There isn't much of an understandable plot here. There's a killer on the lose taking out every Santa in sight. Meanwhile, detectives and our protagonists are trying to figure out how to solve the mystery. They never seem to get anywhere and pretty much ruin the movie while they're at it.Don't Open 'Til Christmas gives us plenty of kills, but they are really lame. It provides multiple stabbings using a toy knife that inverts when you stab someone, someone burning to death, a cut off penis (off screen), and a melted face. The lighting was so dark it was difficult to see how the face was actually melted; I know they used a cheap plastic eyeball though. Pat Astley is a porno actress who made a sweet appearance in this film. All three times she is shown she gets topless. Makes me want to go check out her other movies: Dr. Sex and Nymphmania. The film took 2 years to make due to the fact that they ended up having three different directors. Edmund Purdom began and also starred in the movie, but then switched it over to someone else who was fired after two days. Eventually, they got someone to finish this piece of crap up. It was a British movie, but it seemed like it was in a foreign language because the audio was dubbed so horribly. Not only that, there were so many clips from obvious different time periods that did not belong but were thrown in anyways. Tons of random clips would occur every few seconds that made no sense. Oh, and the lighting was awful and it was difficult to see any outdoors shots.Bottom Line: This was a horrible mess of a movie that went like this: 1.Detectives being detectives. 2.Protagonists being sketchy. 3.Detectives questioning protagonists. 4.Random Santa dying with no build up. 5.Repeat sequence.Eventually the protagonists are no longer in the film and the detectives never figure out the case or have anything to do with the ending. This is due to the 2-year process of making a simple horror film. The ending makes absolutely no sense and just leaves the viewer feeling like they wasted a lot of time watching this garbage.

This cruel film has pretty much everything you could want from a cheesy slasher flick: ample gobs of gratuitous Kensington Gore, plenty of gratuitous nudity, and some poor acting to round it all off. This British variant on a well-worn theme goes for the all-out sleaze aspect of the genre, focusing entirely on some grimy, bloody and explicit death scenes and mixing them in with peep shows and seedy, lecherous drunkards. Taking in the darker, grimier side of London, the actual setting is very good for a horror film, and setting some stalking scenes in dungeons and weird exhibitions works successfully; these scenes actually turn out to be quite frightening.The particularly vicious edge to the killings in this film elevates it to a higher horror status than the other contemporary American offerings. Knives are shoved through heads, people are garroted, strangled, stabbed in the stomach, and in the film's piece de resistance, a gentleman relieving himself in the toilets has his member hacked off by a straight razor! Another gruesome highlight has a kindly old Santa roasting chestnuts over a grill, only to have his face shoved into the flames and scorched before being set alight! The acting here is below average: only a couple of the cast members convince in their roles, and everybody else is just wooden. Edmund Purdom and Mark Jones are quite good as Inspector Harris and Sergeant Powell respectively, and the killer's bug-eyed insanity fits the role nicely. But the female cast members seem only to have been picked for their glamour, take for example Caroline Munro who pops up to perform a musical interlude in one dire moment.Thankfully, while we're mired in the poor editing and exceedingly slow police investigation, you can be sure that another brutal murder will soon pop up. This film has a very high body count, with just about everybody being bumped off by the time the credits roll. The eventual confrontation with the unmasked killer is rushed, too, unfortunately, and marred by an unconvincing is-he-dead final shock which appears to have been tacked on. Being a mid '80s film, you can expect some lousy fashions and hairdos, with the men looking like women and the women all having huge blonde hair. An embarrassing disco scene pops up and the killer lurks around in a "shrunken head" costume - it's pretty funny. Another scene guaranteed to evoke a few chuckles occurs when a drunken Santa is attacked by a gang of punks who then proceed to nick his bike! A cold detachment hangs over the film, meaning that we never really care what happens to any of the characters. The deaths impress only due to their creativity, and as we never get to know any of the victims, there's no emotional involvement, and therefore, no real scares. Still, the extreme gore is there, along with the extremely sleazy atmosphere to appeal to most genre fans. Worth a look, if this is your sort of thing. Oh, and one final thing: check out the 'surprise' ending, as it's a real gobsmacker!

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.

The same year that the American made "Silent Night, Deadly Night" caused a furor over its controversial content, the US / UK co-production "Don't Open Till Christmas" was released, with a premise reversing that of its counterpart; it's up to the viewer whether they find this more or less distasteful.In this instance, Santa Claus is not the murderer, but the victim - more to the point, any man in this movie wearing a Santa costume is fair game for a sadistic killer with a hatred for all things Christmas. The put upon Scotland Yard inspector Ian Harris (Edmund Purdom) is in charge of the case, while young Kate (Belinda Mayne) sees her own father perish near the beginning of the story due to his having been in Santa garb at the time.For a movie that was such a troubled production, "Don't Open Till Christmas" is about as "good" as it could possibly be. Purdom, who'd already acted for producers Dick Randall and Steve Minasian in the notorious "Pieces", agreed to star in this under the condition that he get to direct. After Purdom failed to be up to the task, screenwriter Derek Ford was brought in, only to be fired soon himself. The job then landed in editor Ray Selfes' lap, and Alan Birkinshaw was recruited to do some rewriting. Ultimately, Selfe did assemble something basically coherent out of the footage that was shot.For entertainment value, though, this is hard to beat, especially for any horror fan who prefers their viewings to be on the decidedly trashy and sleazy side. Co-stars Pat Astley and Kelly Baker, very sexy birds both of them, show off some delectable bodies. Astley has a great scene, where, standing outdoors, clad in little more than a Santa coat, she is molested by the killers' straight razor. The various murders are sure to have folks howling with approval: being burned on a brazier, stabbed, castrated and left to bleed to death, etc. Two major set pieces have one victim pursued through a "dungeon" containing assorted macabre displays and props, and another slaughtered in a basement while a cheesy music number, performed by the legendary sex symbol Caroline Munro, is taking place above.The decent performances (save for Purdom, who looks disinterested throughout) get the job done; standing out are Mark Jones as Sergeant Powell and Alan Lake (a real hoot) as the reporter Giles; sadly, Lake never lived to see this become a sort of cult favourite as he committed suicide the following year. Some silly & hilarious moments add to the fun, such as the reason why Cliff (Gerry Sundquist) abandoned Sharon outside in the first place. The killers' motivation, shown in flashback form right near the end of the movie, will be very familiar to those who have seen a certain other "killer Santa" classic. The music is sometimes reminiscent of vintage John Carpenter, and is most amusing, as is the abrupt denouement, and the subversion of at least one genre cliché.Fans of seasonal horror are advised to check this one out. It finally got a proper DVD release in Region 1 thanks to Mondo Macabro, and it looks better than it ever has. Giving it a viewing may well become a tradition for you as it has for this viewer.Eight out of 10.