Episode 46

Soho Bites 46: Don't Open 'til Christmas (1984)

Ching ching etc - it's the Soho Bites Christmas special.

Having just left behind the wholesome world of Jessie Matthews and 1930s musicals, it feels right to descend into the grubby underbelly of Soho with the festive fiasco, Don't Open 'til Christmas.

The "plot" such as it is, is a basic one. A crazed serial killer is roaming the west end murdering men dressed as Santa Claus. If there's a worse Christmas film (not including anything by Hallmark) we'd be very interested to hear about them.

Written, produced & directed by a rotating motley crew of exploitation regulars, the film apparently took two years to make which is possibly the most shocking thing about it.

Our guest for this episode is the magnificent David McGillivray who has not only written about this film in the past but also knew many of the people involved.

David's Twitter and his IMDB listing.

Buy David's books, Doing Rude Things and Little Did You Know.

Thanks to Danny Cox for the countdown of festive Santa murders.

If you really want to see Don't Open 'til Christmas, you can find it on YouTube.

Thank you for listening.

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