(1987)
Reviewed by David Zuzelo Directed by Norman J. Warren
Cast-Suzy Aitchison, Jenny Bayliss, Nikki Brooks, Chas Cronk and Nick Dowsett. Redemption / Image Entertainment DVD R1The career of Norman J. Warren is quite simply a fascinating one though perhaps frustratingly short. A maverick British director, Warren made several downbeat horror films that stretch any limitation of their budget and become overwhelmingly fun to watch. His final film was to be this bizarre (and I do mean that word) 80’s "goofy kids in peril from hideous monsters in a house" nonsense. Though he could not overcome a script loaded with good ideas and given to poor storytelling, the final result is one of the strangest micro budget films of the 80’s. Hey, when you see the production company is called "Cinema and Theatre Seating Limited" you know the funds aren’t exactly flying into the filmmaker’s pocket. If Warren’s career can be marked by a success it is his ability to supplant resource famine with a feast of ideas.
And he tosses up a cheap feast here, extra baloney and cheese for all!
Opening on New Year’s Eve in 1959, a group of partygoers dance the night away until one of them is absorbed by a strange mirror (achieved by a very clever camera set up to say the least). Flash forward as time becomes irrelevant now—the government saw fit to test out a SPACE/TIME bending plane on this night and obviously pitched the area into some kind of temporal dead zone. Sounds like a good enough idea doesn’t it? Cut to the 80’s, where a sort of likable bunch of folks get into a row with some carny people in a fun scene set to some horrific pop music. They take in a harassed American girl and decide to go out on a boat for some relaxation and getting their groove on after blowing through the carnival.
Woops, they hit the deadspace zone.
Woops, they end up at the hotel.
Woops, it gets bizarre from here.
Upon arrival our heroes, such as they are, mill about an old hotel as strange things happen… banister monsters spring to life, televisions play old news reports about planes that bend light and go missing on New Year’s Eve (ahem…TIP OFF FOLKS!), people go missing. But thankfully they still are intent on making whoopee and would like to get in each other’s pants. They make easy picking for the time lost ghosts of course. Some crazy death and rebirth sequences occur and the most chaotic is when one girl turns into a killer snow woman of sorts! It all comes to an unsurprising conclusion, but it’s not the story that we are looking for, it’s the bizarre events that make the fast paced and unrelenting 90 minutes go by quickly. When the film gets slow, the characters even watch the highlights of the great final BRAIN ASSAULT from Fiend Without A Face!
Now then, with a plot description as written above this sounds like a truly boring, awful and terrible experience. While it falls far below the great Norman J. Warren films such as Terror and Inseminoid-the director imbues the film with his trademark willingness to just be downright odd. So many strange things happen as evil characters leap out of movie screens to screech and holler out nasty words while giving chase to the cast that you can’t take your eyes off of it. Though it concludes as you would expect, along the way it’s about as unbalancing a film you’ll see. At 50 minutes in you’ll be wondering where it could possibly go for the next 40… but it does go! Oddly.
Plus, some truly horrific music from "Cry No More" really tears the joint up. Bland New Wave tunes for sure, but as bizarre as the movie is, it’s equally strange that band member Tony Fernandez would later play in Baseball’s World Series!! Only a movie like Bloody New Year could spawn such a strange co-incidence!
It’s got sighing fish nets that don’t like being whacked with axes, screaming beasts made of electrical tape that pop out of the top of an odd bit of furniture (????), gore, silliness and a piano riff that is played a million times to no effect. What more could you ask? For the interested, Anchor Bay UK has released a wonderful Norman J. Warren boxed set featuring his best features, a host of intriguing extras and solid transfers. To enjoy the man’s work, get that… this oddity is not in the box (with good reason really) and makes a fine supplement to the main filmography of one of the UK’s most fascinating filmmakers.
Redemption’s release through Image of Bloody New Year on DVD is no frills, which is sad because Warren has given some outstanding commentary track performances. I’m sure this isn’t his proudest moment, but an interview would have been nice. Chapter marks are included as is a French audio track without the benefit of English subtitles. Nigel Wingrove provides a nice bit of liner note work with an overview of Warren’s career that does him justice. Presented in full frame and fairly clean, it is a minimal presentation of a minimal film, but Bloody New Year is one movie that the right viewer can maximize a great bit of fun from.
STORY: 2 Step Printed Laughing Footsteps! PICTURE: 2.5 Step Printed Laughing Footsteps! SOUND: 2.5 Step Printed Laughing Footsteps! EXTRAS: 1 Step Printed Laughing Footstep for Nigel!
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