CHRISTMAS is traditionally a time of giving.

Eccentric indie filmmaker Terry Zwigoff, who made Crumb and Ghost World, has an early festive present for you here that won't be forgotten in a hurry.

Bad Santa guzzles down the spirit of Christmas by the bottle full and regurgitates it as a foul-mouthed modern-day version of A Christmas Carol.

Like Dickens' seasonal classic, this filthy-minded fable revolves around a penny-pinching misanthrope.

Willie T Soke (Billy Bob Thornton) is a seasoned con man with dreams of one day owning his own beachside bar, principally so her can drink the profits.

In order to finance his grand dreams, Willie and his dwarf buddy Marcus (Tony Cox) dress up as Santa and his elf pal every Christmas and seek employment at any department store foolish enough to swallow their fake references.

From their privileged position as store employees, Willie and Marcus then scope out the security systems and, when the time is right, break into the safe, stealing everything they can get their grubby, thieving hands on.

The quarrelsome double-act ends up in Phoenix, where naive department store manager Bob Chipeska (John Ritter) desperately needs a new Father Christmas for his grotto.

Willie's boozing and womanising soon spirals out of control, jeopardising his entire scheme.

Thankfully, a wide-eyed, overweight eight-year-old boy (Brett Kelly) helps the con man see the error of his ways and discover true meaning of the festive season.

Bad Santa is a delight, hilariously charting the journey of self-discovery of a man who has almost given up on everyone and everything, except for the taste of good liquor.

The screenwriters run amok, desecrating the various icons of Christmas with a barrage of visual gags and stinging one-liners, which are sadly too colourful to repeat here.

Thornton shuffles moodily from one comic misadventure to the next, sporting a wonderful pained expression.

He gleefully brings out the very worst in his second rate con artist yet still makes us care about his curmudgeon by revealing the smallest glimpses of humanity.

Cox is a hoot and there are nice comic turns from Mac and Ritter in his final big screen performance.

Youngster Kelly is superb too, exuding a sweetness and innocence in sharp contrast to Willie's scathing cynicism.

Bad Santa is a wickedly original comedy with a dark edge: Christmas day with family or in-laws will seem like a breeze in comparison.

Rating: 8.5/10