Bloody New Year

"Bloody New Year" follows a group of young adults who wind up stranded on an island through unusual circumstances. They seek shelter in an abandoned hotel there, which after all doesn't seem quite abandoned; decorations from a New Year's Party abound, as does a Christmas tree-but it's summertime. Soon enough, they find themselves the target of horrors beyond belief.

This offbeat British slasher flick is actually more of a haunted house movie than it might appear; the film starts in a beachside amusement park, and the horrors the characters experience in the hotel after mirror the terrors of the carnival funhouse. The fun of the film is that danger lurks around every corner, and something utterly fantastical, lethal--or a combination of both--is lying in wait.

Where "Bloody New Year" falters is in its pacing and the way in which it deals out information. The middle section of the film is weighted down by a series of bizarre incidents and murders that defy logic, and these episodic scenes come one after the other without a shred of insight or explanation. By the time the film winds down to its conclusion and an explanation is offered, it's almost difficult to care. Despite this, there are some fun set pieces, hokey special effects, and a handful of well-crafted sequences that mirror elements of "The Shining."

Overall, "Bloody New Year" is really not the sum of its parts, but it's an amusing oddity by and large, whose main problem is that it alienates its audience for the majority of the runtime. The final reveal is ludicrous, but ludicrous in a way that seems to fit with the rest of the picture's modus operandi. A goofy, unconventional offering, but don't expect a straightforward slasher, because what you get is more "Scooby Doo" than "hack-and-slash." 6/10.

If "Terror" was Norman J Warren's take on "Suspiria", then "Bloody New Year" is surely his version of "The Beyond". After a slow start, it changes from a British teens at the seaside affair, all big dippers and frustrated love triangles, to a delirious zombie movie - "Quadrophenia" crossed with Lucio Fulci.

Considering the extremely low-budget, this is a creditable piece of filmmaking, with Warren achieving some neat shock effects. The young and unknown cast acquit themselves reasonably and there is some groovy organ music to spice up the final reel mayhem. The unexpected arrival of the fairground yobs adds to the fun.

I do have two questions though! Norman is such a nice man so why does he go in for ultra-downbeat endings? And is there really a time-warp island,complete with drooling zombies, living lifts and ambulatory fishing nets,within sailing distance of Barry Island Funfair? Has the local Tourist Information Centre been informed? (Wait a minute, that's three questions).

One of those films that's so average it's actually a good watch.

An eighties made film that's got a fifties time travel element to it, seemingly filmed in the same location as 1987's Who serial "Delta and the Bannermen" starring Sylvester McCoy.

Fittingly this has a late 80's Dr Who feel to it, bad dialogue and a cheesy synth score. But it also terribly entertaining, this has a lot too do with the cast, not the script.

There's enough decent set pieces to keep the horror fan interested. Finally a decent effort for a British attempt at horror from this era.

Bloody New Year (1987) is a British horror film 🇬🇧 that I recently watched on Tubi. The story follows a group of teenagers who stumble upon a remote island and discover a hotel still decorated for a New Year's Eve party-despite it being the middle of summer.

Directed by Norman Warren (Pray, Gunpowder), the film stars Suzy Aitchison (Clatterford), Nikki Brooks (Jupiter Moon), Steve Wilsher (The Mad), and Mark Powley (Bronson).

The film had a distinct vibe that reminded me of the Necronomicon. While the makeup effects for the possessed were only average, I enjoyed the way they were presented-it made for an entertaining watch. While Bloody New Year isn't a perfect film or a genre classic, it has enough charm to warrant a viewing.

I'd give it a 5/10.

Teenagers?? The actors look like they are well into their 20's, if not older! A group of "teens" find themselves in a spot of bother at the seaside when their boat starts to sink and they swim to the nearest island. Here there is a seemingly deserted hotel, stuck in a time warp of New Year's Eve 1959. Ghastly things start to happen to them, one by one. Plot wise I felt able to follow it, despite being a load of nonsense. On the negative side the acting was very wooden, as mentioned before the actors look much older than teenagers, the special effects are cheap looking and it has an obvious low budget feel and look to it. On the positives some of it was filmed at Barry Island seaside resort, a place that I have visited several times and it was nice to see how it used to look. Among the effects are a few clever tricks, such as an arm coming out of a mirror and pulling a victim inside. The British VHS comes in a terrific, 3D box. The picture quality isn't great, not sure if it has ever been released on DVD/BR but deserves to be. Not Warren's best film and not the best film to watch on NYE either but reasonably entertaining if you like bad movies.