Actuakers One of my all time favorites.

CommentsXp Best movie ever!

Brenda The plot isn't so bad, but the pace of storytelling is too slow which makes people bored. Certain moments are so obvious and unnecessary for the main plot. I would've fast-forwarded those moments if it was an online streaming. The ending looks like implying a sequel, not sure if this movie will get one

Curt Watching it is like watching the spectacle of a class clown at their best: you laugh at their jokes, instigate their defiance, and "ooooh" when they get in trouble.

Mr_Ectoplasma "Don't Open Till Christmas" charts a series of yuletide slayings in London during the month of December, in which a killer is targeting Santa Claus impersonators and killing them in brutal fashions. A young woman whose father was a victim, and a peepshow worker, are among those immersed in the Scotland Yard's investigation to find the killer.The consensus on this film seems to be that it is an English attempt at an American-style film, and that is partly true. "Don't Open Till Christmas" looks and feels like a stateside picture, at times recalling the misanthropic underworld of "Taxi Driver," only set in a very clearly 1980s London, and populated with Santa slashings and the occasional nude model or sex worker.The tables here are turned from the usual Christmas horror ilk, however, with killer Santas out and dead Santas in-donning the red costume, beard, and cap gets characters killed in horrific ways. The film seems to be anchored around these elaborate murder set pieces, with some particularly brutal and inventive methods by which the killer slays Kris Kringles. It's difficult to classify the film as a slasher entire, as the script at times focuses significantly on the police detectives and investigation; meanwhile, two key female characters become involved when they witness two different murders, and the narrative splinters out from there. This leaves the proceedings feeling tonally off balance and is a bit disenfranchising to the viewer. The film does take several risks from there, one of which is wildly unexpected, though I'm still not sure it works in the film's favor. The film purportedly took around two years to complete, which may explain for some of these imbalances, including the slipshod finale that is over before you know it.In the end, "Don't Open Till Christmas" is an undeniably fun film-a sleazy sort-of-slasher flick that delivers the goods in terms of gore and flair. On a practical level, it is messily-written and sometimes feels like an English take on "Taxi Driver" or "Maniac" mixed with an Italian giallo. It's not difficult to follow, but it's difficult to commit to as it doesn't have a principle sympathetic character. On a lighter note, though, it does have perhaps the best opening credit sequence of any Christmas horror film I know of, in which a wax Santa melts to a sparse, chimed version of "Jingle Bells." 6/10.

videorama-759-859391 Some wack job out there is killing Santa's, so it's up to good ol' Scotland Yard to catch this maniac, who's killing with consistency, one such incident, blowing a Santa away, with a barrel to the open mouth way. This is a shoddy made film, slapdash, with nothing going for it, except a high Santa count. This thriller, throws in a few suspects, where it has us highly believe it could be the chief, (Piece's killer, Edward Purdom) and it does that, especially if you've seen Pieces. The blood is so fake (check out the sex booth scene), and some of the acting is laughable. White Fire's Belinda Mayne who's father was a victim, has a warm spot for Purdom, and it was interesting to see how far this would go, or hope it would go. Suspect, journalist hound, Alan Lake, is again a pleasure to watch. This is a bad movie, which incidentally came out, virtually the same time as Silent Night Deadly Night, which is fine film making, when compared to this mess, which I admit it's explosive ending one would say, was impressively unexpected, as is none of the rest of this film. An eerie touch here, is hearing the tune, Silent Night Holy Night, played on an accordian, in bits, throughout. What a mess, with endless bodies, a nude bloodied one, the camera favors up close, for our visual enjoyment.

Bezenby 2016 slight edit:This film is great to be honest. It's far from scary, but it's a top line cheesy eighties slasher film, full of quirks and the usual madness that makes films like Pieces so great. Plus, it has a brain damaging ending. What else can you ask for? A killer is targeting people dressed as Santa. It's up to Edmund Purdom, who's a cop, to stop whoever it is. This isn't your usual slasher flick. There's no teenage annoyances here, and most of the film is set in Soho, London. The list of suspects isn't that huge either(although I did get the identity of the killer wrong) and the 'final girl' isn't who you'd expect it to be.Quirks? There's a musical number (Warrior of Love) by Caroline Munro that's almost the best part of the film (and comes out of nowhere) a bit of gore, some of the most bluntest nudity you'll see, heaps of sexism, daftness, and, as I mentioned, the ending will have you weeping tears of laughter. I loved it. This IS the perfect companion piece to...er... Pieces. Purdom is just as daft here as he was in Pieces, but this time he directs also.

Coventry "Don't Open Till Christmas" is a pretty bad and often irritating 80's slasher, but on the other hand I honestly can't bring myself to write too many overly harsh things about it, because there were still several elements that I appreciated and thought showed a lot of potential. For example, this is probably the only holiday-themed slasher that reverses the characters. Usually in this sort of flicks, the maniacal killer dresses up as Santa Claus and goes on a murder spree. In this case the killer wears a 'normal' disguise but exclusively targets people who are dressed up in Santa Claus suits. You know, like drunks at parties or employees at the mall. You would assume that, after the third murder or so, the entire city is sufficiently alerted and the police advises people not to appear in public dressed as Santa, but no. Our deranged killer easily keeps finding victims throughout practically the entire movie. After nearly a dozen of Santa Claus kills in the same London area, people still go out dressed as Santa. "Don't Open Till Christmas" also isn't your average 80's slasher with stereotypical teenage characters and clichéd campus ground settings. The film takes place in the darkest alleys of London (either that or they just didn't have the budget for light bulbs) and introduces plausible lead characters, like a fatigue old Scotland Yard inspector and the shocked daughter of a recently slain victim. The inspector has an unreliable partner and the girl has a suspiciously behaving boyfriend. Together they hunt for the Santa slayer, but there really aren't any clues given, so we're just supposed to patiently sit through another handful of gross killings until the revelation of the utterly grotesque and stupid denouement at the end. Luckily enough the body count of "Don't Open Till Christmas" is quite high, because the film is incredibly boring when there aren't any murders occurring. Some of the kills are quick and delightfully mean- spirited, like the Santa guy who bluntly gets shot in the face, whereas other ones appear to be endlessly stretched. There's one Santa who flees throughout the half of London before finally getting stabbed in the stomach at a museum and another one has to endure an whole ugly disco song, sung by Caroline Munro, before a machete splices his face. The scenes in the peepshow-theater are undeniably the best ones, largely because I can't say for certain whether the humor is intentional or not. That sequence, along with the urinal castration of course, are the highlights of the film. There isn't the slightest bit of suspense or intelligence to be found in the scenario, so naturally you go look for hilarious incompetence example to list as the film's highlights. "Don't Open Till Christmas" stands as the sole directorial effort of Edward Purdom. This fine British gentleman appeared in tons of inferior horror productions, mostly Italian and Spanish ones like "Frankenstein's Castle of Freaks" and "Pieces", but this homeland film was his one shot at directing. According to the trivia section, he quit the job and it took another two years before the film got released.