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38 reviews in total

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6 out of 8 people found the following review useful:
Tolerable slasher, 30 October 2010
Author: Justin Stokes from Cleburne, TX

A rock show host dubbed Blaze gets threatening phone calls during her New Year's Eve gig. The caller informs her that he'll murder a different person each time the clock strikes midnight in one of the four continental U.S. timezones, and odds are that she'll be his final victim.

One of the few slashers to have eluded me over the years, it was nice to finally scratch this off the list. It's far from a top-tier effort in the sub-genre, however. The killer, played by Kip Niven, isn't the least bit threatening. He only dons a mask towards the end of the film, so he doesn't have that to fall back on either. Also, too many scenes of dancing punk rockers and filth masquerading as music for my taste. Now, there are some quality stalk and slash sequences. Most notable is one victim's unpleasant surprise in a garbage dumpster. We also get a hefty helping of cheese, mainly from the killer himself and Blaze's dopey son. The bit with the former dealing with angry bikers at a drive-in is gold.

Overall, I was entertained, but it's not exactly good. Not even close.

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4 out of 5 people found the following review useful:
Passable slasher with a time capsule quality, 6 June 2009

Author: udar55 from Williamsburg, VA

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

Diane Sullivan (Roz Kelly) is hosting a happening New Wave New Year's TV countdown under her hip sobriquet of Blaze. All is going well as she prepares to countdown across four different timezones with New Year's crawling toward L.A. Of course, some dude calls in named Evil and has to be a total bummer by saying he is going to kill someone close to Blaze every time it strikes midnight. Like, gag me with a spoon! The only interesting thing about this might be the fact that it was the first slasher film produced by Golan & Globus. I'm not quite sure what they were thinking casting Kelly in the lead, when the film clearly would have benefited from a younger, hipper actress. The film also bizarrely tries to mislead the viewer into thinking Blaze's teenage son is the killer, which is crazy because it clearly shows the killer (Kip Niven from MAGNUM FORCE) doing his thing. It was only up from here for director Emmett Alston as he did the Sho Kosugi vehicle 9 DEATHS OF THE NINJA and the great genre-blender DEMONWARP over the next few years.

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2 out of 2 people found the following review useful:
"Crazy tricks. Must be a full moon.", 23 July 2011

Author: lost-in-limbo from the Mad Hatter's tea party.

Cannon's Golan / Globus productions join the low-budget slasher party. Another significant day of the year. Means a psycho going on slaughter spree. But actually the novelty of "New Year's Evil" is cleverly planned out (even with the usual staples, vague descriptions and contrived aspects) as the killer murders someone exactly at the strike of the new year. However this includes the different time zones across the country. When he does it, he calls in to a new wave rock TV special speaking to the hostess and then plays the recording of his female victim's death. This is the same memo, one after another. Because of the set-up, just like many horror outings during the 80s we get plugged by a couple of bands playing their music while we watch fans aimlessly mosh about. It's padding, but at least there's a purpose behind it. Although the constant cutting between the TV special and the killer did make the suspense a bit inconsistent, but still it all boils down to a preposterously intense finale and there's no hiding how compulsively nasty it can be. Watching the killer going about his business is rather amusing in a reckless way, because it never seems to be smooth sailing as he encounters difficulties of some sort in trying to achieve his goal. In all, while smart it does fall on the daft side. The killer stays in plain sight, no hiding behind anything although the film's well disguised twist took me by surprise and the motivation for our killer is rather grey. Maybe something to do along these lines ("Ladies are not very nice people")? Kip Niven is a treat as the sicko known as Evil. It's worthwhile for just his fun twisted performance and those phone calls. Roz Kelly is tolerable, but far from likable as the self-centred TV hostess Blaze and Grant Cramer keeps it unusual as her son. Chris Wallace plays the well-worn cop on the case. Also there's bubbly support by Louisa Moritz and Taaffe O'Connell. Director Emmett Alston's sturdy style keeps a raw edge to it and keeps it moving forward at a good pace, despite the moments of filler. Also the music score leaves a stinging shutter with the bone rattling cues Trashy, but enjoyable oddball slasher offering.

"The show must go on."

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6 out of 10 people found the following review useful:
Kip Niven Rules, 15 May 2003
Author: phlflip from New Jersey

This film is one of my favorite slasher flicks.It,s not really gory but it has some great murders,especially Louisa Moritz,s death.It was hysterically funny.I have to say that what made this slasher flick better than most was the excellent performance of Kip Niven as Evil.He played the psycho part very low key, until midnight, and then he was frightening and threatening.The look in his eyes actually gave me an eerie feeling.He was a good looking guy on the outside but totally sick and evil on the inside.In a way Roz Kelly had it coming with her selfish,self centered attitude where she even neglects her own son.I thought a few of the murders were inventive and I would definitely recommend this movie for a late night when you just want to relax and be entertained.

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3 out of 5 people found the following review useful:
"This is Eviiilll!", 30 December 2002
Author: Slasher-10 from Niagara Falls, NY"

This is one of my favorite bad 80's slasher flicks with bad acting and an even worse script. Diane Sullivan, aka Blaze, a television vj hosts a New Year's Eve rock concert. When she isn't working her middle aged, unattractive self onstage, a psycho is calling her everytime he kills someone when New Year's strikes in each US time zone. The director has no desire to hide the killer's face, it's his motive for killing that's the mystery here. If you can't figure out who he really is, you'll be kicking yourself for not figuring it out earlier or because you actually sat through New Year's Evil in its entirety. The average viewer will hate this movie because it is inept, not scary, or bloody or exciting. Lovers of bad 80's slashers can sit back and enjoy this silly horror flick which boasts bad acting, non-believable situations (killer vs. bike gang), and an array of ugly, comical characters (Grant Cramer of Killer Klowns as one of them). If anything, its most redeeming feature is a typical 80's heavy metal theme song that you can rock out to at least three times during the film! (e-mail me if you know where I can find it!)

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3 out of 5 people found the following review useful:
Slightly better than average slasher flick, 17 December 2000

Author: jhaggardjr from Chicago, Illinois

After "Halloween" and "Friday the 13th" sliced and diced their way to box office success, a mess of low-budget horror/slasher pictures came out. Some of these movies included "Mother's Day", "Graduation Day", "My Bloody Valentine", and "Prom Night". "New Year's Evil" was another. Most of these movies are pretty bad. But to my surprise "New Year's Evil" wasn't one of them. This is at times a pretty entertaining horror movie. But it's obviously predictable. "New Year's Evil" has an intriguing premise. A killer threatens a disc jockey who's hosting a nationally televised New Year's Eve show. He warns her that he will commit murder at midnight in each of the four U.S. time zones. For example, when the clock strikes midnight in the Eastern Time Zone, he'll be killing someone. Same thing goes for the Central Time Zone. And so on and so on, with the disc jockey being targeted as the final victim in the Pacific Time Zone. This interesting story line helps to make "New Year's Evil" much better than it should be. It's pretty scary at times, and I was pretty much into the film. But you know darn well what's going to happen to various people in the film (especially if you've seen "Halloween" or "Friday the 13th"). Nevertheless, "New Year's Evil" is amazingly one of the better "Halloween"/"Friday the 13th" clones. At least it's a better holiday slasher movie than "Silent Night, Deadly Night".

**1/2 (out of four)

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6 out of 11 people found the following review useful:
Great if you dig garbage...which i definitely do!, 12 December 2007

Author: epeteet from Kizmiaz, WA

If crappy, dated, unrealistic horror flicks aren't your cup o'tea then forget it but if you like late 70's early 80's trash horror then i'd say NEW YEAR'S EVIL is definitely worth a look. The sweet beginning of the film mislead me to expect this to be one of those great outlaw punker movies perhaps like CLASS OF 1984 with a horror twist. This would have been a dream come true...and while unfortunately this was not the case i gotta say any movie with rebellious punk rock sluts flashing their boobies for the sole reason of being offensive is worth any other lameness it could possibly put me through. So anyway what we get instead is a decent yet cheesy slasher where some nutzo calls the host of a hilariously ridiculous new wave concert to inform her that he plans on killing at midnight(not just one murder but one at midnight for each timezone). On the low end this movie isn't all that gory but it's definitely entertaining and it's got some pretty good twists. I especially loved the biker gang scene (always a plus when you're talking bad exploitation flix). Oh yeah don't be fooled by the movie description claiming the movie has much to do with punk rock...its almost total new wave but i'll settle for some 80s new wave any day over today's lame trends...so anyway i dug this movie which means you'll probably hate it

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It's New Year's Eve And "I'm Fed Up", 2 January 2012

Author: CitizenCaine from Las Vegas, Nevada

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

This slasher horror film at the dawn of the 1980's utilizes most horror clichés of the time, including killing on clue, disguises, musical cues, and a secret killer who is not so secret. 1970's hottie Roz Kelly, at the tail end of her brief career, plays a television hostess of a rock show who gets a strange call from some guy in a phone booth (remember those?) claiming to be EEEVIL and we believe him. He not only knocks women off on cue each hour but records the deed with a Scotch brand cassette tape on a handy portable cassette recorder with one speaker. Remember those? I still have mine. Along the way, he changes disguises from swinger to priest and even cop. Some unintentional funny moments follow with being chased by a biker gang into a drive-in theater. Remember those? The scene where he reveals his motive is a howler: "you castrated me and I'm fed up!" Subplot about goofy son is a bit off. Rock bands featured in the film are Shadow and Made In Japan. Grade Z fare, strictly a waste of time. 1/2 star of 4 stars.

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0 out of 1 people found the following review useful:
New Year's Evil, 24 December 2011

Author: Scarecrow-88 from United States

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

I was very fortunate, unlike a lot of my 80s peers, to see "New Years Evil" on Turner Classics this morning (honestly, I think this film is best viewed after Midnight) instead of some terrible, badly beaten up VHS copy that would be incredibly difficult to find unless you were willing to fork of 60 bucks like some desperate slasher fans might. Some might say that this is the way to view any slasher for the first time, but a clear picture really maybe helps one appreciate the print for some of the stylistic touches that are here even if the more titillating and gory details the genre is known for are absent. I think at best, "New Year's Evil" will be considered by genre aficionados as a middle-of-the-pack slasher.

I do think, even if it is ludicrous and implausible, the plot gives us a novel premise: the psychopath who taunts the host of a New York New Wave radio New Years studio show about killing a woman every Midnight across the country in different time zones, leaving her as his last victim. I can't really swallow the premise that Niven can get from Florida to NY (driving through several time zones throughout the country) in like a couple hours, while getting into disguises, setting up murders, carrying them out, escaping, and making it to his destination with only a few hitches along the way. I do consider an interesting premise which strays from the typical formula something somewhat noteworthy.

I think Kip Niven, his handsome and friendly looks, is actually a wise casting choice because you can see how he might trick females by gaining their trust. What I found fascinating by this movie compared to countless others is that the lead protagonist, Roz Kelly's music personality/celebrity, Diane Sullivan, isn't a sympathetic figure in the least. She's self-absorbed to an extreme degree, only concerned with her own success, worried about how this New Year's Eve music show will benefit her own career (completely ignoring her son's announcement of getting a lead role on a television show, just ruining a moment of pride for the kid, further illustrating how wholly involved in only her own world this bitch is), and even as the killer phones in his crimes, she's worried about how they will infect the show. I will be honest: the ending, where she is bound to the bottom of an elevator where it appears she will be squashed ("Get smashed."), I was rooting for her demise to be epic. If only they had gone that route, I would bump up my rating for "New Year's Evil". I just flat hated her, I won't lie. Every time she's on screen, I just despised her more, I won't lie.

Anyway, the film goes back and forth between Niven stalk and hunting girls while the high rise studio rock show with Roz worrying about dying as kid punks with an "F-U" attitude bump and grind in a mosh pit where they seem to be spaced out on coke or pills, in a zombie-like state bouncing off each other. The film actually opens with a group of punk rock fans, dressed the part, and sold out to the lifestyle, including ugly behavior to anyone who drives by their open convertible. As a 80s artifact (if you were of the mindset that NYC was becoming a cesspool, this movie probably gave you ammunition), I think this movie will be of interest. Grant Cameron, as Roz' pretty son harboring issues with Mommy, has some great scenes if you like seeing one of the beautiful people going off the deep end after dropping three pills, pulling a stocking over his face and rambling demented things, eventually jamming an earring through his ear. The violence is rather underwhelming--the usual switchblade slash-stab off-screen jazz--but the way Niven gets into killing his girls adds some impact to them just the same. I have to say, Niven makes this film for me; it could've been so much less tolerable.

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1 out of 3 people found the following review useful:
Not Bad, Just EVIL!!!!, 12 July 2002
Author: Leigh Buckley Fountain from Richmond, VA

My, this has always been one of my faves of the genre. It is really quite ridiculous, but fairly 'twisty' for a run-of-the mill slasher. Kip Niven is in my opinion, very good as the killer who switches personas to fit in different environments in order to kill on his timetable. Grant Cramer, who was destined for nothing more than soap fame, has a handsome yet creepy face, especially after he forces that red hose over it. Roz Kelly does look truly unattractive - but then look at her audience! Those 'LA punkers' bobbing and weaving in the audience are unintentionally reminiscent of George Romero's creations...check out their 'dancing'!

Yet I have always found the best part of the film to occur in the beginning, the first time the killer calls into the radio show. He announces that his name is "Evil" in a very odd voice courtesy of a voice manipulation machine. He is dead serious, and Roz on the other end is slightly chilled, but tries to play along: "Yeah, you're bad, you're real bad." At which point he cuts her off, still deadly serious: "NOOOO! Just EVIL!!!" It's truly hilarious if you appreciate that sort of thing.

Enjoyable for the genre.

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