Giles Harrison

"I hate Christmas. I hate everything it stands for."

- Giles venting to Sherry.

Giles Harrison is the main antagonist of the 1984 British slasher film Don't Open Till Christmas. He is a serial killer that was traumatized on Christmas. As a result of this trauma, he goes crazy near Christmas time and kills anyone dressed like Santa.

He was portrayed by Alan Lake.

Christmas Trauma
As a child, during a Christmas party, Giles walked in on his father, dressed as Santa Claus, cheating on his wife with one of the party guests. When his mother walks in, they get into a fight which ends up killing her when he pushes her down a flight of stairs. This incident would result in Giles's hatred for Christmas and got him sent to Parklands Mental Hospital. After he was committed, his brother Ian Harrison, changed his last name to Harris to distance himself from him.

The Santa Murders
During a night in London, a man dressed like Santa and a girl get into a car, as they're making out, someone watches them from the outside. The man gets out to confront him, but the figure stabs him. The girl gets out of the car and tries to run, but is cornered by the killer and stabbed.

The same killer goes to a costume party, where another man dressed like Santa gets ready to come out on stage. Disguised in a costume, he makes his way through the crowd and behind the curtains. When the Santa actor comes out, the killer hurls a spear at him, killing him.

Another Santa is out by the stores cooking steak on a grill. The killer sneaks up behind him and strangles him, before shoving his face onto the grill, causing his beard and suit to catch on fire.

The killer delivers a Christmas present that reads "Don't Open Until Christmas" to Chief Inspector Harris.

Giles phones the police, posing as a reporter for the Evening News, saying he's got information about the killings.

The next night, a drunken man dressed as Santa walks home. As he turns the corner, he is shot in the mouth.

A porn model named Sharon hides from two constables in an alley. When she turns, she comes face to face with a man wearing a transculent mask. The man pulls out a straight razor and is about to slit her throat, but he notices that she's half naked. He goes over her body with the razor and upon realizing that she's not a Santa, he doesn't hurt her and walks away.

A man dressed like Santa goes to a peep show and begins talking to a girl. The killer follows him down knifes him from behind, causing him to bleed all over the glass as the girl screams.

Giles meets with Sgt. Powell about the information and he warns him that he should keep an eye on Chief Inspector Harris.

Another Santa is riding home on a bike, when a couple of teenagers start chasing him. He ditches the bike and hides in a museum. As he runs into the museum, he knocks over a secretary. The secretary searches for his glasses, only for the killer to step on them and kill her. The killer turns on the attractions and disguises himself amongst the display. When the Santa passes by, the killer follows him. In one of the rooms, the Santa finds the hanging corpse of the secretary and tries to flee, but the killer sneaks up behind him and stabs him.

As two officers disguised like Santa are on a break, the killer sneaks up and takes them both out.

The girl from the peep show reports the crime to Sgt. Powell. She goes back to her position at the peep show and the killer comes in. When she recognizes him, he breaks through the glass and tries to grab her, but she flees. He chases her down the street and eventually pulls her into his hideout and chains her up.

Another Santa is thrown out of a theatre, before being confronted by a man with a machete. The killer chases the Santa into the theatre and kills him, leaving him on an elevator lift leading to the stage. When they activate the lift, Caroline Munro and her band are horrified to find the Santa's body with a machete in his face.

A department store Santa goes to the bathroom, as he's at the urinal, the killer comes out from one of the stalls and cuts off his junk with a straight razor. The Santa bleeds out as the killer leaves a custodian to find the body.

Giles sneaks into Kate's room and confronts her. Kate reveals that she visited Parklands Mental Hospital and figured out the truth. Sgt. Powell calls Kate, but before she is able to pick up the phone, Giles strangles her with some nearby tinsel and stabs her in the stomach. In the struggle, Kate was able to knock the phone off its hook, so Powell hears everything. He hurries over to the crime scene and gives chase to a fleeing Giles in an autopark. Giles attaches some jumper cables to the car, so when Powell opens the car door, he is electrocuted.

Giles returns to his hideout, where the peep show girl manages to trick him into untying her. She inadvertently angers him, while reaching for a weapon. As he is distracted, she hits him in the head with a board and tries to flee, but finds a locked door. Giles shows her the key and she lunges toward him. He pushes her off and she throws the chains at his face. She flees out the door and up flights of stairs. Giles grabs the chain and corners her on the top floor. When he's about to hit her, she ducks and the chain wraps around the railing, she pulls on it sending Giles over and to his supposed death. However, when she goes to inspect the body, Giles springs to life and attacks her.

Victims

 * 1: Santa Claus in Car | Knifed in the stomach.
 * 2: Girl in Car | Knifed in the stomach.
 * 3: Kate's Father | Impaled through mouth, via thrown spear.
 * 4: Market Santa | Strangled with wire, face burned on grill, and set ablaze.
 * 5: Drunken Santa | Shot in the mouth with a revolver.
 * 6: Peep Show Santa | Knifed in the neck.
 * 7: Dungeon Secretary | Unknown, killed off-screen.
 * 8: Dungeon Santa | Knifed twice in the stomach.
 * 9: Circus Santa | Stabbed with shoe knife and impaled with spiked glove.
 * 10: Circus Santa | Bottle broken over head, stabbed in eye with the broken handle.
 * 11: Theatre Santa | Face hacked with machete.
 * 12: Store Santa | Manhood cut off with a straight razor.
 * 13: Kate Briosky | Strangled with tinsel and knifed twice in the stomach.
 * 14: Detective Sergeant Powell | Electrocuted with jumper cables.
 * 15: Peep Show Girl | ( speculated )
 * 16: Chief Inspector Ian Harris | Killed by explosion, via booby trapped music box.

Weapons and Equipment

 * Knife
 * Spear
 * Wire
 * Motorcycle
 * Straight razor
 * Revolver
 * Shoe knife
 * Spiked glove
 * Short blade machete
 * Jumper cables
 * Music box bomb

Trivia

 * He shares some similarities with the main antagonist of Silent Night, Deadly Night.