Set in the year 8000, there’s not much left of the planet as we know it. However, within this post-apocalyptic landscape only the mutants, scum and robot-people remain. Humanity has been wiped from the face of the earth and even Santa Claus must fight to survive. Welcome to the setting of Infinite Santa 8000! Originally directed as a multi-part web series by Michael Neel (Drive-in Horror Show, H.P. Lovecraft's Celephaïs and It’s Me, Ma)  in 2010, Infinite Santa 8000 was recut, re-edited and re-imagined, into what is now, a full length animated directors cut, Neel also added new scenes, and reanimated and retouched some shots to create something akin to his original vision for the movie.

What we get is a hyper-violent, heavy metal-infused, blood-drenched Christmas story for people who have no desire to watch the average schmaltzy Hallmark Christmas film. After Santa’s cyborg partner, Martha is kidnapped by Dr Shackleton, he fires up his faithful robotic reindeer and heads out into the wastelands to rescue Martha. On his way, he fights a host of androids, mutant creatures and just for good measure the Easter Bunny in order to save Martha and preserve the Christmas spirit.

Infinite Santa 8000 is an absolute blast from start to finish, the body count for the whole movie is somewhere in the region of 800 to 900 deaths and boy do we get some blood, guts and gore along the way. The rough animation style is perfect for the movie and reminds me, in places of Warhammer’s 40K Ork models and artwork. The mechs in the movie, in particular, have that 40k Orky vibe to them, and the heavy metal score works perfectly. The whole thing is a heady mix of the 80s post-apocalypse movies that sprung up in the wake of the success of Mad Max, Warhammer 40k, Akira, and the early splatter movies of Peter Jackson.

Overall, I think Infinite Santa 8000 may well become a regular holiday classic in our house alongside Gremlins, Tales from the Crypt, Black Christmas and the BBC's Ghost Stories for Christmas. It’s an absolute cracker of a movie, a big gory slab of fun that doesn’t take itself too seriously. It may not have the cultural impact of Akira but it’s a whole ton of fun. This new Blu-ray from Synapse features an audio commentary with its creators, Michael Neel and his co-writer, Greg Ansin, you also get the complete 13-part web series, so you can check out those comparisons to see where the changes were made. There are also a bunch of interviews with cast and crew, the obligatory promo trailers, and a couple of music videos for good measure.

This is a great release for a wonderfully fun obscurity that should gain a bunch of new fans along the way. It certainly hooked me in. Ranging from the janky animation to the pounding heavy metal score and the massive amounts of gore, this is good brainless fun for fans of gory post-apocalypse and splatter movies.