Holiday Flix: Dial Code For Santa/Game Over/36-15 Code Pere Noel

Happy Holidays and Merry murders!  This is 36-15 Code Pere Noel, a 1989 French Film set on Christmas.  It has more Titles than Subplots though.  It was given the generic Title of Game Over when it came to America.  It also was called Dial Code for Santa, a more-informed, but also silly Title.  Why is it called this?  The whole Plot hinges upon the use of Minitel, a form of Dial-Up Internet used in France.  Our Hero uses it and it sets the Plot in motion.  I guess the alternate Title for Home Alone must have been 555 Pizza Delivery.  Speaking of that Film, is it a rip-off?  This Film came out in 1989 and features a kid trying to stop a crazed Santa in his House.  In 1990, we got that iconic Film with a kid setting traps to stop the Wet Bandits.  Are they 100% similar?  No.  Are they 60% similar?  Maybe.  It's been a moot point for Years as this Film got almost no play in America until 2018- better later than never!  This one features a crazed man who wants to do 2 things: kill people and become Santa.  Can he kill this poor kid?  Can this kid's Rambo-obsession (healthy, right?) save the day?  To find out, read on...

This is a crazy guy.  He just wants to be accepted.

He's also not Zach Galifianakis, before you ask.

This is a kid.  He loves Rambo, setting up traps and living with his Grandpa.

The latter is left alone on Christmas Eve while his Mother works at her Shop.  He has to keep an eye on Grandpa, who has Diabetes.

He still believes in Santa, using the titular Minitel Site to...accidentally reveal secrets to the crazy guy.  He snaps during the day, slapping a kid and finding out the kid's address to get revenge for...um...him being crazy?

The kid, by the way, lives in this ridiculous Mansion that is a lovely Model...I mean, Castle.

Is his Mom secretly the Queen?!?

The kid decides to set up the House to catch Santa on Film.  He waits for him to arrive.

Unfortunately, it's the crazy guy instead and, well, I hope you weren't rooting for the Dog to survive.

He manages to hide his Grandpa in a hidden part of the House- which, of course, he has.  I'm beginning to think that this reality might be a tad exaggerated!

He gets 'geared up' like Rambo again and tries to keep the 'Santa' away until he can get help.  The tide turns many times, adding some nice realism.

Will he stop this creep or will this Euro-Horror have a, well, Euro-Horror Ending.  To find out, watch this recently-rediscovered Film.  The End.

A surprisingly-engaging Film with a strange premise.  What a lovely Christmas tale.  What other one has a dog's murder, a child being slashed with a blade, a dead Cop, dead neighbors and a child slapped by 'Santa?'  For all the controversy over Silent Night, Deadly Night, it's funny to see what Europe was doing around the same time.  They didn't go easy on their audiences!  This poor kid is wounded and traumatized for life.  His Mom is going to need lots of counseling.  The Grandpa...will be dead soon, so he's good.  In all seriousness, I like how much realism is in a Film with such a strange premise.  Yes, you must accept that the kid is really smart, has a hidden lair and can make fairly-advanced tech for 1989.  That said, they never forget that he's a kid.  Could you imagine if they did something dumb like, say, have him plan a murder?  The kid Actor is quite good too, which makes you a little sad that he transitioned out of Acting by 1995.  All of the Acting is pretty darn good here.  'Santa' displays the right amount of menace, while still having flashes of normal human emotions like fear.  At one point, the kid is shooting him with marbles and he covers up in a cowardly fashion- nice touch.  One critique- we see the kid set up a crossbow with darts, but there is no pay-off.  I didn't watch a cut-down version- I don't think- so what's up, Movie?  I'm glad that this is now being rediscovered as it is a near-Classic for the Season.  Just ignore a few typos in the Subtitles, won't you?

Next time, I continue to wrap up 2018 by getting to left over Films.  What will come up next?  Stay tuned...