Originally, I was going to try to do a Twelve Days of Christmas type of thing for the Tubi Continued… column, but since I was running behind, I instead just started watching as many short movies as possible in order to finish watching 365 movies in 365 days. Despite that, I was still able to work in a few Xmas movies like Axemas, Santa’s Got Style, and this surprisingly fun Christmas-themed sequel.
‘Twas the night before Christmas, and all through the house, extraterrestrial feeders are stirring and kill a woman wearing an ugly blouse. Mark Polonia is the star, his upper lip filled with thick hair, and he sees crappy looking UFOs flying through the air. When all of a sudden, there arose such a clatter. The audience gasps when they see what was the matter: To what to their wondering eyes did appear, but the miniature monsters attacking Santa Claus and his reindeer!
I was flat-out shocked how much I enjoyed this, especially seeing how bad the original was. It’s still no classic or anything, so let’s get the bad news out of the way first. The kills this time around are pretty weak and mostly just involve victims spitting up blood. The feeders themselves look better (sorta) but lack the charm of the monsters in the first flick. It’s also padded with flashbacks to Part 1, scenes of kids watching cartoons, and women wrapping presents. There are also long chunks of middling material in between the highlights.
That said, there are two sequences that will be burned into my memory for years to come. The first comes when the feeders attack Santa Claus while he’s flying his sleigh. And no, I don’t mean a guy dressed as Santa Claus. I mean the real McCoy. Jolly Saint Nick himself (and his elf RIP). This scene taken on its own terms (even if it doesn’t exactly take the fullest advantage of the idea) is worth an extra Half-Star.
The second scene comes when Santa takes his revenge on the aliens. If you ever wanted to see Kris Kringle go Charles Bronson on a bunch of clay puppets, Feeders 2: Slay Bells has you covered. This scene, like the sleigh attack is worth an extra Half-Star. I can’t say it will replace Santa Claus Conquers the Martians as the definitive Santa vs. Aliens movie, but it does have some big laughs waiting for you under the tree.
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