SpuffyWeb Sadly Over-hyped

Intcatinfo A Masterpiece!

Lollivan It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

Staci Frederick Blistering performances.

The_Void I went into this film expecting it to be another seasonal slasher along the same lines as Halloween and April Fools Day, but was surprised to find that it's actually a bizarre demonic horror films, sort of along the same lines as The Evil Dead. The good news stops there, however, because in spite of a decent idea that could have lead to a successful horror film; Bloody New Year just has far too many things wrong with it for it to really be a success. The plot takes the usual 'bunch of kids' base and we focus on a group of them that become shipwrecked and end up having to take refuge in an old abandoned hotel. Unfortunately for them, this is no ordinary old abandoned hotel and that soon becomes apparent when the place comes alive and several members of the group become demons. The film is directed by British director Norman J Warren who was also behind the moderately successful 'Terror' as well as the awful 'Satans Slave' in the late seventies. This film is just as trashy as those. The main influence would definitely seem to be Sam Raimi's masterpiece 'The Evil Dead' and the film directly rips it off when it gets into the second half with the noises the demons make. However, the rip off basically stops there; which is a big shame because if there's one thing this film needs, it's a big bucket of gore. Most of the stuff that goes on is not explained and it's all a bit mind numbing really. The film does pick up in the second half but not much and it's a definite case of 'too little too late'. Oh well. I wouldn't recommend anyone goes out of their way to find this film.

Scarecrow-88 British teens escape a near altercation with three thugs at a fun park, take a little ride on the sea, and wind up on some island when a rock puts a hole in their boat. This island has a Grand Island Hotel, seemingly a ghost resort decorated for New Years 1960. At first we the viewer are witnesses to the strange shenanigans that go unseen by our cast..a magazine, after being read, closes on it's own, or pool balls, once scattered across a billiards table returning to their proper positions. Then, a maid pops up literally out of thin air to do a little clean up before leaving the film. A movie character(..a sheik) literally leaps from a projected movie to maul one of the gang. A fishing net wraps around one victim attacking her! A table cloth turns into a monster to strangle a victim(..I swear to God, I'm not making this up!). Our cast often see the reflections of ghosts when looking into mirrors. A dead downed pilot, often hinted at rustling in the bushes, is about to speak to one of our female characters when his head explodes into a cloud of dust after being hit from behind by another fearing for her life. Plates are scattered in a kitchen on their own with our cast members trying to duck. One of the cast is turned into a zombie with a silver face, while another speaks with a demonic voice while chasing a victim who screeches in horror as she runs for her life. An elevator wall "grabs" a victim. Bushes move with the sounds of invisible people as foot prints become visible on sand chasing two of the cast. Film from a movie projector trips a victim. When one of the characters, whose turned into a zombie, is shot in the stomach with a rifle her stomach explodes. The animal wood carving of a staircase bites into a victim, with a seemingly impenetrable grip as she tries to break free. Those murdered, by whatever this crazy force on the island is, turn into zombies so you have two survivors not only fighting against the supernatural, but the walking dead popping up to terrorize them. The three thugs follow on boat to finish what was started at the fun park, with each dying in one gruesome way or another. One gets boiled in a pot, one gets his head twisted completely around not once but twice, and another is thrown through a wall.I've read that it was writer Frazer Pearce and director Norman J Warren's intent for this to be a "time warp terror tale", but to me it was just one surreal set-piece after another. The last two remaining survivors find out through one ghoul, "taken by the island", that a plane containing a device which could reshape time and matter, crash-landed resulting in the madness taking place. Anyone who enters this "time warp" are slaves to it's power. I felt myself that this explanation was merely an excuse for Warren and Pearce to embellish their wild desires for mindless carnage placing the characters in a series of oddball scenarios leaving the viewer's mouth open in shock, bewilderment, giggles & kicks. All I can say is expect the unexpected, and I dare you to try and make sense of it all.

ethylester First of all, I love killer nets, no matter how many times I see them do their magic. I never quite understood the danger of nets, but I guess they can attack you and trap you for a really long time if you're not careful. Anyway, this movie was actually a little suspenseful but kind of lame, too. British horror movies always have this way about them. They're scary/suspenseful, but they never have that campy, cool, strange element that say, Italian horror movies have. This movie has some cool ideas, and I always like it when a horror movie has invisible ghosts. for some reason it just seems scarier than a drooling monster that comes through the floors at you. Also, what is with late 80's movies always having some element from the 50's there? These people who are shipwrecked, take off their wet clothes (no nudity) and put on some 50's clothes that they just found, and wear them for the rest of the movie. But when one guy goes into an auditorium and experiences ghosts playing music, they're like Elvis Costello and his buddies. REALLY BAD.And why was the guy that jumps out of the film strip wearing an Arabic head cover? And why was the pilot ghost wearing something out of medieval days? Like he was in Willow or something. These people are stuck in a time warp, but what time is it? SUpposedly 1959, but then I wonder what culture the time warp is from and if it's always supposed to be 1959??? And why is it that the American girl is the only survivor amongst all the Brits? That's weird. And how in the world to the carnies find these people on this island, and why don't the ghosts try to kill the carnies, too? and I never understood why the carnies and the kids ever clashed in the first place?? It's really confusing as to WHY that came about.The characters in this movie are incredibly boring and they never make the right facial expressions. They also never make the right moves. They don't seem to freak out when their friend turns into a zombie or a guy jumps out of a film strip and kills somebody right in front of them. They don't seem to care that they keep seeing other people in mirror reflections or that they see ghosts playing music that blatently disappear in front of them. They're just like, "well, that's weird... anyway! Let's hang out." So yeah, it's a lame movie. I wouldn't watch it if I were you.

brandonsites1981 Teenagers seek shelter in an isolated hotel that is stuck in a time warp. They then notice weird things going on and the walls moving and that is when they start seeing ghost & zombies, who first stalk then kill the kids. Not very memorable, but with a fair amount of suspense and a better then usual premise. Rated R; Nudity, Sexual Situations, Violence.