The drive-in theater seems to show Herschell Gordon Lewis' Blood Feast (1963), but it is not. The movie showing is actually La dama rossa uccide sette volte (1972) a.k.a. "La Dama Rossa Uccide Sette Volte." It was also distributed under the name "Blood Feast," which has caused some confusion.
One of several holiday-themed horror films that followed the success of Halloween - La notte delle streghe (1978) in 1980. The notable difference here is the murderer's face is revealed early on, he isn't masked until the finale of the movie.
The success of Halloween - La notte delle streghe (1978) began a cycle of slasher films with titles and subjects based around commemorative days and events, such as Non entrate in quella casa (1980), Graduation Day (1981), Dodici rintocchi di terrore (1980), Il giorno di San Valentino (1981) for Valentine's Day, the spoof Saturday the 14th (1981), The Slumber Party Massacre (1982), Pesce d'Aprile (1986), Venerdì 13 (1980) and its sequels.
The Turner Classic Movies network once paired an airing of 'New Year's Evil' with the film Christmas Evil - Un Natale macchiato di sangue (1980) for a holiday-themed slasher movie double feature.
Actress Roz Kelly, who played the central character of Diane 'Blaze' Sullivan, was well known at the time of this film for portraying Pinky Tuscadero on the television series ''Happy Days'' (1974-1984) where her character there was one of the Fonz (Henry Winkler)'s girl-friends.