Search - Bloody New Year on DVD

Low budget, but strangely compelling

The Soft Machine Operator | COVENTRY, WARWICKSHIRE United Kingdom | 09/05/2004

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Norman J Warren's last film to date is a guilty pleasure. A group of kids have a fight in a fairground and find themselves on a boat heading out to an island. However, the island is deserted apart from strange, invisible ghosts and haunted cinema screens...

It's a low budget affair, with unknown actors & some special effects that are clearly done on a budget - but's its also a bit offbeat & rattles along at a nice pace. Despite the obvious constraints on the budget, the film's atmosphere is quite strange. I lost my old VHS copy years ago, and can't wait for the DVD!

Music was by Nick Magnus, who has worked with Steve Hackett and various other well known artists, and the songs are by the group "Cry No More." This group consisted of two ex-members of the Stawbs (One who was a strawb for a brief period only!) and Magnus himself.

"

Somewhat stylish, but off-putting by weak budget, plot, and

Doctor Trance | MA, United States | 11/12/2005

(2 out of 5 stars)

"It's definitely not your run of the mill slasher fest, as it's got a weird horror and sci-fi mix, with an interesting premise, but it falls short all across the board as far as the meat and potatoes of a film are concerned.

There apparently did not seem to be a running script, as for much of the film, especially the beginning, it sounded like every line was ad-libbed and improvised, with people barely getting there short and awkward lines out. There is little dialogue, and what there is, sounds like the actors are either unfamiliar with it, or are completely improvising as they go. The plot is basically these kids are at a carnival and get into a beef with some local hoods, then escape on a tiny boat, which sinks and they end up on a strange island, with a deserted hotel that is completely decorated for Xmas and a New Year's Eve party.

The premise is interesting, but the plot isn't taken anywhere, and the movie completely stalls when the scenes shift to a sci-fi cause of all the casualties on the island. The special effects are very low budget, and not helping are the DVD transfer's colors looking rather washed out.

There are a few stylish scenes which save this from being the worst horror film out there. The best is when one of the girls attempts to ride the elevator, and upon pushing one of the floor buttons, it turns to soft mush, and then these arms protrude out of the back of the elevator wall to grab her and suck her in. This scene was ultra cool and it looked like the low budget actually made it look realistic, with the arms bulging through what appears to be painted latex. The cracking paint as the arms swooped in actually made it look very real. Definitely the high point in the film, and one of the better scenes in any horror movie of this time frame.

There's very little interest here, apart from a few scenes, and while it's not the worst of the genre, it's held down from rising above other horror flicks due to it's wooden acting and low budget. You might be interested in seeing it once, but nothing more. There are much better examples of stylish 70's and 80's horror out there."