Bloody New Year
We love cheesy 80s horror movies around here! But let’s be honest – who doesn’t? They are some of the most entertaining to watch. And big favorites here at Scary Matter. So we all sat down to watch 1987’s Bloody New Year. I’m not quite sure what I just watched!
Bloody New Year is a British horror/comedy directed by Norman J. Warren. All I can say is WTF??? I wasn’t expecting a blockbuster, so I just sat back to enjoy the ridiculousness. The movie starts on New Year’s Eve 1959. Then time jumps to a summer carnival. A couple of guys help an American tourist that has three men bothering her. After escaping the troublemakers, the American joins their group of friends to go boating. They end up crashing on an island.
Their search for help brings them to The Grand Island Hotel. Not your normal resort! The hotel seems abandoned and for some reason is decorated for Christmas. Everyone is wet from the boat accident and they split up to look for dry clothes. All they find are clothes ripped right out of the 50s. Things go downhill after that.
The movie shamelessly uses elements from other horror movies. The group of five people consists of the horny couple, the innocent girl, the guy that wants a girl, and the outsider. They split up on more than one occasion. The hotel is haunted. There are ghosts, zombies, scary noises, things coming to life, and inanimate objects flying around. It’s The Twilight Zone meets The Evil Dead meets a haunted house. There’s also a nod to the 50s Sci-Fi movies.
Writers Frazer Pearce and Hayden Pearce, and writer/director Norman J. Warren created a homage to the 50s. Although I think it takes place in the 60s, there are references to the 50s everywhere. The movie Fiend Without a Face (which I love) is playing in the hotel’s movie theater. There’s 50s-style music playing in the hotel. Even the televisions in the hotel look straight out of the 50s.
The rest of the movie has the group subjected to various random attacks and deaths. The troublemakers somehow track them to the island. There’s not a lot of blood, but there are a few things that come to life that I got a kick out of. The scene in the elevator is the best one in my opinion. I honestly can’t call this a New Year’s movie, but the title says it and that’s what I’m working with!
By the end of the movie, you learn what’s going on (sort of). This is not for everyone. The beginning is very slow and you have to be patient to get through it. If you like schlock then you’ll enjoy this. I went into it with an open mind and enjoyed it for what it is. Let us know what you think!