Don't Open Till Christmas (1984)

Director:

Edmund Purdom

Writers:

Derek Ford (writer)
Al McGoohan (story)

Release Date:

December 1984 (USA)

Genre:

Horror | Mystery | Thriller

Tagline:

...t'was the night before Christmas, and all through the house, not a creature was stirring...they were all dead!

Plot:

Somebody with very little Christmas spirit is killing anyone in a Santa suit one London holiday season, and Scotland Yard has to stop him before he makes his exploits an annual tradition.

Plot Keywords:

Inspector | Scotland Yard | Holiday | Cut | Running

Cast

Edmund Purdom	...	Inspector Harris
Alan Lake	...	Giles
Belinda Mayne	...	Kate
Mark Jones	...	Sergeant Powell
Gerry Sundquist	...	Cliff Boyd
Kelly Baker	...	Experience Girl
Kevin Lloyd	...	Gerry
Wendy Danvers	...	Housekeeper
Nicholas Donnelly	...	Doctor Bridle (scenes deleted)
Pat Astley	...	Sharon
Laurence Harrington	...	Kate's father
Ken Halliwell	...	Restaurant Commissionare
Ray Marioni	...	Maitre d'hotel
Wilfred Corlett	...	Experience Santa Claus
Ricky Kennedy	...	Theatre Santa Claus

Runtime:

86 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Certification:

Iceland:16 | Australia:R | Norway:18 (video premiere) | UK:18 | USA:R | West Germany:(Banned) | Germany:BPjM Restricted

Filming Locations:

London Dungeon - 28-34 Tooley Street, London, England, UK

Company:

Spectacular Trading International

Trivia:

The film took almost two years to complete after original director Edmund Purdom quit the job and Derek Ford took over but was fired after two days. The distributors then hired Ray Selfe to complete the direction and Al McGoohan to rewrite parts of the script, including the original ending and the London Dungeon sequence, and much of the footage was completely re-filmed.

Goofs:

Factual errors: The title card reads "DONT OPEN TILL CHRISTMAS", missing the apostrophe in "don't".

Movie Connections:

Featured in The Making of a Horror Film (1984)

"Only 3 more killing days to Christmas" The Santa Murderer is stalking the streets of London

Ahhh....back in the days when British horror films were good. I wish I could've been alive then. But hey that's why DVDs were invented! This film is a very very good example of how good British horror used to be. The film has a great atmosphere and has a great 80s score. I like the performances and think that they are believable in the roles in which they portray. The film has some suspenseful scenes and I loved the film when I first watched it (incidently i first watched only four days after Christmas 2007) and I was rooted to the one spot until it was over. I was pleasantly surprised by the high standard of the film and also by the fact that it seemed to have been made on a relatively small budget. It also has a special significance for me as it is set around my favourite holiday. I must say that my favourite characters are Sharon the model: "You can come on in I'm not getting up." And I also throughly enjoy Experience Girl: "Does my mother know I work here? She ought to she own the place!" I love this film!!!