“Only three more killing days to Christmas.”
Scotland Yard goes on a wild manhunt to find a mysterious killer that is murdering any and everyone dressed as Santa Claus on the streets of London in 1984’s Don’t Open Till Christmas. The British slasher film didn’t make much of an impact on the big screen, but it has found new life over the years on home media and streaming services. It’s a fairly generic slasher film that features a number of tragic ends for many of its cast members in real life.
The film stars Alan Lake, Belinda Mayne, Gerry Sundquist, Mark Jones, and Kelly Baker. It also features a cameo appearance from Hammer Horror legend, Caroline Munro, portraying herself. Some of the supporting players in the film include Pat Astley, Laurence Harrington, and Derek Ford. Also starring in and directing the film is Edmund Purdom.
In the film, Chief Inspector Harris (Purdom) leads up the hunt for the Santa slayer. His prime suspect is Cliff Boyd (Sundquist), who happens to be the boyfriend of Kate Briosky (Mayne), whose wealthy father was murdered at a Christmas party in front of her. Harris believes that Boyd, or possibly Kate, murdered Kate’s father in order to gain his inheritance. As more bodies pile up, however, Harris shifts his investigation to other suspects. A young stripper (Baker) witnesses the murder of a Santa while performing in a peep show house and she manages to get a decent look at his eyes behind his mask. She goes to Harris and a manhunt ensues. Will Christmas come early for Scotland Yard or will there be more Kris Kringle killings???? Find out by watching Don’t Open Till Christmas.
As I stated before, this is a pretty generic slasher flick. The killer does have a motive, revealed near the end of the film, and there is a little twist that’s pretty obvious early on that comes to light at the film’s conclusion. That said, there were quite a few decent performances in this film. Kelly Baker is brilliant as Sherry, the young stripper that witnesses a murder in the film. Sadly, her career appears to have been limited to only three films. I don’t know what has happened to her since making those movies. Mayne and Sundquist also give great performances. Mayne is perhaps best known by American audiences for her appearance in the Doctor Who serial, Delta And The Bannermen. She also appeared in Krull and had a bit part in Wonder Woman 1984. Sundquist appeared in numerous film and television roles during his career, most notably an appearance in Space 1999. Tragically, Sundquist took his own life in 1993 whenever he jumped in front of a train at the Norbiton Railway Station. Another terrible tragedy was the suicide of Alan Lake. Lake shot himself just a few months after the death of his wife, Diana Dors, to cancer. The film was released after his suicide.
It should also be mentioned that Derek Ford, who portrays one of the Santa Claus victims in the film, was a prominent adult film writer and director in the 1970s. Also, Pat Astley featured in a number of adult films, some which were hardcore, before landing a brief role on the highly successful comedy, Are You Being Served?. She was eventually released from that series due to her work in adult films but managed to continue working in mainstream movies in small roles (which almost always involved nudity) until her final appearance on film in Don’t Open Till Christmas.
Generic as it may be, check out Don’t Open Till Christmas. Terrible tragedies, the adult film industry, and even ol’ Doctor Who all have ties to this twisted little film. Thanks for checking out my post. See you again real soon.
Ken's Alternate Universe! 