Once you turned off the front door light to Trick or Treaters, the Christmas specials struck. We’re weeks away from Thanksgiving, but your cable channels are deep into running their sweet holiday movies and kiddie specials. You’ll never get a break from heartwarming tales about the true meaning of Christmas as you surf the dials or scan your streaming sites. You might want to find yourself a crazy Christmas movie that will restore your joy for the season. Infinite Santa 8000: Director’s Cut is that movie.
In the year 8,000 A.D., mankind is barely hanging on by a thread. After the world had a catastrophe a thousand years before, all that seems to be left are mutants and robots. Even Santa (voiced by Blood Ties‘ Duane Bruce) can’t get a break in this desolate landscape. He has to fight a giant robot at the area in order to win sacks of meat. He lives in a mobile home on Santa’s Ranch with robot reindeers. He misses his old life, but there’s not any good people worthy of gifts in the wasteland. The world is fully of naughty scum and mutants. But he finds one good person in the world in the robot Martha (voiced by Tara Henry). He teaches her about the spirit of Christmas including the time a children left him a beer overnight. They even sing Christmas carols together. Their happiness doesn’t last long because Martha gets kidnapped by the Easter Bunny. This is the post-apocalyptic holiday tale that brings the Mad Max spirit to the season.
Infinite Santa 8000 starts with Santa going extreme in the robot battle and doesn’t let the foot off the weirdness gas pedal. The animation overseen by co-creators Greg Ansin and Michael Neel fits the mood and comic intensity. If you’re having a holiday party this year, Infinite Santa 8000 is the movie you need to put on in your living room instead of that lame video yule log. This is going to get your egg nog lit. You might want to show this after your Thanksgiving dinner to quiet all those relatives. The best news is that because of the Easter Bunny being part of the plot, you can watch Infinite Santa 8000: Director’s Cut well into the Spring.
The Videos is 1.78:1 anamorphic. The animation looks even more disturbing in 1080p. The best is when Santa is in fight mode. The Audio is DTS-HD MA 2.0 stereo. You’ll hear all the weirdness of this frightening future world. The movie is subtitled in English.
Audio Commentary features co-creators Michael Neel and Greg Ansin. They talk about being a very independent project. They spent money, but they didn’t burn through Hollywood bucks. The duo did a lot of the work. They talk about how this is a director’s cut that not only restores edited moments but allowed them to finish and refine certain scenes.
Web Series (31:40) that plays all the episodes. There’s also an option to watch all the episodes with Michael Neel and Greg Ansin’s commentary. The web series is a bit different than the feature film. The filmmakers enjoyed creating the alternate future that’s 6,000 years from now. They wanted to do something for Christmas because there’s a lack of horror movies for the holiday.
Greg Ansin and Michael Neel: Creators (10:11) is an interview with them. They talk about doing Drive-In Horror Show. They wanted to do an “evergreen project” that people would watch during that special time of the year. They get into going from web series to a full-length movie. I appreciate that they wore Christmas sweaters and have a decorated tree next to them. They’re so festive. They show how the film went from script to storyboard to finished animation.
Dawn Scaltreto: Artist (4:15) shows how she goes from pencil sketches and inks them as characters took shape. Later she did the background drawings.
Nick Flanagan: Artist (2:59) gets into how he was an illustrator and concept artist. The script and storyboards gave him an idea where to go with the characters.
Jeff O’Brien: Artist and Colorist (3:06) has him explain how he colors the line art in Photoshop. He talks about his love of Looney Tunes that adds to how he approaches his work.
Duane Bruce: The Voice of Santa (5:18) looks like he took the character to heart. He gets into how he created the voice for the character. He goes with a touch of Yosemite Sam.
Tara Henry: The Voice of Martha and Dr. Shackleton (4:35) lets us know how she played the two roles. She gets into working with only her voice to create a character.
Eric Welsh: Sound Post Production (4:39) has my favorite Christmas sweater. He discusses creating the sound of this whole new world.
Making The Score (5:15) has them recording the music at a studio in Boston. We see an E-Bow at work.
Music Video 1 (3:19) gives us that great metal riff with Santa singing as he gets after the mutants.
Music Video 2 (2:24) is a perfect instrumental holiday jingle.
Trailer Gallery includes Trailer 1 (1:50), Trailer 2 (1:00), Trailer 3 (1:42), Streaming Series Trailer (3:59) & Web Series Trailer (1:40). The best promises to see Santa as you’ve never seen him before.
Slipcover is limited edition.
Synapse Films present Infinite Santa 8000: Director’s Cut. Directed by Michael Neel. Screenplay by Greg Ansin and Michael Neel. Voices by Duane Bruce, Tara Harbert and Michael Neel. Running Time: 102 minutes. Rating: Not Rated. Release Date: November 12, 2024.
