The King of the Kiddie Matinee or The Wizard of Coral Gables, call him whatever you like, either way, K. Gordon Murray definitely left his mark in the world of film entrepreneurs / exploitationeers. His career began with several home-grown and imported Sleaze-Noirs, most notably Shanty Tramp, and his first big hit, Wasted Lives, which featured the live birth of twins and sex-manuals on how to make them that were sold at the concessions stands. Back in 1959, however, Murray struck gold when he went south of the border into Mexico, where he secured the rights to about dozen horror and fantasy films based on several fairy tales for which terms like surreal and bizarre won’t even come close to doing justice to them — including this little acid-trip / holiday classic, where jolly old St. Nick butts head with the Cloven One, who’s trying to make the children of the world more naughty than nice. And with this abrupt change in the demographics of his target audience, Murray then pioneered the idea of an exclusive weekend matinee to mucho box-office success.
And with that, my fellow Morgue attendants, I bid you all Best Wishes or Bah! Humbug, where applicable, in whatever festivity you choose and we’ll see you all next year.
Santa Claus (1959) Cinematográfica Calderón S.A.-K. :: K. Gordon Murray Productions / P: Guillermo Calderón / D: René Cardona / W: Adolfo Torres Portillo, René Cardona / C: Raúl Martínez Solares / E: Jorge Bustos / M: Antonio Díaz Conde / S: José Elías Moreno, Cesáreo Quezadas, Lupita Quezadas, Antonio Díaz Conde, José Luis Aguirre
Scenes from the Morgue 
