On the 9th day of B-Movie Christmas…
(The) Magic Christmas Tree (1964)
Director: Richard C. Parish | Writers: Harold Vaughn Taylor
Stars: Chris Kroeson, Valerie Hobbs, Darlene Lohnes
A boy is given a ring by an old witch. He uses the ring along with a magic Christmas tree which grants him 3 wishes.
-IMDB
Christmas in the 60s was very weird in general, but few films could match this. The tone is set right away as a boy is asked to rescue a cat named Lucifer from a tree. If that isn’t a big enough sign, he falls out of the tree, gets some minor head trauma, and wakes up to discover the old lady he was trying to help is really a witch. Okay…
Anyway, she gives the kid some magic seeds inside a magic ring and tells him how to plant this magic tree that grants wishes. As you’d expect, the kid naturally plants the seed and starts abusing his wishes almost immediately.
Santa is wished into the picture, basically as a servant, and the boy has to face the music that he’s ruining Christmas. So, at least there is a moral to the story that’s about sharing and the real spirit of Christmas but it goes about getting there in the strangest way imaginable.
Had I not watched Troll 2 in the last few days I may not have been as willing to embrace something so uniquely bad. This one boasts a 2.3 IMDB score and you will know exactly why. However, that doesn’t mean it’s not worth watching as a great time capsule.
Recommendation: Leave your expectations at the door and embrace what this straight-to-video 60s-era Christmas story was trying to do.
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