Crwthod A lot more amusing than I thought it would be.

Lollivan It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

Hayden Kane There is, somehow, an interesting story here, as well as some good acting. There are also some good scenes

Freeman This film is so real. It treats its characters with so much care and sensitivity.

Sam Panico A guy in a Santa suit has sex with a woman in a filthy alley before they're both killed by a man in a grinning see-through mask. Another Santa ha shis head impaled by a spear while his daughter watches. And yet another has his face grilled while roasted chestnuts on an open fire.Scotland Yard inspector Ian Harris (Edmund Purdom, who wrote and directed this film as well as appearing in 2019: After the Fall of New York and Pieces) and detective Powell are perplexed. Plus, Harris just got a gift that says "Don't Open Till Christmas." They question Kate, whose father was a killed Santa, and her boyfriend, Cliff.The next day, Cliff tricks Kate into coming to a porn studio. She storms off and he takes photos of a model dressed as Santa. A pair of police officers spot them shooting nudes in public, so he runs and the killer finds her, but lets her go. Oh yeah - and there's a reporter named Giles digging around, too.Things get worse. A strip club attending Santa gets knifed. The police think Cliff is the killer and the paper Giles says he works for has no idea who he is. And another Santa runs into the London Dungeon (yes, the place The Misfits sang about) and gets killed.Even after undercover officers go after the Santa killer, they can't find him and are killed themselves. The killer has a stripper who was there on the night he killed the Santa in her club and says that she will be the supreme sacrifice to Christmas evil. And Caroline Munro (!) is on stage in a nightclub when a Santa is chased on stage and stabbed in the face with a machete. Another Santa is castrated soon after.It turns out that inspector Harris has no birth certificate and has gone on leave, disappearing to a mental asylum where Kate follows.It turns out that Giles is Harris' insane brother. Kate finds out first, bit she is strangled and stabbed while detective Powell listens. Then, Giles lures him to his doom, as he electrocutes him in a junkyard.Sherry escapes and Giles chases after her. She knocks him over a railing and he has a flashback of when he went insane: he caught his father, dressed as Santa, having sex with another woman. When his mother found out, Santa shoved her over a railing. But it's too late for Sherry, as Giles has survived.Finally, Harris wakes from a bad dream and unwraps his gift, complete with a card from his loving brother. It explodes, killing him and ending the film.What I have just done is written about this film in a way that will probably make you want to watch it. It's a slasher that even references Halloween in its opening credits. But it's no Halloween.According to tvtropes.com, "this utter sleazefest of a film is quite a jumbled and confused mess, and for good reason. While production began in 1982, the film remained in Development Hell for two years, due to the title of director continually changing hands; first up was Edmund Purdom (who also portrayed Inspector Harris) who walked off the set, prompting at least three or four others to fill in for him, with one only holding Purdom's former position for a mere two days before being fired."Whew. You got better things to do this Christmas. Trust me.

Leofwine_draca 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!

Rich Wright You'd think with a spate of Santa killings in London, the inhabitants would do their utmost to avoid dressing up like jolly old Saint Nick. But no, even after the story is all over the papers, they still parade about in red and white, without a care in the world. Like lemmings, they are.I'd never heard of this film, but an 80's slasher set in somewhere that wasn't Middle America demanded to be seen, despite the unseasonal time of year. And I think I can grasp as to the reason behind its obscurity... it ain't very good. The scenes that are filmed seem to be stuck together with Pritt-Stick and paste, which is a way of saying it appears they're making up the plot as they go along. A lot of this material could be jumbled up in any random order... and still make as much sense as it does now (which isn't much). It comes as no great surprise when that the opening credits inform us that 'additional shots were written and directed' by some guy who WASN'T Edmund Purdom. A bit of trouble during production, perchance? Perhaps poor old Edmund got the SACK!! HO HO HO! *Ahem* Sorry...If you can stay awake long enough though, some of the murders are a really hoot, including one where Father Christmas gets emasculated while relieving himself, and another where Kris Kringle has a javelin lodged in his windpipe from fully 100 yards. (He might be a psycho, but that killer needs to try out for the Olympics, I tell you what.) It's just the parts in-between are little more than the same sort of padding that gives Santa his ginormous belly. There's no-one to relate to, and the constant change of perspective is a pain. It's definitely not a film to frighten your friends at a sleepover, more like one where you skip to the death scenes, and laugh your socks off at the dated effects. Get ready with that fast-forward button... 4/10

Scott LeBrun 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.