''The Monster's Christmas'' is a 1981 New Zealand

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television film A television film, alternatively known as a television movie, made-for-TV film/movie, telefilm, telemovie or TV film/movie, is a film with a running time similar to a feature film that is produced and originally distributed by or to a Terrestr ...

produced by

Television New Zealand Television New Zealand (, "Te Reo Tātaki" meaning "The Leading Voice"), more commonly referred to as TVNZ, is a New Zealand state-owned media company and Crown entity. The company operates a television network, TVNZ+, streaming service, and 1N ...

. The movie tells the tale of a young girl who is approached by a monster from one of her storybooks to help him and other monsters regain their voices that have been stolen by a wicked witch. According to distributor Gibson Group, it was "deliberately written and planned as a location film, it incorporates many of New Zealand’s beautiful scenic spots". A region 1 DVD was released in 2004. On December 23, 2022, Rifftrax released a commentary on the film.The Monster's Christmas on RiffTrax
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Cast

* Lucy McGrath as the little girl * Leone Hatherly as the witch * Paul Farrell as the mountain monster * Michael Wilson as Nasty, the bat-mole creature * Ingrid Prossor * Roger Page as the mud monster Bernard Kearns and Jeremy Stevens provided monster voices.

Production

The film was directed by Yvonne Mackay and written by Burton Silver. It was produced by David Gibson and Gibson Film Productions. The show's star, Lucy McGrath, was around nine years old when the film was released. She previously had taken drama lessons at Wellington High School and had starred in the Gibson film ''Black Hearted Barney Blackfoot'' in 1980. 150 people auditioned for the ''Monster's Christmas'' role and McGrath was chosen. Filming took place in

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s and featured McGrath climbing a rope ladder near a

waterfall A waterfall is any point in a river or stream where water flows over a vertical drop or a series of steep drops. Waterfalls also occur where meltwater drops over the edge of a tabular iceberg or ice shelf. Waterfalls can be formed in seve ...

. On some days, filming lasted between 7:00am and 9:00pm. The film, which has a running time of 48 minutes, was released on 25 December 1981.

Reception

The film critic Donald C. Willis gave ''The Monster's Christmas'' a mixed review, writing, "Nonsense-for-children is a tad slow, but generally agreeable ''

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'' stuff. One monster looks like an artichoke, or leftovers from ''

Battle Beyond the Sun ''Battle Beyond the Sun'' is a 1962 science fiction film. It is dubbing, an English-dubbed and Americanization, re-edited American version of ''Nebo Zovyot'', a 1959 Soviet science fiction film. Roger Corman acquired the Cinema of the Soviet Unio ...

''." He praised Lucy McGrath for "an effortlessly expressive face and voice" and for "seem ngright at home with the weird creatures". The ''International Film Guide'' praised it for being a "bizarrely-entertaining" film. ''The Monster's Christmas'' received a bronze medal at the New York film and television festival in 1981.

References

External links

* New Zealand Christmas films 1981 films 1981 television films New Zealand children's films Christmas television films 1981 children's films 1980s English-language films {{NewZealand-film-stub

Cast

Production

Reception

See also

References

External links