"Bloody New Year" review

Bloody New Year (1987)

Directed by Norman J. Warren
Writing credits Frazer Pearce

Suzy Aitchison .... Lesley
Nikki Brooks .... Janet
Colin Heywood .... Spud
Mark Powley .... Rick
Catherine Roman .... Carol

Ahh, the New Year is here. So many hopes and possibilities stretch out before us. What wild and wondrous things will be accomplished this year? Who can say? All I know is that I’ve started off the New Year with another B-movie so all is going according to plan in my world.

I’ve had “Bloody New Year” collecting dust on my DVD pile for many a moon now. I just never seemed to be in the mood for an 80’s British horror movie. When I woke up this morning, I was looking for something timely to watch. My New Year needed to start off with some B-movie madness. The time was finally right for “Bloody New Year”.

So a bunch of fun loving, twenty-something teens end up on a deserted island. It soon becomes clear to them that there is something really weird going on. Various malevolent spirits want the teens to stay on the island forever. The ghosts are stuck doing the time warp again. It’s always 1959 on this island. It’s time for a bloody New Year.

I suppose I should give “Bloody New Year” some points for being creative. This movie wants it all. It has ghosts popping off of movie screens, angry fish nets attacking, hungry dishwashers, and of course, killer ping pong balls. There’s even one scene where two of the teens are stalked by an evil laugh track. The camera chases after them while unseen forces laugh their heads off. Some might call this a good change of pace from the usual maniac with insatiable bloodlust flick. As for me, I found it all to be a little too goofy. “Bloody New Year” was not satisfied with just being a run of the mill slasher movie. I would have been happier if it was. The space time continuum was whacked out of its mind.

I also want to highlight the description on the back of the DVD: “Set on a deserted island, and in an empty amusement park, a group of teenagers have sex and get killed in a variety of ways.” Sounds like every other slasher flick right? Except for the fact that whoever wrote that description has not seen this movie. There is no sex or nudity of any kind in this movie. I was on the lookout for it but was denied. Also, the amusement park was not empty and it’s only in the first 10-15 minutes. Can you believe the description on the DVD lied? Can you?! Shocked are you? Well, you shouldn’t be. This is standard B-movie practice. I should know better.

Overall, I was not satisfied with this one. There was a little blood and some interesting ghostly gimmicks but it wasn’t enough. Also, the “New Year” angle doesn’t really figure into the movie until the last five minutes. It’s actually July when the teens arrive on the island. Casper and his not so friendly ghosts are the only ones who are still partying like it’s 1959. One lie brings more lies which make B-movie reviewers say enough is enough. Let's not do the time warp again.

SCORE: 1.5 out of 4 not so bloody new years