''Santa with Muscles'' is a 1996 American

Christmas Christmas is an annual festival commemorating the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people around the world. A feast central to the Christian liturgical year ...

comedy film A comedy film is a category of film which emphasizes humor. These films are designed to make the audience laugh through amusement. Films in this style traditionally have a happy ending (black comedy being an exception). Comedy is one of the ol ...

starring Hulk Hogan and directed by John Murlowski. It was released for two weeks in cinemas.

Plot

Blake Thorn ( Hulk Hogan) is a conceited self-made millionaire who sells

bodybuilding supplement Bodybuilding supplements are dietary supplements commonly used by those involved in bodybuilding, weightlifting, mixed martial arts, and athletics for the purpose of facilitating an increase in lean body mass. Bodybuilding supplements may contain ...

s and equipment that have his picture on them. One day, while recklessly playing

paintball Paintball is a competitive team shooting sport in which players eliminate opponents from play by hitting them with spherical dye-filled gelatin capsules called paintballs that break upon impact. Paintballs are usually shot using low-energy a ...

, he is targeted by police. He is chased to a shopping mall, where he hides by putting on a Santa costume. He slides down a garbage chute to escape the police and bangs his head, resulting in amnesia. Mistaken by Lenny (

Don Stark Donald Mario Stark (July 5, 1954) is an American actor known for his role as Bob Pinciotti on the Fox Network sitcom ''That '70s Show'' for all eight seasons (19982006) and fictional Los Angeles Devils owner Oscar Kinkade in VH1's '' Hit the ...

) as the mall Santa, Blake begins to think he really is Santa Claus. Meanwhile, the

evil scientist The mad scientist (also mad doctor or mad professor) is a stock character of a scientist who is perceived as " mad, bad and dangerous to know" or " insane" owing to a combination of unusual or unsettling personality traits and the unabashedly a ...

Ebner Frost ( Ed Begley Jr.) tries to take over an orphanage in order to gain access to the magical crystals underneath it and dispatches his henchmen to destroy it. However, Blake after discovering that being Santa has made him a better person and that Frost wants to destroy the very same orphanage he grew up in, manages to rescue the children. Frost and his henchmen are arrested, but the orphanage is destroyed due to the overload of the crystals. Blake than volunteers the Ebner Frost's evil compound to be the new orphanage. Thanks to the new orphanage and Blake we see there are more orphans than ever in this town as the movie ends.

Cast

* Hulk Hogan as Blake Thorn *

as Lenny * Robin Curtis as Leslie *

Garrett Morris Garrett Isaac Morris (born February 1, 1937) is an American actor, comedian and singer. He was part of the original cast of the sketch comedy program ''Saturday Night Live'', appearing from 1975 to 1980, and played Jimmy on ''The Jeffersons'' ...

as Clayton *

Aria Curzon Aria Noelle Curzon (born December 8, 1987) is an American actress. Her most famous voice roles are Ducky in ''The Land Before Time'' video series, Teresa ("The Cornchip Girl") in '' Recess'', and Mandy Straussberg in the radio drama '' Adventu ...

as Elizabeth *

Adam Wylie Adam Augustus Wylie (born May 23, 1984) is an American actor, magician and a former Crayola spokesman. Wylie is known most for playing Zack Brock, the youngest son of Doctor and Sheriff Brock's children, on ''Picket Fences'' from 1992 to 1996. Ea ...

as Taylor *

Mila Kunis Milena Markovna "Mila" Kunis (born August 14, 1983) is an American actress. Born in Chernivtsi and raised in Los Angeles, she began playing Jackie Burkhart on the Fox television series ''That '70s Show'' (1998–2006) at the age of 14. Since ...

as Sarah *

Clint Howard Clinton Engle Howard (born April 20, 1959) is an American actor. He is the second son born to American actors Rance and Jean Howard, and younger brother of actor and director Ron Howard. His 200-plus acting credits include feature films such as ...

as Hinkley *

Steve Valentine Stephen John Valentine (born 26 October 1966) is a Scottish actor and magician. He is known for his roles as Nigel Townsend on NBC's crime drama series ''Crossing Jordan'', the voice of Harry Flynn in the video game '' Uncharted 2: Among Thiev ...

as Dr. Blight * Ed Begley Jr. as Ebner Frost * William Newman as Chas * Ed Leslie as Sumo Lab Assistant *

Brenda Song Brenda Song (born March 27, 1988) is an American actress. Born in California, Song began her career at the age of six, working as a child model. She made her screen debut with a guest appearance on the sitcom '' Thunder Alley'' (1995), and ...

as Susan * Pete Antico as Nose Ring

Reception

Box office

The film was released on 8 November 1996, the film garnered $120,932 in box office receipts during its opening weekend and grossed a total of $220,198 during its two-week run.

Critical response

Film critic

Emanuel Levy Emanuel Levy is an American film critic and professor who has taught at Columbia University, New School for Social Research, Wellesley College, Arizona State University and UCLA Film School. Levy currently teaches in the department of cinema ...

gave the film a score of 2 out of 5. Joe Leydon in ''Variety'' described ''Santa with Muscles'' as a "weakling of a comedy" and thought that Hogan's performance was lacking the charisma of his previous work such as '' Suburban Commando''. Leydon panned the direction in particular, stating: "Working from an irredeemably bland screenplay, John Murlowski directs with all the enthusiasm of someone going through the motions to pay off a debt." Chris Hicks, writing for the '' Deseret News'', stated that films such as ''Santa with Muscles'' make films like ''

Jingle All The Way ''Jingle All the Way'' is a 1996 American Christmas family comedy film directed by Brian Levant. It stars Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sinbad as two rival fathers, mattress salesman Howard Langston (Schwarzenegger) and postal worker Myron Larab ...

'' look better, and said that Hulk Hogan "makes Arnold Schwarzenegger seem like Laurence Olivier". MaryAnn Johanson of ''Flick Filosopher'' called it "a deeply awful comedy" and "Believe me, it’s even dumber than it sounds."

Legacy

Reception for ''Santa with Muscles'' has continued to be negative. As of December 2011 it was listed at number 62 on IMDB's bottom 100 movies. It was listed as number 43 out of 50 worst children's films by ''

Total Film ''Total Film'' is a British film magazine published 13 times a year (published monthly and a summer issue is added every year since issue 91, 2004, which is published between July and August issue) by Future Publishing. The magazine was launched ...

'', and was included in

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's list of worst

Christmas movies Many Christmas stories have been adapted to feature films and TV specials, and have been broadcast and repeated many times on television; since the popularization of home video in the 1980s, their many editions are sold and re-sold every year d ...

. The film was also included on ''

Atlantic City Weekly ''Atlantic City Weekly'' (''ACW'') is a free newspaper in Atlantic City, New Jersey. ''Atlantic City Weekly'' is the source for what's happening in South Jersey. Published every Thursday, it covers entertainment, casinos, dining, real estate, spor ...

s list of worst holiday films, ranking third behind '' Santa Claus Conquers the Martians'' and the ''

Star Wars Holiday Special The ''Star Wars Holiday Special'' is a 1978 American television special that originally aired on November 17, 1978, on CBS. It is set in the universe of the sci-fi-based ''Star Wars'' media franchise. Directed by Steve Binder, it was the first ...

''. Due to Hogan's starring role, the film has been featured on the website

Wrestlecrap ''WrestleCrap'' is a professional wrestling website created by R. D. Reynolds and Merle Vincent, serving as a "hall of shame" for some of the worst gimmicks and storylines in professional wrestling history. The site is currently run by Reynolds ...

, which acts as a "Hall of Shame" for the worst

gimmicks A gimmick is a novel device or idea designed primarily to attract attention or increase appeal, often with little intrinsic value. When applied to retail marketing, it is a unique or quirky feature designed to make a product or service "stand ou ...

and storylines in pro wrestling history. When Golden Globe nominee Mila Kunis, who made her film debut, was asked about the film in 2011 by ''GQ'' magazine, she said, "I was too young to fully understand the importance of working with Hulk Hogan. I just thought he was this huge man", while comparing the film to ''

American Psycho 2 ''American Psycho 2'' (also known as ''American Psycho II: All American Girl'') is a 2002 American black comedy slasher film directed by Morgan J. Freeman from a screenplay by Alex Sanger and Karen Craig. Starring Mila Kunis and William Shatne ...

'' in which she co-starred with

William Shatner William Shatner (born March 22, 1931) is a Canadian actor. In a career spanning seven decades, he is best known for his portrayal of James T. Kirk in the ''Star Trek'' franchise, from his 1965 debut as the captain of the starship ''Enterpris ...

. In 2021, ''Santa with Muscles'' was featured on the

YouTube YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second mo ...

channel RedLetterMedia as part of their series, ''Best of the Worst.''

References

External links

* * *
Santa with Muscles
on

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Santa With Muscles 1996 films 1996 comedy films 1990s children's comedy films 1990s Christmas comedy films American children's comedy films American Christmas comedy films Films about orphans Films directed by John Murlowski Films set in California Mad scientist films Santa Claus in film Sonar Entertainment films 1990s English-language films 1990s American films