Don't Open Till Christmas

on DVD from Mondo Macabro

Mondo Macabro, one of the most versatile independent video labels on the planet, has just signed an exclusive agreement with Danger After Dark for distribution. The first release of the new partnership will be UK slasher, Don't Open Till Christmas, fully uncut and featuring over an hour of bonus material, coming December 6th. I can't help but think that this is good news, Mondo Macabro has been fairly quiet this year, but the few titles they've released most recently have been fantastic, and hopefully this will usher in a new, more productive, era for Pete Tombs' and Andy Starke's amazing company.

DANGER AFTER DARK to DISTRIBUTE
MONDO MACABRO LIBRARY IN NORTH AMERICA

The holiday fun begins with ultimate festive DVD release:
1984's UK-slasher horror "DON'T OPEN TILL CHRISTMAS"
re-mastered and completely uncut!

(New York; October 27, 2011) DANGER AFTER DARK is proud to announce that it will be the exclusive North American distributor for UK-based MONDO MACABRO, the film label dedicated to "the wild side of world cinema." To celebrate this momentous partnership, MONDO MACABRO presents the holiday release of "DON'T OPEN TILL CHRISTMAS," the classic British slasher that was heavily cut at the time of its release - now re-mastered in HD and uncut for the first time ever with over 70 minutes of extras! The "ho-ho-ho horror" slays your DVD collection when it streets December 6, 2011 with a S.R.P. of $24.99. Check out the trailer here: http://vimeo.com/31094985

"DANGER AFTER DARK is excited to bring one of the premiere, specialty film labels into our distribution family, " says Derek Curk, President of Danger After Dark . "MONDO MACABRO's fearless dedication to finding, preserving and unleashing unconventional, provocative movies fits DANGER AFTER DARK's drive to provide an outlet for MONDO, to get their films to their very loyal fan-base."

"MONDO MACABRO and DANGER AFTER DARK have had a relationship for years and it's a great pleasure for us to cement that with a distribution deal, " says Andy Starke, President of UK-based MONDO MACABRO. " It's fantastic to have found a home at a company that is not only knowledgeable about cult, underground and alternative cinema - but are fans too"

Their first title sounds like a good one, too, and a bit of a switch from the mondo cinema they're accustomed to releasing. It's always nice to watch them branch out. Mondo Macabro is among the very best curated collections in the home video world. Here are some details on Don't Open Till Christmas.

"DON'T OPEN TILL CHRISTMAS," directed by and starring Edmund Purdom, celebrates Christmas time in London - a season of good will to all men and full of joyous celebrations, quality family time and luxurious presents. This year, it's also time for a masked maniac to be let loose on the streets. His intended victims are chosen at random but they all have one thing in common: they are dressed in the flowing white beard and bright red robes of Santa Claus! With fourteen Santa Clauses already dead and only three killing days left until Christmas, the police are baffled as the horrific death toll continues to rise. From the producers of "Pieces" and "Slaughter High," this rarely-seen flick features very graphic and disturbing violence - including castration, mutilation - and some phenomenal nudity, courtesy of Pat Astley (Mr. Grace's nurse from "Are You Being Served?"). Suffice it to say, your holidays will never be the same again!

Be Kind, Rewind: The VHS Reviews ~ Devilfish (1984)

a.k.a. Shark: Rosso nell'oceano
"Sink Your Teeth Into Pure Terror"

Synopsis: Many questions arise when bodies begin to wash ashore along the Florida coast. Since the marks on the corpses don't lead to any known animal, scientist Dr. Stella Dickens (Valentine Monnier) suspects it's the work of an unknown life form and strives to catch it alive. It turns out, a group of scientists at the underwater-study institute have genetically created the 40 foot creature as a bio-weapon and it's been designed to reproduce by asexual means. She soon finds out that the company she works for is responsible and will stop at nothing to keep their secret from getting out.

My Thoughts: Originally titled 'Shark: Rosso nell'oceano' or 'Shark: Red on the Ocean', this long lost 'Jaws' rip-off from Lamberto Bava is a bit of a mess. I had no problem with the plot and the acting seemed passable, though it's really hard to tell with these English-dubbed Italian movies. The main thing that got under my skin was the terrible editing, something I have never noticed in other Bava films. I can only hope that this was just some bad American edit and the original film isn't as choppy. After all, different cuts of the film have been released in several countries under dozens of titles, such as 'Monster Shark' in Germany, 'Devouring Waves' in the U.K. and 'Jaws Attack 2' in Japan.

In addition to the crappy editing, the scenes with the 'Devilfish' were not convincing at all. Actually, all of the fish scenes were totally cheesy (and not in a good way). Bava and his crew obviously had no idea how to shoot underwater, though I did enjoy some of the out of the water gore effects.

One of those most interesting things about watching this movie was picking out all of the stuff that has been copied (or stolen) from it in recent years. The obvious one is the creature itself. It's the f%#kin' Sharktopus! Come on Bava, sue those motherf%#kers. Shit, I would. You know come to think of it, just about every movie that the Sci-Fi channel makes is based on this plot. The other noticeable thing was a few of the kills were lifted by Alexandre Aja for his 2010 'Piranha' reboot, which would have been a nice tribute if anybody even remembered this film.

My Rating: 4 / 10






Bava followed up this forgettable killer fish flick with one of the greatest horror films of all-time, 'Demons'. You can go ahead an argue that fact, but you'd be wrong ...so don't bother. Because he made 'Demons' (and even 'Demons 2', for that matter), we'll forgive him for this one.

I'd probably say unless you're really into those Sci-Fi channel killer fish movies, you should skip it. I would suggest watching anything else he put out in the 80's, like maybe 'A Blade in the Dark' or 'Delirium'. Plus, it's not available on DVD and used VHS copies are going for over $15 on amazon. If you're just looking for a laugh, check out the MST3K version on Netflix instant.

'click here for more reviews at Horrorphilia.com'

Repo Man (1984)

"…It’s 4 A.M., do you know where your car is?"

Synopsis: Frustrated punk rocker Otto (Elimio Estevez, "The Breakfast Club", "Maximum Overdrive") who quits his supermarket job after slugging a co-worker, and is later dumped by his girlfriend at a party. Wandering the streets in frustration, he is recruited in the repossession of a car by a repo agent (Harry Dean Stanton, "Alien", "Escape From New York"). After discovering his parents have donated his college fund to a televangelist, he joins the repossession agency (Helping Hand Acceptance Corporation) as an apprentice "repo man". During his training, he is introduced into the mercenary and paranoid world of the drivers, befriended by a UFO conspiracy theorist (Olivia Barash, "Tuff Turf", "Fame"), confronted by rival repo agents, discovers some of his one-time friends have turned to a life of crime, is lectured to near cosmic unconsciousness by the repo agency grounds worker (Tracey Walter, "Batman", "The Silence of the Lambs"), and finds himself entangled in a web of intrigue concerning a huge repossession bounty on a 1964 Chevy Malibu driven by a lunatic government scientist, with Top Secret cargo in the trunk.

My Thoughts: The “cult film” tag is thrown out there way too often, much of the time undeserved. British filmmaker Alex Cox’s 1984 classic truly warrants that title. This fairly unknown low-budget sci-fi/comedy still holds up, even 27 years after it’s release.

Alex Cox’s debut is so full of strange characters and sub-plots that it’s a miracle it doesn’t completely fall apart half way through. I gotta attribute that to not only Cox’s script, but to the great acting from his more than competent cast. Harry Dean Stanton practically steals the show as Bud, a smooth talking low-life repo man who has done and seen it all. His scenes with Estevez are classic and are responsible for some incredible quotes like, "What are you? A fuckin' commie? I don't want no commies in my car … No Christians either!". Tracey Walter also has a hilarious scene where he explains to Otto about what he calls the “cosmic unconsciousness” and how flying saucers are really time machines.

Repo Man has as much sarcasm, dark humor and inside jokes as you will ever find in a film. I’ve probably seen it over a dozen times and I’m still picking up on things that I’ve missed. On my last watch, I just noticed that everybody who works at the repo yard is named after a beer (Bud, Oly, Miller, Lite).

…and how can I forget about the incredible soundtrack, which is includes the Suicidal Tendencies classic, “Institutionalized”. Not to mention, songs by The Circle Jerks, Black Flag and Iggy Pop. The highlight of the album has to be Burning Sensations cover of the 1976 Modern Lovers’ tune, “Pablo Picasso”. A song consisting of just spoken word lyrics over a “Peter Gunn” riff, that contains the lyrics: "Well some people try to pick up girls/And get called assholes/This never happened to Pablo Picasso/He could walk down your street/And girls could not resist his stare/Pablo Picasso was never called an asshole …not like you." The Repo Man soundtrack is practically a time capsule of L.A.’s hardcore/punk scene during the early 80’s.

My Rating: 9 / 10





This film falls into the must-own category. I don’t even know why I didn’t rate it a 10 out of 10. Don’t take my word for it, check it out on Netflix instant. A blu-ray version has yet to be released, but I definitely recommend picking up the collector’s edition DVD. It’s a high quality transfer with some great extras, including scenes from the network T.V. version that weren’t included in the original film and were left off the DVD’s original release.

"click here to see the trailer"