‘Don’t Open Till Christmas’ Blu-ray Review (88 Films)

Stars: Edmund Purdom, Alan Lake, Belinda Mayne, Mark Jones, Gerry Sundquist, Kelly Baker, Kevin Lloyd, Pat Astley | Written by Alan Birkinshaw, Derek Ford | Directed by Edmund Purdom

There’s something wonderfully grubby about Don’t Open Till Christmas, a film that feels less like a festive horror and more like a late-night stumble through the seedier corners of early ’80s London with a knife-wielding maniac on your heels. Released in 1984 but very much steeped in the post-Halloween, post-Friday the 13th slasher boom, this is British exploitation at its most unapologetic: mean-spirited, sleazy, and oddly charming in how little it cares about good taste.

The setup is gloriously simple. It’s Christmas in the East End, and someone has decided that Santa Claus needs to die. One by one, men dressed as Father Christmas are brutally murdered, often in public, sometimes with a level of cruelty that feels designed to shock rather than entertain. Enter Chief Inspector Harris of Scotland Yard, played by director Edmund Purdom, who stalks the streets attempting to stop the ever-growing body count. If that sounds thin, it is, but plot has never really been the point here.

What Don’t Open Till Christmas really offers is atmosphere. This is a vision of London that feels grimy, exploitative, and aggressively adult, filled with peep shows, strip clubs, neon-lit alleyways, and a general sense that the city itself is rotting under the tinsel. The Christmas trappings are everywhere: decorations, costumes, music, but there’s no warmth to be found. Instead, the festive season becomes a cruel joke, a backdrop for violence and misery rather than comfort and cheer. It’s this tonal clash that gives the film its lasting cult appeal.

The kills are blunt, nasty, and often linger longer than you’d expect, giving the film a real mean streak. There’s little of the playful creativity seen in American slashers of the same era. Instead, the violence feels ugly and confrontational, as if the film is daring you to keep watching. That approach won’t be for everyone, but it’s undeniably effective at leaving an impression. This is not a cosy Christmas horror you throw on with a mulled wine. It’s more like something you discover on a dodgy VHS tape at 1am and aren’t quite sure you were supposed to see.

Performances are functional at best, though Purdom brings a slightly odd, almost detached presence to the role of Harris, adding to the film’s off-kilter tone. Caroline Munro, however, steals every scene she’s in, particularly during her musical number, which somehow manages to be both wildly out of place and perfectly emblematic of the film’s anything-goes exploitation energy. It’s one of those moments that shouldn’t work at all, yet somehow becomes one of the most memorable parts of the movie.

As a slasher, Don’t Open Till Christmas is rough around the edges, occasionally incoherent, and often shameless, but that’s exactly its appeal. It captures a specific moment in British genre cinema when filmmakers were chasing international trends while injecting them with distinctly local grime and cynicism. Seen today, it plays like a time capsule of a vanished London and a vanished style of filmmaking, one where subtlety was optional, and shock value was king.

With its inclusion in 88 Films’ Slasher Classics Collection, Don’t Open Till Christmas feels right at home, preserved not because it’s “good” in a traditional sense, but because it’s important, infamous, and endlessly fascinating. Presented in high definition from a 2K restoration, this Blu-ray retains the film’s original 1.66:1 aspect ratio and does a solid job of preserving its grimy, neon-soaked London atmosphere. Audio comes via a 2.0 LPCM dual-mono track with optional English subtitles, keeping the experience authentic to how this nasty little slasher was originally heard and seen. The 88 Films disc also includes:

Special Features:

• Audio Commentary with Troy Howarth and Eugenio Ercolani
• Naughty or Slice – An Interview with Critic Kim Newman
• Screaming Cameo – An Interview with Actress Caroline Munro
• Santa’s Substitute – An Interview with Co-Director Alan Birkinshaw
• Edward the Conqueror – An Interview with Lilan Purdom
• Original Trailer

Don’t Open Till Christmas isn’t here to spread goodwill or festive joy. It’s here to drag Santa through the gutter and remind you that sometimes the darkest Christmas movies are the ones that feel a little too real.

***½  3.5/5

Don’t Open Till Christmas is out now on Blu-ray from 88 Films.