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Don't Open Till Christmas – Vinegar Syndrome (Blu-ray)

Theatrical Release Date: UK, 1984
Director: Edmund Purdom
Writers: Alan Birkinshaw, Derek Ford
Cast: Edmund Purdom, Alan Lake, Belinda Mayne, Mark Jones, Gerry Sundquist, Kelly Baker, Kevin Lloyd, Wendy Danvers, Caroline Munro

Release Date: October 24th, 2022
Approximate Running Time: 86 Minutes 39 Seconds
Aspect Ratio: 1.66:1 Widescreen / 1080 Progressive / MPEG-4 AVC
Rating: NR
Sound: DTS-HD Mono English
Subtitles: English SDH
Region Coding: Region Free
Retail Price: $42.98

"It's just days before Christmas in London, but not everyone is full of good cheer - as a maniac with a pathological hatred of Santa Claus stalks the streets, butchering any man that’s unlucky enough to be wandering around dressed as Old Saint Nick. Not restricting themself to any one method of murder, this twisted killer dishes out stabbings, gunshots, a castration, and even burns the face of one poor Santa on his own roasting chestnuts! As the bodies of slaughtered Father Christmases pile up, Chief Inspector Harris finds himself under increasing pressure to crack the case before the holiday is canceled for good!" - synopsis provided by the distributor

Video: 5/5

Here’s the information provided about this release's transfer, "Newly scanned & restored in 2K from its 35mm internegative."

Don't Open Till Christmas comes on a 50 GB dual layer Blu-ray.

Disc Size: 46.2 GB

Feature: 23.7 GB

The source used for this transfer is in excellent shape. Colors are nicely saturated, flesh tones look healthy, image clarity, black levels, and compression are solid, and grain remains intact.

Audio: 5/5

This release comes with one audio option, a DTS-HD mono mix in English, and included with this release are removable English SDH subtitles. There are no issues with background hiss or distortion; dialog always comes through clearly; everything sounds balanced; ambient sounds are well-represented; and the score sounds appropriately robust.

Extras:

Extras for this release include a theatrical trailer (1 minute 56 seconds, Dolby Digital mono English with removable English SDH subtitles), a behind the scenes stills gallery with music from the film playing in the background, deleted and extended scenes from a never-before-seen rough cut (16 minutes 9 seconds, Dolby Digital mono English, no subtitles), a locations featurette titled A Dangerous Place for Santa (14 minutes 39 seconds. Dolby Digital stereo English with removable English SDH subtitles), an archival making-of documentary featuring contemporary cast/crew interviews and behind-the-scenes footage titled The Making of a Horror Film (52 minutes 6 seconds, Dolby Digital mono English with removable English subtitles), a career-spanning archival interview with screenwriter/filmmaker Alan Birkinshaw titled Birkinshaw Uncut (56 minutes 10 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English with removable English SDH subtitles), an interview with Lilan Purdom, daughter of director Edmund Purdom titled Purdom Babylonia (16 minutes 35 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English with removable English SDH subtitles), an interview with actress Caroline Munro titled Slashing Miss Munro (34 minutes 36 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English with removable English SDH subtitles),an interview with Alan Birkinshaw titled Don't Direct Till Christmas (20 minutes 3 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English with removable English SDH subtitles), an audio commentary with film historian/author Amanda Reyes and special features producer Ewan Cant, reversible cover art, and an embossed and spot gloss slipcover limited to 5,000 units.

Summary:

Produced by Dick Randall, an exploitation film maverick whose diverse filmography includes films like The French Sex Murders, For Y’ur Height Only, The Clones of Bruce Lee, and Pieces.

Reportedly, Don’t Open Till Christmas was a troubled production from the get-go, with its original director, Edmund Purdom (Pieces), quitting before completion. He also happened to be the marquee name attached to Don’t Open Till Christmas. He was then replaced by Derek Ford (Eros Perversion), who wrote the screenplay for Don’t Open Till Christmas. After just a few days, Derek Ford would also bow out. Don’t Open Till Christmas would finally be completed by Ray Selfe and the script would see a major rewrite that included a brand new ending.

Don’t Open Till Christmas’s narrative is fairly routine; there is not much more going on than victims being stalked and murdered by a killer. Also, the killer’s motivation for choosing who lives and dies is not always consistent. It should be noted that Don’t Open Till Christmas does establish that the main motive for the psychopaths' killing spree has something to do with an incident involving Santa Claus from the killers’ childhood. And just like countless other slasher films, there are numerous red herrings thrown into the mix, in hopes of disguising who the killer is. Unfortunately, the majority of this film's misdirection attempts fall flat.

Though the narrative leaves a lot to be desired, its kill scenes are all well executed and, at times, very stylish. Some of the standout moments include the opening murder sequence, in which a couple in the throes of love are killed trying to escape their car. and a scene in which one of the Santa Clauses tries to find sanctuary in a wax museum. This scene is also easily the most sadistic moment in Don’t Open Till Christmas.

It should not come as a surprise that the performances are rather bland. At least Don’t Open Till Christmas tries to cover some of the short comings by making sure to incorporate plenty of T & A from its female cast members. The cast includes several well-known faces, including Belinda Mayne (Alien 2: On Earth) as the leading lady in Don't Open Till Christmas and Caroline Munro (Star Crash, Maniac), who plays herself. Ultimately, Don’t Open Till Christmas is yet another mediocre entry in a long line of yuletide themed horror films, with some of the more notable of these types of films being Black Christmas and Christmas Evil.

Don't Open Till Christmas gets a definitive release from Vinegar Syndrome, highly recommended.