Atomic Kommie Comics: movies

Showing posts with label movies. Show all posts

Friday, April 3, 2026

Good Friday KING OF KINGS "Palm Sunday to Easter Sunday"

You may be wondering "Where's Parts 1 & 2?"...

Jeffrey Hunter as Jesus Christ

...and the answer is; we haven't run them yet!

Since it's Good Friday, we're presenting the Dell Comics adaptation of the final part of the 1961 movie, covering the period from Palm Sunday to the Resurrection.

We'll run the first part around Christmas, and the second shortly after that.

While the writer for this movie adaptation from Dell's Four Color Comics King of Kings #1236 (1961) is unknown, the artist is Gerald McCann, a pulp artist who moved to comics in the early 1950s and did numerous Classics Illustrated covers and stories including "Abraham Lincoln" and "Ben-Hur".

Who says comics ain't educational?

Sunday, March 29, 2026

It's Palm Sunday! Did You Know the Very First Captain of the USS Enterprise...

...was Jesus Christ?

Jeffrey Hunter as Jesus Christ in King of Kings (1961)

Jeffrey Hunter as Captain Christopher Pike with Leonard Nimoy as Mr Spock in Star Trek "The Cage" (1964)

Here's"six degrees of separation" trivia in only five degrees:

John Huston, who later did a prequel movie, The Bible: In the Beginning, directed Moby Dick, using a screenplay adapted by Ray Bradbury from the Herman Melville novel.
Ray Bradbury wrote the voiceovers in King of Kings spoken by Orson Welles.
Welles' The Shadow and Mercury Theatre radio series co-star Agnes Moorehead served as dialogue coach to Jeffrey Hunter (Jesus Christ) in King of Kings.
Jeffrey Hunter later played Christopher Pike, the first captain of the Starship Enterprise in the pilot episode of Star Trek, "The Cage".
Star Trek did an episode, "Bread and Circuses", about a planet where parallel evolution produced a society that resembled a 20th Century version of the Roman Empire, complete with it's own "Christians" and Jesus Christ (who doesn't appear on-camera, but is mentioned in dialogue)!

Tuesday, December 2, 2025

SANTA CLAUS CONQUERS THE MARTIANS

He's the Jolly Old Elf in a red suit!
They are BIG Green Men from Mars with an even BIGGER robot!
Before Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas, they were the ingredients for the weirdest Christmas movie ever!

Santa Claus Conquers the Martians was filmed in 1964 in that bastion of the cinema, Long Island (in an unused aircraft hangar).

Starring a host of tv and b-movie actors including handsome-but-stiff Leonard Hicks as the Martian Leader (and kids' father) Kimar, 60s villain/voiceover artist Vincent Beck (who did lots of work for Irwin Allen's sci-fi shows) as the film's mustache-twirling villain, Voldar, and John Call as a pretty damn convincing Santa Claus, the flick is touted as the debut of future talentless chantuse Pia Zadora as Martian Kid Girmar. Thankfully, she has rather limited screen time.

As an example of low-budget filmmaking, it's actually pretty effective.

Every penny (what few of them they had) is up on the screen.

They make good use of stock footage (from Dr. Strangelove, no less).

And the use of then-popular Wham-O Air Blaster toy guns as the Martian weapons was either a stroke of marketing genius or clever use of limited funds. Either way, sales of the guns shot thru the roof after the film hit the kiddie matinee circuit!

If you're between 3-9 years old, the flick's a lot of fun.

If you're between 10 and whatever the local drinking age is, it'll drive you nuts, especially the theme song!

If you're over the local drinking age, do so before watching! It's available on a host of public domain dvds as well as one of the Mystery Science Theatre 3000 snarkfests.

BTW: The image above is from the comic book tie-in, which you can read in three parts...

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

There was also a single of the theme, a spoken-word LP album of the movie's dialogue, and a novelization!

Now I can't get that damn theme our of my head..."Hoo-ray for Santy Claus..." AARRRGGGHHH!

An early Christmas gift from us to you:
The Mystery Science Theatre 3000 version of the film (don't tell Dr Forrester)...

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Sunday, November 30, 2025

You Want Some Christmas FUN on TV? We Got It Right Here!

As We Enter the Christmas Season...

..our entertainment tastes this year run to a hefty dose of mayhem to wash away the sugary taste of all those other Yuletide movies and tv shows, preferably with a mean and cruel Santa Claus!

Yes, we truly love the flick Krampus, but that guy's is supposed to be a demonic SoB!
We want a "bad Santa" who is truly evil, not just screwed up like Billy Bob Thornton's character!
Besides all three versions (1974, 2006 and 2019) of Black Christmas, which are fun, but basically just mad-slasher pix with an Xmas setting, we at Atomic Kommie Comics™were in the mood for something a bit more...otherworldy.

Why should Scrooge have all the holiday fun with specters and supernatural beings?

So, we're cuddling by the fireplace and watching Santa's Slay and Rare Exports!

Santa's Slay postulates that Santa is actually the Son of Satan, who lost a bet with an angel and was forced to be NICE to children on Christmas for a millennium.
But the bet's 1,000 year time-frame has just expired...and Santa's eager to make up for lost time!
WWE wrestler Goldberg is absolutely hysterical as Satan's Son, rampaging through the town and being the absolute, lethal, antithesis of what Kris Kringle is supposed to be.
Robert Culp, in one of his final roles, is entertaining as the crabby/cranky angel who tricked Santa and has been awaiting his return for a millenium.
The rest of the cast get into the insane spirit of the project, and the cgi FX, though low-budget are surprisingly-effective!
It's snarky!
It's silly!
It's now on our annual must-see Christmas film list, along with the 1971 Richard Williams-animated Christmas Carol, Nightmare before Christmas, and Santa Claus Conquers the Martians!

In the Scandinavian import Rare Exports, a huge demonic figure who looks a lot like a cross between Santa Claus and Krampus has been buried for centuries in Scandinavian tundra.
Americans come along, inadvertently unearth him, and mayhem ensues.
It's in Finnish, with English subtitles, but that's just as it should be, since the Finnish can unleash a storm of cursing only Germans can possibly match!
While played straighter than Santa's Slay, it's just as much fun, and even more gruesome!
Pour a healthy dose of glogg, imbie and enjoy!