You could kind of describe the 1987 UK film Bloody New Year as a New Year’s Night of the Demons, but it’s much more than that. MUCH more. It also came out a year before Night of the Demons. This is one wacky flick that just never ceases in tossing in new insanity.
Let’s start with the fact that the soundtrack is by this totally awesome 80s power pop/new wave band called Cry No More. Needless to say, I immediately ordered all their 80s albums and singles after seeing this movie.
Okay. So here’s the plot of the movie. This group of kids is having a nice summer, hanging on the beach. Then they go on some amusement park ride and have a confrontation with a trio of troublemaking guys. So they run away, hop on a little rowboat, and end up on a deserted island, where they find a hotel all decorated for Christmas and a New Year’s Eve party in true The Shining time warp style.
So yeah. It’s not really a New Year’s Eve movie. You’ll have to stick with New Year’s Evil for that. But Bloody New Year gives you everything else: a ghost maid, a ghost man, a ghost rock band, ghost footprints in the sand, possessed fire crackers, possessed pool tables, a possessed vacuum cleaner, a possessed banister knob, a table cloth monster, a fishing net monster, an indoor snow storm, a man eating elevator, a man eating kitchen pot that burps, and possessed people. And that’s not even everything.
Bloody New Year never fails to entertain thanks to all the schizophrenic action. It does eventually have more of a Night of the Demons feel, with the survivors being chased by their possessed friends and some possessed guests who drop by.
There are some very eerie and fun horror moments in Bloody New Year. On top of the classic 80s horror lighting and smoke machines, we get effective scenes, including several cool mirror scares, a confrontation with a demonic movie screen (seems to be an homage to Demons), a shaky cam chase through the woods (Evil Dead homage?), and a demon woman hanging from the ceiling.
But my favorite segment is when a chick is nice enough to console her hurt friend, who suddenly turns demon! I fricking hate when that happens. It’s like my worst nightmare. And here, it leads to a claustrophobic chase involving a tight squeeze through a doorway and a relentless struggle at the elevator.
As much of a mess as Bloody New Year is, the only part that really disappoints me is that it’s not a genuine New Year’s horror flick!
This was such a weird little movie. I remember seeing it back in the 80’s, and while I didn’t care for it at the time, images of it have stayed with me. Thank you for reminded me of it, so that I can hunt this little bugger up.
Pingback: Four 1970s b-horrors from a DVD multipack...and some are not all that bad - BOYS, BEARS & SCARESBOYS, BEARS & SCARES