There is no denying that The Santa Clause (1994) starring Tim Allen is a Christmas movie, but have you ever wondered where it truly lies in terms of genre categorization? If you have never pondered the ramifications of a film that transforms man into cryptid, years after the gossamer veil of holiday magic that has shielded it from your adult eyes has become tattered and worn, then allow me to invite you to do so now. A critical evaluation of a film that’s subject is a man who undergoes a radical transformation, both in mind and body, one that is so absolute, irrevocable, and unplanned, can only truly fit into one category: body horror.
For those unfamiliar with the term, body horror refers to a genre of horror wherein the subject is often centered on the graphic and disturbing alteration, transformation, or destruction of the human body. Some classic examples of body horror include John Carpenter’s The Thing, The Human Centipede(2009), and of course, The Fly. For the purposes of comparing The Santa Clause, a story focused on the transformation of one individual, to another human-centric story, we will be using the latter example, specifically the 1986 Cronenberg/Goldblum version, to further examine Scott Calvin’s transformation from man to beast.
Let us begin chronologically. Scott Calvin is an irresponsible, horny man-child going through a messy separation and sharing custody of his son Charlie with his ex and her new beau, a Christmas-hating psychiatrist. None of this is relevant except to say that there is not one person in this group who believes in the magical Christmas figure that is Santa Claus, except maybe Charlie, although the children at school have been berating him for these beliefs long enough for his foundations to be shaken. This is our set up.
On to The Fly.
Seth Brundle is a horny scientist on the verge of an amazing discovery: teleportation. He meets a sexy journalist, Veronica, who wants to publish his findings, however, the machine isn’t ready yet. Seth has only successfully teleported inorganic matter. Trials with living flesh have been wildly disastrous. But when Veronica’s jealous boss threatens to go to press with Seth’s research, Seth becomes desperate to perfect his process.
Here we have two adult men, unhappy and unfulfilled, going about their day to day lives, completely unaware of the chaos that is to ensue. Now for the inciting incidents.
Tis the night before Christmas, and all through the house, Scott Calvin is sleeping peacefully, when suddenly, he is awoken by Charlie, who hears a ruckus on the roof. When Scott goes out to investigate, he finds there is a great, red-suited man walking around up there! When Scott shouts angrily for the stranger to get down, this unexpected visitor becomes frightened, loses his footing, and tumbles to the ground, dying instantly upon impact. After further exploration, Scott and Charlie discover a sleigh and reindeer, anxiously awaiting their driver’s return, ostensibly so they can continue delivering presents to all the good boys and girls. Still believing this to be a dream or hallucination, and because Scott is inexplicably always in his underwear, he puts on the deceased man’s (who has, by the way, dissolved into the snow at this point) red suit, and proceeds to take his place. Unbeknownst to Scott, he has just entered into a binding contract that will radically change the course of his future.
Meanwhile, feeling the pressure of having his incomplete research published against his will, Seth Brundle decides to take matters into his own hands, and goes through the teleportation pods himself. While Seth initially believes the experiment to be a complete success, what he does not realize is, in his haste to validate his invention, he did not notice a fly enter the pod with him, thus causing the DNA of fly and man to be combined in the teleportation process. Not unlike how Scott Calvin intertwined his own DNA with that of Santa when he put on a dead man’s pants.
Now that we’ve spent far too much time on exposition, it is time for the crux of this comparison: the transformation. Both Scott and Seth’s subsequent transformations can be broken down into two basic categories: physiological changes and personality changes.
Both men undeniably undergo extreme bodily metamorphoses. Initially, both Scott and Seth begin to sprout random body hair, Seth’s decidedly more of the insect variety. Seth becomes more athletic, with an impressive litany of acrobatic feats added to his repertoire. Scott’s physiological changes, however, take quite the opposite approach, manifesting in significant weight gain (45 pounds in one week). Scott can also suddenly shape shift to fit down chimneys, and can now digest lactose apparently. Both develop an insatiable sweet tooth, subsisting almost entirely on confectionary delights.
Personality-wise, both Seth and Scott begin exhibiting increasingly aggressive behavior. While Seth takes his frustrations out on Veronica for refusing to pass through the teleportation pods herself, Scott unleashes his rage on those who deny the existence of Santa or one of the many tenants of Santa lore. While Seth continues to become more and more aggressive, sexually and otherwise, formerly self-centered and sarcastic Scott begins to mellow into something more…jolly.
In the span of about four weeks, Seth Brundle has become a visibly different being altogether. In the same time frame, Scott has gained significant weight, and can no longer manage the growth of hair on his head or face. Both films feature an infamously disturbing bathroom mirror scene. In The Fly, Seth realizes that his fingernails are no longer firmly in place, and begins pulling them off one by one. In The Santa Clause, Scott Calvin examines his new visage after shaving off his Santa beard when, to his horror, it begins to rapidly grow back before his very eyes. Both men begin to realize they have become grotesque miasmas of twisted flesh, and can no longer deny their fates.
While Seth continues to pupate into a human-sized nightmare insect and longs for the sweet release of death (which he is granted), Scott is forced to accept his new role in society, which he has essentially been blackmailed into. Refusing to accept his new position would kill Christmas as we know it, and the terrible blood will be on Scott’s hands. The only way to pass the buck to a new unsuspecting victim would be to, himself, die. While Scott’s fate may not seem as bleak as Seth’s, he is forced to spend of the rest of his days in exile at the North Pole, because how can you continue to exist in modern suburbia when you’ve been doxed? Either way, the Santa curse is irreversible. Perhaps Seth was the lucky one after all.