know! It's just...it's *funny*, I guess. My brother and I always cheer (we're both around 30 years old now) whenever Prune gets thwarted, and we always boo when it looks like he's going to destroy Christmas (again!). There's just something about this film that *is* Christmas, at least to us. The characters are all very entertaining, and we enjoy the songs. Seriously, it just never gets old. Obviously I'm highly recommending this film, as silly, harmless entertainment for the whole family.