Bloody New Year (1987)

Five shipwrecked English teenagers take refuge in an island hotel that is decorated for New Years. The problem is, it's early summer, and soon enough, even the walls themselves are striking out against them...

Director:

Norman J. Warren

Writers:

Frazer Pearce (screenplay), Frazer Pearce,

Stars:

Suzy Aitchison, Nikki Brooks, Colin Heywood

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Suzy Aitchison	...	Lesley
Nikki Brooks	...	Janet
Colin Heywood	...	Spud
Mark Powley	...	Rick
Catherine Roman	...	Carol
Julian Ronnie	...	Tom
Steve Emerson	...	Dad
Steve Wilsher	...	Ace
Jon Glentoran	...	The Bear
Val Graham	...	Housemaid
David Lyn	...	Interviewer
Rory H. MacLean	...	1st Expert
Nick Dowsett	...	2nd Expert
Steve Edison	...	Film Invader
Roy Hill	...	Flying Cadillacs

Storyline

Five shipwrecked English teenagers take refuge in an island hotel that is decorated for New Years. The problem is, it's early summer, and soon enough, even the walls themselves are striking out against them...

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Plot Keywords:

hotel | island | 1950s | source music | new year's eve | 

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Taglines:

The last day of the year...or the last day of your life

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Genres:

Horror | Mystery

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Certificate:

R

Details

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

11 May 1987 (France)

Also Known As:

Time Warp Terror

Filming Locations:

Barry Island, Barry, Vale of Glamorgan, Wales, UK

Company Credits

Production Co:

Cinema and Theatre Seating Limited, Lazer Entertainment

Technical Specs

Runtime:

90 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Connections

Referenced in Ban the Sadist Videos! Part 2 (2006)

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Soundtracks

"Recipe for Romance"
Performed by Cry No More

User Reviews

Let's do the Time Warp!

Anyone expecting Bloody New Year to be a cheesy slice of seasonal slasher fun will no doubt be sorely disappointed: despite having a title that conjures up images of a bloody Father Time slicing New Years revellers in half with his massive scythe, the film is, in fact, a supernatural horror that shamelessly rips off Sam Raimi's The Evil Dead whilst throwing in as much random nonsense that it possibly can.

After running into a spot of bother with some nasty fair-ground thugs, a group of teens set off in their sail boat, only to encounter more trouble when a collision with a rock forces them to abandon ship and swim to a nearby island. There, they discover a strange, seemingly abandoned hotel adorned with New Year decorations (despite it being mid-July), and encounter the restless spirits of the hotel's inhabitants, who have been trapped in limbo since 1959 thanks to a government experiment gone wrong.

This logic-free plot allows for a scatter-shot approach by director Norman J. Warren, who gives viewers everything from traditional transparent spooks to a possessed bird-shaped Newell post (!) in the process. Other bizarre occurrences include a murderous sheik emerging from an old black and white film, a killer fishing net, a monster that emerges from a table-top, walls that come alive, an indoor blizzard, and a collection of Evil Dead style zombies. As well as borrowing the look and sound of Raimi's 'deadites', Warren also adopts his directorial techniques, with the camera rushing around the hotel and through undergrowth towards the terrified victims.

The cast are, as expected, rather dreadful (although Nikki Brooks as Janet is cute), the gore is extremely cheap looking, and the special effects range from the inventive to the downright pathetic, but Bloody New year is such a ridiculous and completely surreal experience from start to finish that It actually proves to be pretty enjoyable; after all, any film with malevolent kitchen utensils can't be completely worthless.