Santa Claus vs The Hell Beasts is the 2016 Christmas Special, the first of which in four years. Filming for the special began on the 15th of October and ran through to November 5th. The plot follows Santa as he teams up with Darth Santa to track down a little boys stolen christmas present. It was followed by Blazin’ Mistletoe: The search for Mrs Claus in 2017.
Plot[]
Stephen introduces the special and begins talking about how copyright claims destroyed his old channel. He hopes the same won't happen to the new channel but the video is suddenly blocked. He runs in front of the blocked message and begins ranting.
The video cuts to Santa who is receiving a lap dance. He is surprised that the audience is there and tells the stripper to leave. He grabs his book and begins telling a story.
In a flashback Santa is asking a little girl what she wants for christmas. She lists too many things and Santa tells her she will get what she's given. A boy enters the room and asks Santa for a BB 8, the same thing he got last year as it was stolen. Santa promises that he will find the boys BB8.
After starting up the Santamobile he arrives at the fairys house who appeared in the last Christmas special. A different girl answers the door claiming to have no knowledge of the fairy and slams the door in Santa's face. She bends over in pain as her hand glows, hinting that the fairy has somehow regenerated.
Realising he has no choice, Santa enlists the help of Darth Santa who is now in prison. After remembering a time when he was raped by a Negan cosplayer at a Halloween party Darth Santa agrees to help Santa. They try to ask a drug dealer for information but when this fails they visit Mysterious Geoff who tells them the BB8 was stolen by someone he knows and gives them the persons address.
Mysterious Geoff then asks them to promote his new children's book - Mysterious Geoff and the Dog that Smelled like Paint. After Santa and Darth Santa leave Geoff returns to his party where he, One Nut and Cyberman Bill plan to do some cocaine.
Darth Santa warns Santa that he will need a weapon to defeat the person who stole the BB8. They arrive at the address where the person lives, he already knows why they're here and what they want. Darth Santa leaves Santa to his fate.
Santa encounters the person in the back garden who is revealed to be Kylo Grinch. Santa takes out his secret weapon - a lightsaber - and prepares to duel with Kylo Grinch. Kylo Grinch is then suddenly stabbed from behind by Darth Santa, and tells them the BB8 is in his bedroom before he dies. After getting the BB8 back Santa accidentally cuts Darth Santa's arms off with his lightsaber, causing Darth Santa to hate him again.
Santa returns the BB8 to the boy who then asks for something this year. However it is late night christmas eve and all the shops are closed so Santa can't get it. The boy threatens to sue Santa using his alcoholic lawyer parents so Santa breaks into a toystore to get what the boy wants but is set upon by guard dogs who he calls Hell Beasts.
Santa finishes his story and wishes everyone a Merry Christmas as the stripper comes back and he begins looking for his cocaine. The video cuts back to Stephen who is still ranting about copyright. He stops and apologises to the viewer before also wishing them a happy Christmas.
Cast[]
Stephen McCulla - Santa/Voice of Darth Santa/Mysterious Geoff/Negan/Voice of Kylo Grinch
Anthony Murney - Darth Santa/One Nut
Elisabeth King - Lap dancer/Regenerated Fairy/Kylo Grinch
Cameos:
Catherine Fitzpatrick - Prison guard
Ruth Strong - Drug dealer
Marc Savage - Santa's helper
Caleb Savage - Boy
Faith Savage - Girl
Bill Lane - Party Guest
Production[]
After releasing A Very Votesaxon07 Christmas in 2012, Stephen planned to make a special for 2013 but this was pushed back due to his Mother's ill health. The special was then scheduled for 2014 but filming for The Infinity Loop ran into late November giving Stephen less time to make a Christmas video. 2015 again saw the special put on hold following the death of Stephen's Father. It is likely that the special came very close to being made in 2015 as a teaser poster was uploaded to the Votesaxon07 Facebook page with the Santa Claus vs The Hell Beasts title and a release date of Christmas 2015.
Filming began on the 15th of October in Stephen's house. The scene featured Santa with a woman wearing fish net tights and a stewardess uniform. Pictures were uploaded to the Votesaxon07 Facebook page on the 24th of October revealing that Darth Santa would be returning and that Santa will be driving a red car. The pictures also show that a lightsaber battle between Santa and a figure cloaked in black with Kylo Rens lightsaber will take place in Stephen's back garden.
David Bell has been replaced in the role of Darth Santa by Anthony Murney, with Stephen still doing the voice of the character.
On October 29th Stephen tweeted Youtuber Cyberman Bill thanking him for a cameo which he filmed for the special, confirming that he will have a small part.
Two photos were uploaded to the Facebook page on November 1st showing Santa and Darth Santa on their knees while a character who looks like Negan from The Walking Dead holds a baseball bat wrapped in barb wire menacingly in front of them.
Four new photos were uploaded to the Facebook page showing Darth Santa behind a fence, Santa with a policewoman and Santa lying on the hood of his car on November 2nd.
A trailer was released on November 6th confirming that Marc Savage, Caleb Savage and Ruth Strong would be appearing, although it is unknown if they will be reprising their roles from The Infinity Loop / The Gang Reviews Sonic Screwdrivers.
A picture uploaded on November 25th to the Facebook page showed that the video will contain a book called 'Mysterious Geoff and the Dog that smelled like Paint'.
Release[]
Filming wrapped on the weekend of November 5th. Santa Claus vs The Hell Beasts was made available on Patreon on December 5th, followed by a YouTube release on December 11th.