User Reviews

John Russo nearly hits rock bottom with this disastrous cheapie misleadingly promoted as another killer-dressed-as-Santa-Claus-movie.

Raven Quinn (Debbie Rochon) not only has to deal with a cheating husband (John Mowod) but also with trouble from women's groups and her in-laws when she accepts the lead role in the racy movie "A Scream Queen Christmas." If things couldn't get any worse, Raven also becomes the target of an obsessed psycho, her next-door neighbor Wayne (Grant Kramer), who has a shrine to her in his home, drugs her kids, messes around with a mannequin and kills cast and crew participating in the movie with a three-pronged garden claw.

There's virtually no gore or violence, but there are long scenes of young women with large silicone knockers stripping out of glittery costumes to pad out the running time. Debbie Rochon is easily the best this film has to offer in terms of good-looking babes and the only one of the bunch I found to be really attractive. (She's also pretty fun to watch with her clothes on, as well). It's also fun spotting Marilyn Eastman, Karl Hardman, Bill Hinzman and John Russo (all of whom appeared in the original NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD) in small roles here. Otherwise this is a complete waste of time.

Russo also made the T & A tie-in tape SCREAM QUEEN NAKED CHRISTMAS featuring Kramer, Rochon, Christine Cavalier (from W.A.V.E. Productions) and others from this movie reprising their roles (and removing their clothes).

Score: 3 out of 10 (thanks mainly to Debbie)

What Blood Shack was to Ray Dennis Steckler, Santa Claws is to a collective best refered to as "the makers of Night of the Living Dead, whose names weren't George A Romero". Its insultingly bad as an actual movie, but exerts a morbid curiosity as a kind of pseudo-documentary on the lives of those involved. If you want to see Night of the Living Dead actors decades after their brush with fame, Santa Claws trots out Marilyn Eastman, Karl Hardman, Bill Hinzman and John Russo, in scenes that look like they were shot in their own Pittsburgh homes and places of work. The younger cast is represented by lots of wannabe scream queens, and John Mowod, the male lead from Hinzman's Flesh Eater/Zombie Nosh. Mowod is chiefly memorable for his resemblance to both Paul McCartney and Sylvester Stallone, and should have probably sought out a career as a celebrity impersonator rather than an actor. Its all basically an excuse to publicize 'Scream Queens Illustrated' Russo's horror themed T&A mag that promoted the boobs, bums and careers of various Scream Queen actresses of the time. Santa Claws is mainly set at the Scream Queens Illustrated offices, where you get to see Hinzman and Hardman at their day jobs, shooting jerk off material for the magazine. Natch' the setting also allows for lingering shots of various Scream Queens Illustrated and Night of the Living Dead merchandise.

Occasionally Santa Claws remembers it is meant to be a horror film, and begrudgingly tears itself away from the T&A and self-promotion, in favour of focusing on a lackluster killer dressed in a Santa outfit who murders various secondary characters at the Scream Queens offices with a gardening fork. Barely anyone appears concerned by how sleazy and third rate they are portraying themselves as. The only possible exception being Scream Queen Debbie Rochon, whose role has the feel of a good publicity exercise. Not only is Rochon's character, Raven Quinn, portrayed as a scream queen with a heart of gold, but she is also a single mother whose life is being made a misery by her scumbag ex-husband (played by the Macca/Rambo lookalike) yet always makes herself available to even the most 'needy' of her fans. A credibility straining aspect to the film that also provides its biggest laugh. If you thought the Caroline Munro/Joe Spinell romance in Maniac was a little hard to swallow, here Rochon's character not only lets an unkempt, obviously obsessed, anti-social weirdo into her private life, but lets him babysit her kids as well !!!

Until I started watching I had no idea this was filmed in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, but the sights are instantly recognizable for folks who have lived in or around the city. Hey, that Christmas tree ornament that we see in a fleeting shot looks exactly like one that my parents have had for years. Wow, those dialogue choices and social values sure are outdated. Oh my, that sure is a lot of gratuitous nudity. Wait, hold on, what about the movie itself? Well, there are some good ideas here, and I can appreciate some of the decisions that filmmaker John A. Russo made. I'd be plainly lying, though, if I said 'Santa Claws' weren't more than a little taxing. Frankly, it's just not very good.

The chief value this has to offer is in the core premise of a disturbed, obsessive fan stalking a celebrity, for this is a sad reality that must be dealt with for too many people who achieve even a modicum of fame. I also appreciate some of the music herein, particularly the rock and metal chords, and every now and again there's a clever line dispensed. Though it's not an outward facet of the picture, there's something to be said, too, for the depiction of untreated mental illness; while not handled as delicately and/or mindfully as has been the case in other flicks (e.g., 1988's 'Pin,' or 1977's 'Martin'), anyone who has had encounters with such individuals will recognize the traits that filmmaker James A. Russo has written into the character in question. Unfortunately, beyond these factors, the viewing experience starts to break down, and the possibilities of what the feature could have been are gravely diminished. Just as much to the point, for whatever we might earnestly get out of this, we can find that quality elsewhere without subjecting ourselves to the tawdriness 'Santa Claws' primarily represents.

I'm no prude; I can enjoy nudity as much as anyone else. There's a problem, however, when the nudity in a title outweighs its substance, or becomes an outright substitute. The fact of the matter is that there is scant meaningful worth in these eighty-three minutes. The writing is desperately thin, with barely any story to speak of in the first place, and I was entirely flummoxed when we learn early on that the "obsessed fan" in question is actually the next door neighbor. With rare exceptions the dialogue is pretty awful, not to mention the characterizations. The cast at least make an earnest effort, but to be blunt, the acting is roundly terrible, and it's hard to determine who comes off worst. Despite having a fair prior list of credits in various capacities, Russo's direction is just as rotten, and far too much of the picture feels quite amateurish as it presents. The same can be said of S. William Hinzman's cinematography, which in some instances is altogether sloppy, and the sound design is also regrettably imbalanced. By any measure, 'Santa Claws' seems to be marked by a dire lack of experience, skill, or effort.

It's not all bad. There really were good ideas here in various ways. If nothing else, the climax is well done. It just seems far too much that the production was approached with more care for women's bodies than for anything else, and the whole suffered in turn. Once again, what we are able to extract from this flick we can also get elsewhere, and other renditions of the same ideas have been done much better, with more impact. I don't begrudge anyone who does especially enjoy 'Santa Claws,' but as far as I'm concerned there are much better ways to spend one's time, and there's just no major reason to bother with this at all.

I have to admit that this flick is pretty terrible and the only reason to watch it would be if you are a fan of Debbie Rochon. The reasons that this movie is so terrible is you have a very unintimidating and laughable killer. Here's a line from him. "I'm not Wayne, I'm Santa Claus!", then you have very unattractive women save Debbie Rochon dancing horribly to bland stripper music, very little gore, and bad sound dubbing. But there are a few good sides to this flick. It's cheesy, Debbie Rochon, more Debbie Rochon, more, and more Debbie Rochon, and John Russo in a badly acted cameo. What more could you want. For a badly acted, cheese fest, I give it a 5. For just an all around terrible horror flick, I give it a 3! But get it anyways to see Debbie Rochon in an early role!

"Santa Claws" is a horrible movie in just about every sense of the word. It's so bad one can't even laugh at the terrible dialogue, script, plot or acting. Director John Russo, famouse as the co-writer of "Night of the Living Dead" and Writer/Director of the emmensely entertaining and suspenseful "Midnight" has cobbled together a sad and poorly conceived story as an excuse to see silocone enhanced bimbos dance (Poorly) to generic stripper music. Not even the presense of the lovely and always entertaining Debbie Rochon, a major hottie if evver there was one, can save this dog from the pound. "Santa Claws" was obviously a promotional device for the even lower budget and less entertaining "Scream Queens Nude Christmas" (Although Christine Calveliere and Debbie Rochon in all their naked glory, even if they do look terribly embarrassed and annoyed do raise that video by a half point!)

this could quite possibly be the worst movie ever. i wouldnt even call this crap, cause it would be unfair to everything that works so hard to be crap. it looks like it was filmed on someone's lunchbreak, and their budget came from a week's work at mcdonald's. dont even bother.

During the Christmas holidays, a B-movie scream queen/pinup model is stalked by an obsessed, murderously psychotic fan...

Blah blah blah. You know the score, sight unseen: women get naked, people die. Apparently the raison d'être for SANTA CLAWS was to plug the fan magazine writer/director John Russo was publishing at the time, "Scream Queen" — it gets a very prominent mention. In the film, the magazine staff is producing a low budget horror video called "Scream Queen Christmas" — try saying that three times fast! — starring B-movie celebrity Raven Quinn (Debbie Rochon). Her most ardent admirer, the disturbed young man (Grant Cramer) who lives next door, spraypaints a cheap Santa costume black and goes on a killing spree with a garden weasel. (Really. A frickin' garden weasel.) SANTA CLAWS touts its lineage to the original 1968 NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD as a selling point but you wouldn't know it from watching this cheap-looking, amateurish piece of crap. (Russo co-wrote NOTLD with George Romero and directed the minor cult fave MIDNIGHT; three members of the NOTLD cast have small roles in the flick.)

Rochon, whose films have never really proved worthy of her talent, is the only real reason to endure it. Not only is she beautiful, she acts circles around everyone else in the cast, who are just plain terrible. (Cramer's over-the-top rantings are good for a laugh or two, though.) Gore is practically nonexistent; only the frequent nudity, served up as Christmas-themed striptease acts for the video shoot, will appeal to exploitation junkies. Rochon doesn't whip out her love muffins until the final twenty minutes but she's almost worth the wait. For best effect, I recommend turning off the cheesy soundtrack and playing the naughty Yule classic "Santa Baby" while Debbie's doing her thing.

Having never heard of this film but seeing the description sounding somewhat intriguing. The film is noticeably low budget and somewhat cheap looking (especially in the beginning). The acting isn't great and the dialogue is subpar. Most of the supporting actors were perhaps not fully experienced or veterans.

The plot about an obsessed psycho killer neighbor wanting the star of a popular film franchise set. There isn't exactly any thrills or suspense. We essentially know the following move by the killer. Since this is quite low budget the gore and deaths are tame.

Some described this as an erotic horror type in which that is quite half the film. More skin and nudity than expected but that's simply to distract the audience from seeing how bad it is. Much is somewhat unnecessary but it's expected. Debbie Rochon, the lead does quite a solid job and she's the clear standout, even providing a lengthy skin tease near the end. Watch the film for her.

I recently watched Santa Claws (1996) on Tubi. The storyline revolves around a horror scream queen and soft porn star navigating a divorce while juggling the challenges of parenting and work. With support from her neighbor, who harbors a crush on her, she embarks on a new chapter, all the while hoping to mend things with her ex. As the plot unfolds, mysterious deaths occur both at home and work, adding an unexpected twist to the life of our scream queen.

The film, written and directed by John Russo (Midnight), features performances by Debbie Rochon (Slime City Massacre), John Mowod (FleshEater), Marilyn Eastman (Night of the Living Dead), and Karl Hardman (Night of the Living Dead).

Despite a promising premise, Santa Claws suffers from weak acting, subpar dialogue, poorly constructed sets, and a mediocre soundtrack. The film includes numerous sex scenes featuring women with "enhancements," adding a redeeming element. While the female cast are gorgeous, the kill scenes lack quality, though they offer occasional humor. Notably, the killer's interactions with a sex doll resembling the main character provide amusement and kept my attention.

In conclusion, Santa Claws is a flawed blend of slasher and soft porn genres that may appeal to those seeking such a combination. With bad acting and dialogue, along with inconsistent production quality, I would give it a 3/10. However, if you have specific expectations for a mix of slasher and soft porn, it might be worth your time.

His Slay Bells are Ringing! Have Yourself a Very Scary Christmas! The Christmas horror movie that everyone forgot. I loved it! The plot makes no sense (boy kills mom and fat lover on Christmas, grows up crazy and obsesses over neighbor Scream Queen, so he kills all the people in her life) but it's just a quick lil fun movie with horrible acting (except for Debbie Rochon, she was great) and tons on T and A.

The kills are dull and the cover art is misleading, but nothing stopped me from loving this sleazy lil movie. The killer was over the top and the script was ridiculous at times (Hard to think this was from the Writer of Night of the Living Dead- orig and remake, and Return of the Living Dead. Hm... maybe he should stuck to zombie flicks).

So if you wanna pass the times with some cheese, sleaze, and tits- pops this in!

I watched this film and found it to be somewhat ok, and even better than some big budget multimillion dollar films.

YES, it does have problems, many...infact.

The modelling scenes were just boring annd bland, even for T&A gratuity shots and served no purpose.

Wayne's character was poorly created and developed, but somewhat funny.

Love Rayven...maybe it's the name...but over all, for a movie that was filmed with less than the cost of a new minivan, this is an ok film, *considering it was free to watch...I certainly wouldn't have paid for this.