Bloody New Year (1987) is a movie I recently caught for free on Tubi. This British horror film tells the tale of a group of teenagers who go on a remote island and find a hotel decorated for a New Years party in the middle of the summer. This movie is directed by Norman Warren (Pray and Gunpowder) and stars Suzy Aitchison (Clatterford), Nikki Brooks (Jupiter Moon), Steve Wilsher (The Mad) and Mark Powley (Bronson). This movie felt like it involved the Necronomicon to me. I really enjoyed the presentation of the possessed even if they were just okay in terms of makeup It was really fun watch them. Overall, this isn't a perfect movie or classic, but is worth a viewing. I'd score this a 5/10.
53 Reviews
Somewhat enjoyable nonsense
Stevieboy6661 January 2019
Teenagers?? The actors look like they are well into their 20's, if not older! A group of "teens" find themselves in a spot of bother at the seaside when their boat starts to sink and they swim to the nearest island. Here there is a seemingly deserted hotel, stuck in a time warp of New Year's Eve 1959. Ghastly things start to happen to them, one by one.
Plot wise I felt able to follow it, despite being a load of nonsense. On the negative side the acting was very wooden, as mentioned before the actors look much older than teenagers, the special effects are cheap looking and it has an obvious low budget feel and look to it. On the positives some of it was filmed at Barry Island seaside resort, a place that I have visited several times and it was nice to see how it used to look. Among the effects are a few clever tricks, such as an arm coming out of a mirror and pulling a victim inside. The British VHS comes in a terrific, 3D box. The picture quality isn't great, not sure if it has ever been released on DVD/BR but deserves to be. Not Warren's best film and not the best film to watch on NYE either but reasonably entertaining if you like bad movies.
"A Boy and a Girl, and a Ghost Train Ride"
TwistedContent29 December 2020
Warning: Spoilers
Are you craving for some cheese of the highest order, perhaps a potent dose of 80's camp, or maybe you just want to turn off logical thinking entirely? If so, look no further, because "Bloody New Year" has it all, and has more fun with it than some other similars. It's silly, faulty, and undeniably a complete mess, but cool ideas are thrown around, and the 90 minutes are ridiculous enough to keep You going.
In this forgotten little adventure, a typical group of enduringly one-dimensional friends are out to entertain themselves in an amusement park, where they save a girl who's being harassed, then, together, they escape said harassers, and are now on a boat going to... somewhere. String of bad luck starts with the boat sinking, and them wounding up on an abandoned island with a hotel in the middle of it, where everything is decorated as if it was the New Year of 1960, despite it being the middle of summer sometime in the 80's...
Even though the story is a complete mess with big holes and odd structures, delayed and irrational reactions from the characters etc., it does feel like director Norman J. Warren has tried to make it as intriguing as possible, even though the twists are apparent quicker than quickly. Nonetheless, Norman has fun every step of the way, and the atmosphere, likely meant to be creepy and mysterious, is consistently amusing, funny. Cheese and camp, ain't no better words. A quote by Janet sums the movie up well: "We crashed up a perfectly innocent ghost train and now we're stuck in a time warp!
There are plenty of goofs and filmmaking mistakes, like during the amusement park sequence, when the tilt-a-whirl stops, the men are supposed to be thrown off, but they very visibly run and throw themselves off. Later, poor Tom, the nicest man in the movie, is looking for the fuse box. He goes down in a well-lit basement, and as he's lighting a candle that makes no visible difference, he says: "Sods law, the fuse box is always in the darkest corner". The fuse box was in the frame behind him. Tom's so nice, he couldn't even answer to the horny calls of girls. Twice. As opposed to most movies, the horny teenager force in "Bloody New Year" are women, not men. Don't get excited though, there are not enough gore and boobs to compliment the film on that. All the elements around the characters, including dialogue and acting, is inconsistent and often silly, sometimes they act heartfelt, sometimes as if they weren't friends, but mostly the characters behave low-key stupid.
I found one scene particularly hilarious, Janet and macho man Rick are running in the forest. It's daylight. Various bushes around start shaking, emitting a sound,basically a laugh track, much like one everyone knows from the series "Friends". As if that's not enough of misfired horror, camera starts fast runs towards the now hugged together characters from various angles, simultaneously intensifying the laugh track. They eventually start running, stop and see footprints appearing in sand (stop-motion static frame), then they disappear, then more laughs, and the whole sequence kind of ends... Deaths are hilarious as well, boiling pots, wooden stairs and fishnets attack people violently. Truly a campy flick, in every way possible. The soundtrack is almost entirely put together from songs of a group called "Cry No More". Pleasant enough 80's radio type of music, giving "Bloody New Year" its own theme song, "Recipe for Romance". The lyrics from that song inspired the name of this review. I have no idea wether the songs were written for the movie, or perhaps the other way around, but if it fits, it sits.
"Bloody New Year" is a silly horror movie that can surprise pleasantly, that is, if You are expecting something bad. So bad, that it is, in the end, actually somewhat okay. My rating: 4/10.
In this forgotten little adventure, a typical group of enduringly one-dimensional friends are out to entertain themselves in an amusement park, where they save a girl who's being harassed, then, together, they escape said harassers, and are now on a boat going to... somewhere. String of bad luck starts with the boat sinking, and them wounding up on an abandoned island with a hotel in the middle of it, where everything is decorated as if it was the New Year of 1960, despite it being the middle of summer sometime in the 80's...
Even though the story is a complete mess with big holes and odd structures, delayed and irrational reactions from the characters etc., it does feel like director Norman J. Warren has tried to make it as intriguing as possible, even though the twists are apparent quicker than quickly. Nonetheless, Norman has fun every step of the way, and the atmosphere, likely meant to be creepy and mysterious, is consistently amusing, funny. Cheese and camp, ain't no better words. A quote by Janet sums the movie up well: "We crashed up a perfectly innocent ghost train and now we're stuck in a time warp!
There are plenty of goofs and filmmaking mistakes, like during the amusement park sequence, when the tilt-a-whirl stops, the men are supposed to be thrown off, but they very visibly run and throw themselves off. Later, poor Tom, the nicest man in the movie, is looking for the fuse box. He goes down in a well-lit basement, and as he's lighting a candle that makes no visible difference, he says: "Sods law, the fuse box is always in the darkest corner". The fuse box was in the frame behind him. Tom's so nice, he couldn't even answer to the horny calls of girls. Twice. As opposed to most movies, the horny teenager force in "Bloody New Year" are women, not men. Don't get excited though, there are not enough gore and boobs to compliment the film on that. All the elements around the characters, including dialogue and acting, is inconsistent and often silly, sometimes they act heartfelt, sometimes as if they weren't friends, but mostly the characters behave low-key stupid.
I found one scene particularly hilarious, Janet and macho man Rick are running in the forest. It's daylight. Various bushes around start shaking, emitting a sound,basically a laugh track, much like one everyone knows from the series "Friends". As if that's not enough of misfired horror, camera starts fast runs towards the now hugged together characters from various angles, simultaneously intensifying the laugh track. They eventually start running, stop and see footprints appearing in sand (stop-motion static frame), then they disappear, then more laughs, and the whole sequence kind of ends... Deaths are hilarious as well, boiling pots, wooden stairs and fishnets attack people violently. Truly a campy flick, in every way possible. The soundtrack is almost entirely put together from songs of a group called "Cry No More". Pleasant enough 80's radio type of music, giving "Bloody New Year" its own theme song, "Recipe for Romance". The lyrics from that song inspired the name of this review. I have no idea wether the songs were written for the movie, or perhaps the other way around, but if it fits, it sits.
"Bloody New Year" is a silly horror movie that can surprise pleasantly, that is, if You are expecting something bad. So bad, that it is, in the end, actually somewhat okay. My rating: 4/10.
Take a ride on Norman's ghost train
heedarmy27 March 2002
If "Terror" was Norman J Warren's take on "Suspiria", then "Bloody New Year" is surely his version of "The Beyond". After a slow start, it changes from a British teens at the seaside affair, all big dippers and frustrated love triangles, to a delirious zombie movie - "Quadrophenia" crossed with Lucio Fulci.
Considering the extremely low-budget, this is a creditable piece of filmmaking, with Warren achieving some neat shock effects. The young and unknown cast acquit themselves reasonably and there is some groovy organ music to spice up the final reel mayhem. The unexpected arrival of the fairground yobs adds to the fun.
I do have two questions though! Norman is such a nice man so why does he go in for ultra-downbeat endings? And is there really a time-warp island,complete with drooling zombies, living lifts and ambulatory fishing nets,within sailing distance of Barry Island Funfair? Has the local Tourist Information Centre been informed? (Wait a minute, that's three questions).
Considering the extremely low-budget, this is a creditable piece of filmmaking, with Warren achieving some neat shock effects. The young and unknown cast acquit themselves reasonably and there is some groovy organ music to spice up the final reel mayhem. The unexpected arrival of the fairground yobs adds to the fun.
I do have two questions though! Norman is such a nice man so why does he go in for ultra-downbeat endings? And is there really a time-warp island,complete with drooling zombies, living lifts and ambulatory fishing nets,within sailing distance of Barry Island Funfair? Has the local Tourist Information Centre been informed? (Wait a minute, that's three questions).
Let's do the Time Warp!
BA_Harrison10 October 2009
Anyone expecting Bloody New Year to be a cheesy slice of seasonal slasher fun will no doubt be sorely disappointed: despite having a title that conjures up images of a bloody Father Time slicing New Years revellers in half with his massive scythe, the film is, in fact, a supernatural horror that shamelessly rips off Sam Raimi's The Evil Dead whilst throwing in as much random nonsense that it possibly can.
After running into a spot of bother with some nasty fair-ground thugs, a group of teens set off in their sail boat, only to encounter more trouble when a collision with a rock forces them to abandon ship and swim to a nearby island. There, they discover a strange, seemingly abandoned hotel adorned with New Year decorations (despite it being mid-July), and encounter the restless spirits of the hotel's inhabitants, who have been trapped in limbo since 1959 thanks to a government experiment gone wrong.
This logic-free plot allows for a scatter-shot approach by director Norman J. Warren, who gives viewers everything from traditional transparent spooks to a possessed bird-shaped Newell post (!) in the process. Other bizarre occurrences include a murderous sheik emerging from an old black and white film, a killer fishing net, a monster that emerges from a table-top, walls that come alive, an indoor blizzard, and a collection of Evil Dead style zombies. As well as borrowing the look and sound of Raimi's 'deadites', Warren also adopts his directorial techniques, with the camera rushing around the hotel and through undergrowth towards the terrified victims.
The cast are, as expected, rather dreadful (although Nikki Brooks as Janet is cute), the gore is extremely cheap looking, and the special effects range from the inventive to the downright pathetic, but Bloody New year is such a ridiculous and completely surreal experience from start to finish that It actually proves to be pretty enjoyable; after all, any film with malevolent kitchen utensils can't be completely worthless.
After running into a spot of bother with some nasty fair-ground thugs, a group of teens set off in their sail boat, only to encounter more trouble when a collision with a rock forces them to abandon ship and swim to a nearby island. There, they discover a strange, seemingly abandoned hotel adorned with New Year decorations (despite it being mid-July), and encounter the restless spirits of the hotel's inhabitants, who have been trapped in limbo since 1959 thanks to a government experiment gone wrong.
This logic-free plot allows for a scatter-shot approach by director Norman J. Warren, who gives viewers everything from traditional transparent spooks to a possessed bird-shaped Newell post (!) in the process. Other bizarre occurrences include a murderous sheik emerging from an old black and white film, a killer fishing net, a monster that emerges from a table-top, walls that come alive, an indoor blizzard, and a collection of Evil Dead style zombies. As well as borrowing the look and sound of Raimi's 'deadites', Warren also adopts his directorial techniques, with the camera rushing around the hotel and through undergrowth towards the terrified victims.
The cast are, as expected, rather dreadful (although Nikki Brooks as Janet is cute), the gore is extremely cheap looking, and the special effects range from the inventive to the downright pathetic, but Bloody New year is such a ridiculous and completely surreal experience from start to finish that It actually proves to be pretty enjoyable; after all, any film with malevolent kitchen utensils can't be completely worthless.
One stupid event after another
lordzedd-330 December 2006
Warning: Spoilers
Here comes a series of stupid events starting with why the hell wasn't there any dialog for the first ten minutes of the movie? I mean, I felt Charlie Chaplin or Buster Keaton was going to waddle by. Second, why were those two thugs trying to kill them? I mean what the hell did these kids do to deserve to be attacked by mindless brutes? Why did the carnival worker side with them? They were paying costumers. Next, what time warp, they were dead. What time warp? There was no bloody time warp. Time warp means, they would either be really young, really old or evolved into futuristic monsters. But that wasn't the case, a table cloth became a monster, an elevator became a monster and the dead become monsters. Next question, how the hell did the creeps from the carnival find them on the island, the boat sank. How could they find a sunk boat in thousands of miles of ocean. Really, did the writer think at all? Lastly, bad ending. The last survivor gets on the long boat that brought them to the island and escaped. Then the other shoe drops and a unknown force pulls her through the bottom of the boat, kills her and sticks her in a mirror and now she has to watch her friends at a New Year's party while she's stuck in a mirror. It's garbage and I give it the LUMP OF COAL.
Cry No More!
BandSAboutMovies30 October 2019
Warning: Spoilers
Also known as Time Warp Terror, this movie was inspired by 1950's horror films. On this island where the kids get trapped, it's always 1959. It also has the band Cry No More all over it, lending it the perfect bit of 1980's cheese that you may be looking for. Imagine The Beyond, but for kids. That's pretty much what this is.
The final feature film directed by legendary British horror filmmaker Norman J. Warren (a long-time resident of the video nasty list), Bloody New Year is about a bunch of kids named Rick, Janet, Lesley, Spud and Tom, who save American tourist Carol from the bouncers and a ride operator of an amusement park. They end up stealing a boat and making their way to an island which has The Grand Island Hotel, a place where its always been New Year's Eve 1959.
There's even a movie theater that's showing Fiend Without a Face, which plays before Spud gets offed. Actually, just like Shakespeare, everyone dies, becomes a zombie and all end up back at the New Year's Eve party. Such is life and death in the resort areas of the U.K., I guess.
The final feature film directed by legendary British horror filmmaker Norman J. Warren (a long-time resident of the video nasty list), Bloody New Year is about a bunch of kids named Rick, Janet, Lesley, Spud and Tom, who save American tourist Carol from the bouncers and a ride operator of an amusement park. They end up stealing a boat and making their way to an island which has The Grand Island Hotel, a place where its always been New Year's Eve 1959.
There's even a movie theater that's showing Fiend Without a Face, which plays before Spud gets offed. Actually, just like Shakespeare, everyone dies, becomes a zombie and all end up back at the New Year's Eve party. Such is life and death in the resort areas of the U.K., I guess.
Rubber Reality Boredom
deandraslater22 April 2019
Bloody New Year has a few good ideas. The locations are appropriately moody and atmospheric and there are a few neat moments of Nightmare on Elm Street-esque "rubber reality", but that's about all there is to recommend.
There's not much of a story to speak of, the dialogue gets the job done, and the acting is mostly serviceable, but you never really feel like there's any urgency to anything. At times, there's a nice funhouse quality to the film where you never know what you'll see when a character (or characters) enter a room, but it wears thin quickly once you realize that's all this film will be doing for 90 minutes.
Just take a nap instead.
There's not much of a story to speak of, the dialogue gets the job done, and the acting is mostly serviceable, but you never really feel like there's any urgency to anything. At times, there's a nice funhouse quality to the film where you never know what you'll see when a character (or characters) enter a room, but it wears thin quickly once you realize that's all this film will be doing for 90 minutes.
Just take a nap instead.
Carnival Oops I Mean Island of Miscellaneous Horrors
ofumalow1 January 2024
This final feature by UK schlockmeister Warren--apparently so unhappy an experience he didn't want to make any more--has an enjoyably daft, anything-goes approach to horror that would be more fun if the film were better made. Six youths visit a fun fair, then run afoul of some nasty carnies. (The highpoint of this is when they manage to shake off from a speeding vehicle the three carnies, each of whom magically falls onto a separate, conveniently located pile of empty cardboard boxes.) Then the youths are suddenly on a boat, which runs aground near an island occupied by an abandoned resort hotel that has apparently been frozen in time since 1960.
Of course, our protagonists are soon prey to terrors and death, but even basic binding fantasy logic is missing. There are ghosts, zombies, monsters, inanimate objects (appliances, a wooden carving, a snooker table, an elevator wall) that "come to life"...even those malevolent carnies return, though god only knows how they got here. It's a little like a low-budget "Shining"--except as arbitrary in its perils as something like "Hausu"--except with little filmmaking style or basic competence to make the nuttiness seem more inspired than just silly.
We've all seen worse, and the sheer randomness of the ideas provides a certain amount of entertainment value. Still, this falls short as both "so bad it's good" and the kind of movie that can actually pull off its deliberate senselessness with panache. It's a medium-hot mess that isn't exactly dull, and has the virtue of not being a formulaic slasher, but is just too sloppily put together to provide more than a few disbelieving yoks.
Of course, our protagonists are soon prey to terrors and death, but even basic binding fantasy logic is missing. There are ghosts, zombies, monsters, inanimate objects (appliances, a wooden carving, a snooker table, an elevator wall) that "come to life"...even those malevolent carnies return, though god only knows how they got here. It's a little like a low-budget "Shining"--except as arbitrary in its perils as something like "Hausu"--except with little filmmaking style or basic competence to make the nuttiness seem more inspired than just silly.
We've all seen worse, and the sheer randomness of the ideas provides a certain amount of entertainment value. Still, this falls short as both "so bad it's good" and the kind of movie that can actually pull off its deliberate senselessness with panache. It's a medium-hot mess that isn't exactly dull, and has the virtue of not being a formulaic slasher, but is just too sloppily put together to provide more than a few disbelieving yoks.
Enjoyably ridiculous.
Hey_Sweden22 August 2012
Horror fans who delight in the cheesy and the silly may find a fair bit to appreciate with Norman J. Warrens' "Bloody New Year". Don't go into it expecting anything resembling a coherent plot, but be prepared for a lot of insane nonsense.
The story has three young couples up to a whole bunch of tomfoolery at a carnival who afterwards find themselves shipwrecked on an island. This island features a hotel that not only is celebrating Christmas in July, it's celebrating Christmas circa 1959, and is eagerly anticipating 1960.
Among the assorted crackpot ideas Warren and screenwriter Frazer Pearce throw at the wall are snow indoors, invisible pursuers, a furiously moving camera seemingly inspired by "The Force" from "The Evil Dead", a "table monster", and lots of hilariously, endearingly tacky special effects. The good thing is that Warren and Pearce do seem to be just having fun with the genre because this whole production has a heavy tongue in cheek feel. Now, some people may find this simply *too* cheesy and *too* silly, but others should find themselves smiling if not laughing outright.
The first 15 minutes quickly establish the irreverent tone, and the filmmakers do achieve and maintain a certain loopy charm and a "Just what the hell is going on?" sensibility. The actors do an impressive job of keeping poker faces throughout, and they're all reasonably appealing, although there will undoubtedly be viewers who will get sick of all the screaming that Janet (Nikki Brooks) does. One of the best routines involves some appearing and disappearing sets of footprints.
These 90 minutes of off-the-wall antics don't quite fly by, but enough amusing stuff happens to help people pay attention. The music, by Nick Magnus and a duo dubbed "Cry No More", merely adds to the appeal. All things considered, this is an interesting effort among Warrens' filmography.
Six out of 10.
The story has three young couples up to a whole bunch of tomfoolery at a carnival who afterwards find themselves shipwrecked on an island. This island features a hotel that not only is celebrating Christmas in July, it's celebrating Christmas circa 1959, and is eagerly anticipating 1960.
Among the assorted crackpot ideas Warren and screenwriter Frazer Pearce throw at the wall are snow indoors, invisible pursuers, a furiously moving camera seemingly inspired by "The Force" from "The Evil Dead", a "table monster", and lots of hilariously, endearingly tacky special effects. The good thing is that Warren and Pearce do seem to be just having fun with the genre because this whole production has a heavy tongue in cheek feel. Now, some people may find this simply *too* cheesy and *too* silly, but others should find themselves smiling if not laughing outright.
The first 15 minutes quickly establish the irreverent tone, and the filmmakers do achieve and maintain a certain loopy charm and a "Just what the hell is going on?" sensibility. The actors do an impressive job of keeping poker faces throughout, and they're all reasonably appealing, although there will undoubtedly be viewers who will get sick of all the screaming that Janet (Nikki Brooks) does. One of the best routines involves some appearing and disappearing sets of footprints.
These 90 minutes of off-the-wall antics don't quite fly by, but enough amusing stuff happens to help people pay attention. The music, by Nick Magnus and a duo dubbed "Cry No More", merely adds to the appeal. All things considered, this is an interesting effort among Warrens' filmography.
Six out of 10.
Boring New Year
Zbigniew_Krycsiwiki27 January 2004
A group of teenagers hang out at an amusement park, hang out on a small boat, hang out at an old abandoned hotel on an island and (yawn) are killed when it's discovered that the island is caught in a time warp. It's never explained who is killing them or why they are killed to keep them there, but that's just one of the many problems that this movie has. An interesting premise gets flushed right down the toilet in this horribly boring movie, only saved by some hit and miss special effects: effects that are sometimes clever and sometimes pathetic. The highlight of this movie though is when a guy jumps out of an old movie and attacks the guy watching him, but this is too weird and badly acted to keep your attention for very long, and the actors accents are sometimes almost unintelligible. This also has one of the worst soundtracks you'll ever hear.
Cheap, cliched and nonsensical. I loved it!!!
meathookcinema11 October 2020
I knew very little about Bloody New Year prior to watching it for this review. I thought it might be another slasher movie themed around yet another public holiday just like New Year's Evil.
How wrong I was! Every now and again I watch a film that is so 'out there' that I think to myself 'What the hell was that?!' Bloody New Year is one such film.
We see New Year celebrations at a small coastal hotel with the guests forming a conga and leaving the function room with only one woman remaining. The action then shoots forward to the 80's whereby some young adults are at a funfair and see an American girl being harassed on the waltzers by some locals/carnies. They decide to rescue her but piss off the carnies in the process who chase after them. They all get into a boat and sail away to a small local island to escape them. They run aground and have to swim/wade to shore. Once there they see a small hotel in the distance and decide to go there to dry off and freshen up. Things turn increasingly weird when they get there.
This film is actually British made and feels like one of the Look and Read dramas that were made for schools in the UK in the 80's. In fact I seem to remember seeing one which was called Fairground! (loving the exclamation mark!) in 1983. Its almost like this film was written for (and possibly by) a bunch of 8 years olds. That's not to put the film down but just to point out that the whole film holds a remarkably non-jaded and innocent air to events that unfurl within the movie.
Bloody New Year is cheaply made, the special effects are sub-par, the events that happen within the hotel feel like a string of cliches. In fact, the film feels like a bunch of kids were given some video nasties to watch and then the film's writers asked them what they had seen and noted their exaggerated recollections down and used them as the plot of this movie.
Whilst all of these points feel like criticisms, amazingly THEY'RE NOT! I watched it, was left with the feeling of 'What the...?!' when it finished but also realised that I had loved it! And that is one of the things about cult cinema- the film you hold dear might be completely inept and a poorly executed movie resplendent with shoddy production values. But it might have an air or an atmosphere to it that is specific to that film and that film alone. And Bloody New Year has this in spades.
I love the fact that it is British made, with the male characters looking like contestants from a 1987 episode of Blind Date. They're all mullets and C&A/Burton's clothing. The fashions exhibited by the female characters is no better. It's such a shame when they decide to change out of their clothes into the 1950's togs they find at the hotel.
The chain of events that happen in the seemingly possessed hotel feel like a million miles away from The Shining. In fact, instead of merely regurgitating the events from Kubrick's film albeit with a fraction of the budget (although there are unavoidable similarities regarding past events being held in both locales), the film seemingly goes down the route of using The Evil Dead as a primary influence. This is interesting as the filmmakers must have seen the film, admired it's low budget ethos (they knew that this was the route to go down for their film with it's apparent lack of a sizeable budget) and how it worked admirably for Sam Raimi (and also how the film was absolutely huge and not just in the UK because of the video nasty furore and the film being banned but also worldwide) . Thus within Bloody New Year we get bodily dismemberment, characters turning into zombies/demons and even a male character who returns to the hotel only to then turn into a zombie/demon. There even a scene that takes place in the woods near the hotel in which they seemingly come to life and sounds of people's laughter (in reality possibly a sitcom laugh track obtained by the filmmakers) being heard by the characters trying to escape this particular madness. There is even a POV shot with the camera rushing at the characters through the woods like Raimi used to great effect in his film.
Then there is the make-up used for the effects in the film that looks like it was done by a GCSE art group. A trick within low budget filmmaking is not to focus on the make up or effects for too long especially if they were done on the cheap. This film bravely chooses to go the opposite route and focus on them in lingering shots. Potentially not a wise move but another quality of the film that makes it so endearing.
I'm loving the fact that one of the deaths was seemingly inspired by The Exorcist with a character's neck (one of the carnies from the beginning of the film who hated the group so much that they actually went to the trouble of finding another boat and sailing to the island after the youngsters to wreak revenge) being twisted around not just once but multiple times for added horror effect.
Also within this mess is the fact that within the hotel seemingly inanimate objects have the power to come alive and attack the group (a fishing net and carved head on a bannister being but two), the character of a ghost chambermaid who reappears and then disappears numerous times during the film's running time and a sequence involving all of the monsters/demons/zombies coming together to ask the two human characters to just give in and 'join us' (again, The Evil Dead influence resounds loudly!).
Look out for the scene near the end where the house seemingly gets bored of the couple of characters who are still human and just chucks them out of one of it's windows. Hilarious.
Blend all of these ingredients together and you have a cheap horror movie made for the straight to video market in the UK where the whole 'video nasty' moral panic was going through a second wave (possibly because Sam Raimi had just released The Evil Dead 2, ironically). Bloody New Year should have been bogged down by it's seemingly negative aspects and forgotten about.
But that's the thing. Even though it should be rubbish, it's not! One major plus is that it's never boring. My interest never flagged during the runtime and I was gripped until the end. The film has so much wide-eyed innocence to it and that fact that it feels like an especially bloody 'made for schools' special or episode of Dramarama that it works. It also has heart. This is cult cinema at it's purest and before you ask I would never call this 'so bad, it's good' (I would never call any film that redundant term). It has qualities that any number of big budget horror films will never have. I'd see this again in a heartbeat. I think this is infinitely better than It and the recent Halloween reimagining put together.
And the strange thing is that others agree with me. I thought I was going mad at how much I enjoyed this film and so I did something that I rarely do- I search online for other reviews. Sure there were the idiots who said that this was trash. But there were others who loved the film also despite it's flaws or limitations. I'm not mad after all! There's even a Cinema Snob episode devoted to it.
I look forward to buying the Blu Ray release of this from the States on Vinegar Syndrome.
How wrong I was! Every now and again I watch a film that is so 'out there' that I think to myself 'What the hell was that?!' Bloody New Year is one such film.
We see New Year celebrations at a small coastal hotel with the guests forming a conga and leaving the function room with only one woman remaining. The action then shoots forward to the 80's whereby some young adults are at a funfair and see an American girl being harassed on the waltzers by some locals/carnies. They decide to rescue her but piss off the carnies in the process who chase after them. They all get into a boat and sail away to a small local island to escape them. They run aground and have to swim/wade to shore. Once there they see a small hotel in the distance and decide to go there to dry off and freshen up. Things turn increasingly weird when they get there.
This film is actually British made and feels like one of the Look and Read dramas that were made for schools in the UK in the 80's. In fact I seem to remember seeing one which was called Fairground! (loving the exclamation mark!) in 1983. Its almost like this film was written for (and possibly by) a bunch of 8 years olds. That's not to put the film down but just to point out that the whole film holds a remarkably non-jaded and innocent air to events that unfurl within the movie.
Bloody New Year is cheaply made, the special effects are sub-par, the events that happen within the hotel feel like a string of cliches. In fact, the film feels like a bunch of kids were given some video nasties to watch and then the film's writers asked them what they had seen and noted their exaggerated recollections down and used them as the plot of this movie.
Whilst all of these points feel like criticisms, amazingly THEY'RE NOT! I watched it, was left with the feeling of 'What the...?!' when it finished but also realised that I had loved it! And that is one of the things about cult cinema- the film you hold dear might be completely inept and a poorly executed movie resplendent with shoddy production values. But it might have an air or an atmosphere to it that is specific to that film and that film alone. And Bloody New Year has this in spades.
I love the fact that it is British made, with the male characters looking like contestants from a 1987 episode of Blind Date. They're all mullets and C&A/Burton's clothing. The fashions exhibited by the female characters is no better. It's such a shame when they decide to change out of their clothes into the 1950's togs they find at the hotel.
The chain of events that happen in the seemingly possessed hotel feel like a million miles away from The Shining. In fact, instead of merely regurgitating the events from Kubrick's film albeit with a fraction of the budget (although there are unavoidable similarities regarding past events being held in both locales), the film seemingly goes down the route of using The Evil Dead as a primary influence. This is interesting as the filmmakers must have seen the film, admired it's low budget ethos (they knew that this was the route to go down for their film with it's apparent lack of a sizeable budget) and how it worked admirably for Sam Raimi (and also how the film was absolutely huge and not just in the UK because of the video nasty furore and the film being banned but also worldwide) . Thus within Bloody New Year we get bodily dismemberment, characters turning into zombies/demons and even a male character who returns to the hotel only to then turn into a zombie/demon. There even a scene that takes place in the woods near the hotel in which they seemingly come to life and sounds of people's laughter (in reality possibly a sitcom laugh track obtained by the filmmakers) being heard by the characters trying to escape this particular madness. There is even a POV shot with the camera rushing at the characters through the woods like Raimi used to great effect in his film.
Then there is the make-up used for the effects in the film that looks like it was done by a GCSE art group. A trick within low budget filmmaking is not to focus on the make up or effects for too long especially if they were done on the cheap. This film bravely chooses to go the opposite route and focus on them in lingering shots. Potentially not a wise move but another quality of the film that makes it so endearing.
I'm loving the fact that one of the deaths was seemingly inspired by The Exorcist with a character's neck (one of the carnies from the beginning of the film who hated the group so much that they actually went to the trouble of finding another boat and sailing to the island after the youngsters to wreak revenge) being twisted around not just once but multiple times for added horror effect.
Also within this mess is the fact that within the hotel seemingly inanimate objects have the power to come alive and attack the group (a fishing net and carved head on a bannister being but two), the character of a ghost chambermaid who reappears and then disappears numerous times during the film's running time and a sequence involving all of the monsters/demons/zombies coming together to ask the two human characters to just give in and 'join us' (again, The Evil Dead influence resounds loudly!).
Look out for the scene near the end where the house seemingly gets bored of the couple of characters who are still human and just chucks them out of one of it's windows. Hilarious.
Blend all of these ingredients together and you have a cheap horror movie made for the straight to video market in the UK where the whole 'video nasty' moral panic was going through a second wave (possibly because Sam Raimi had just released The Evil Dead 2, ironically). Bloody New Year should have been bogged down by it's seemingly negative aspects and forgotten about.
But that's the thing. Even though it should be rubbish, it's not! One major plus is that it's never boring. My interest never flagged during the runtime and I was gripped until the end. The film has so much wide-eyed innocence to it and that fact that it feels like an especially bloody 'made for schools' special or episode of Dramarama that it works. It also has heart. This is cult cinema at it's purest and before you ask I would never call this 'so bad, it's good' (I would never call any film that redundant term). It has qualities that any number of big budget horror films will never have. I'd see this again in a heartbeat. I think this is infinitely better than It and the recent Halloween reimagining put together.
And the strange thing is that others agree with me. I thought I was going mad at how much I enjoyed this film and so I did something that I rarely do- I search online for other reviews. Sure there were the idiots who said that this was trash. But there were others who loved the film also despite it's flaws or limitations. I'm not mad after all! There's even a Cinema Snob episode devoted to it.
I look forward to buying the Blu Ray release of this from the States on Vinegar Syndrome.
Cheese🧀
jonflottorp10 March 2022
Warning: Spoilers
Bloody new year is a british slasher it's about some teens that get Stuck on an island, but if you first are at the island you can't get out.
The acting is decent, the characters are pretty bad, the plot is great and the chould have done so much more with it.
I love the deserted island setting, and the cinematigraphy is really good.
Bloody new year is a fun movie and i recommend it, just don't take it seriously.
The acting is decent, the characters are pretty bad, the plot is great and the chould have done so much more with it.
I love the deserted island setting, and the cinematigraphy is really good.
Bloody new year is a fun movie and i recommend it, just don't take it seriously.
Unrealizable New Year's resolution: watch less crappy horror movies.
Coventry2 January 2008
If my personal resolution for 2008 would to avoid watching worthless, crummy and totally retarded horror movies, I already would have sinned with "Bloody New Year". This is quite an incoherent and severely unsatisfying hodgepodge of potentially interesting story ideas, truly poor scripting work, horrible acting performances and a painful shortage of gore. I expected a holiday-themed slasher storyline (in the likes of "Happy Birthday to Me" or "Silent Night, Deadly Night"), but instead this film is a bizarre type of ghost story/demonic possession tale. Six hugely irritating teenagers intend to spend their summer vacation quarreling with carnival carnies and taking boat trips too far off the safe English coasts. Their boat hits a rock and the sextet washes ashore an island where everything is decorated to celebrate New Year's Eve of 1959. From this point on, a whole series of ridiculous and laughable UN-horrific events takes place, including the ghostly appearances of housemaids, murderous fishing nets coming to life, distant buzzing and laughter can be heard all over the island and the teenagers gradually turn into a bloodthirsty demons with rotting faces. There's no waterproof explanation for the events, but the script repeatedly hints that the crashing of government plane, carrying a top-secret experiment, on the 31st of December 1959 caused the island to be stuck in a time warp. Still that doesn't explain how pool tables come to life or why soup kettles develop murderous tendencies, but who cares? The island setting is atmospheric and the time warp concept is admirable (particularly with the New Year's celebration), but the overall execution is very weak. None of the characters are sympathetic, so you really don't care whether they all live or die, and there's zero tension throughout the entire film. "Bloody New Year" is overlong even with a running time of barely 90 minutes and the total absence of graphic gore & nudity are unforgivable. Damned, this is an 80's movie starring 6 dimwitted teenagers AND it's directed by UK's shlockmeister Norman J. Warren! The least I expected from the creator of such rancid nonsense as "Prey", "Inseminoid" and "Satan's Slave" was a bit more mindless violence and/or sleaze. One to avoid.
Boring and redundant trash
The_Void8 May 2008
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.
That's a likely story!
lighoff5 May 2008
Warning: Spoilers
Did someone really write this scenario ? Take six 80's-fashioned teenagers (3 guys and 3 pretty girls of course), set them off sailing, and finally, sink their sailboat with an obscure reason. What an introduction !
It's hard to explain how stupid and meaningless was this movie. There is no real linkage between each sequences. However, this is far from boring: zombies and ghosts attack at a rate of knots, and people die every 5 minutes.
The final scene is worth the watch. At least, one do not have to endure a silly happy end.
It's hard to explain how stupid and meaningless was this movie. There is no real linkage between each sequences. However, this is far from boring: zombies and ghosts attack at a rate of knots, and people die every 5 minutes.
The final scene is worth the watch. At least, one do not have to endure a silly happy end.
Bloody New Year
Scarecrow-888 May 2008
Warning: Spoilers
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.
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.
My New Year's Resolution - Take More Naps
marcialyon10 February 2020
A gang of young folks end up in a deserted hotel on some random island and are terrorized by the spirits who lurk there. It's a little bit like The Shining, but without all that pesky dread. Zombies leap out of walls, film screens, and the group starts turning into zombies themselves, but nothing every really makes a lick of sense and you keep expecting someone to wake up, revealing it was all a bad dream. Speaking of the sleep, the pacing will really give your eyelids a workout.
Still, some of the imagery is interesting and I feel like this one might be a movie that plays better in clips than as a full feature.
Still, some of the imagery is interesting and I feel like this one might be a movie that plays better in clips than as a full feature.
Gory, plot less, madcap and a true one-of-a-kind viewing experience
Leofwine_draca25 November 2015
Warning: Spoilers
An utterly crazed, no holds barred final outing for British director Norman J. Warren, the purveyor of such schlockers as TERROR and INSEMINOID. This no-budget, virtually plot less affair is a failure as a film, but contains such individual scenes of imagination and bizarreness that it almost becomes worthwhile. Filmed in Wales, the film meanders from incident to incident as the group of badly-acting British teenagers are picked off one by one by the various evil and invisible inhabitants of the island. Also thrown into the brew is a gang of wicked thugs who cause havoc at a funfair, an American girl to make the film appeal to overseas audiences, and lots of references to '50s culture. We even see FIEND WITHOUT A FACE playing in a cinema at one point! The fashions have dated badly along with the hairstyles and pop music which turns up, and the acting of the unknowns is as wooden as you can get. Even the dialogue sounds like it is cheesy and dubbed, even though it isn't. The special effects, done on the cheap, are also very cheesy and unrealistic in the extreme. These are probably the reasons that the movie is a flop which basically scuppered Warren's interesting career, and he hasn't recovered since. I'm sure you can all feel a "but" coming...
I find it impossible to totally dislike a film which has so much madness going on in it. There's a battle at a ghost train ride. Disappearing '50s singers. A ghostly old maid who appears and disappears at will. Snooker balls which move back to the original position after a game has been played. A girl gets sucked into a mirror and is trapped there for the duration of the film. A possessed vacuum cleaner and jukebox. A sheikh jumping out of a cinema screen to electrocute someone. A flying net which attempts to strangle a girl. A slimy monster emerging from a table. Bushes which laugh. Footprints which appears and disappear in the sand from nowhere. A burnt pilot lurking in the bushes who explodes. A plane wreck on the island. A snowstorm inside a building. A thug who punches through a girl.
You want more? Railings which attack people. A scene of a man dismembering a zombie which is seemingly a tribute to The Evil Dead. A possessed boy whose arm is sliced off in a lift. A wall which grows hands and kidnaps a girl. A man thrown in a deep fat frier. Kitchen appliances which get a life of their own and kill. A severed arm which reattaches itself. A boy's head sliced apart by a boat propeller. A girl who is sucked through the bottom of a boat. The hotel in this movie makes the Overlook look like an ideal family vacation spot! Although undoubtedly a bad film, BLOODY NEW YEAR is worth watching for the incident alone and frequently made my jaw drop at the sheer quantity of it all. I love the throwaway line at the end of the film to try and make sense of things (a pilot was carrying a time-warping device which trapped the inhabitants of the island forever). Incredible stuff.
I find it impossible to totally dislike a film which has so much madness going on in it. There's a battle at a ghost train ride. Disappearing '50s singers. A ghostly old maid who appears and disappears at will. Snooker balls which move back to the original position after a game has been played. A girl gets sucked into a mirror and is trapped there for the duration of the film. A possessed vacuum cleaner and jukebox. A sheikh jumping out of a cinema screen to electrocute someone. A flying net which attempts to strangle a girl. A slimy monster emerging from a table. Bushes which laugh. Footprints which appears and disappear in the sand from nowhere. A burnt pilot lurking in the bushes who explodes. A plane wreck on the island. A snowstorm inside a building. A thug who punches through a girl.
You want more? Railings which attack people. A scene of a man dismembering a zombie which is seemingly a tribute to The Evil Dead. A possessed boy whose arm is sliced off in a lift. A wall which grows hands and kidnaps a girl. A man thrown in a deep fat frier. Kitchen appliances which get a life of their own and kill. A severed arm which reattaches itself. A boy's head sliced apart by a boat propeller. A girl who is sucked through the bottom of a boat. The hotel in this movie makes the Overlook look like an ideal family vacation spot! Although undoubtedly a bad film, BLOODY NEW YEAR is worth watching for the incident alone and frequently made my jaw drop at the sheer quantity of it all. I love the throwaway line at the end of the film to try and make sense of things (a pilot was carrying a time-warping device which trapped the inhabitants of the island forever). Incredible stuff.
A really bad English horror
Sergiodave31 July 2022
Saw this on Netflix. I know characters in horror movies need to be dumb for the movies to work, but this movie might contain the most mentally challenged characters I've ever seen in a movie. The plot is unoriginal and the acting and effects in this are far worse than most 'b' movies. Don't waste your time watching this.
absolutely brilliant
gezza8200315 January 2009
Warning: Spoilers
this is an excellent British film that you will enjoy time and time again like me and my mother before me has.
this film is a refreshing look on a film genre that was dominated by British movies at the time when British studios were the best in the world at horror.
bloody new year is different compared to the other horrors made in Britain as it is a time warp horror with the story stuck in 1959 going into the new year of 1960. the movies lives out the story of some British teenagers being chased from a fairground to a desolate island and being haunted by ghosts that were killed by a tragic plane crash which killed the occupants of the island, but they turn into bitter spirits who are hell bent on killing any occupant of the island and making them join their eternal party.
in all the film was made on a low budget, but that takes nothing away from the original idea and the script (even though the acting is something to be desired) is a brilliant original which cannot be copied.
i myself enjoyed the film and my family has too, originality comes 10/10 the acting is 5/10 but you will keep watching time and time again so the films stamina is also 10/10, so the film overall is 8.3/10
this film is a refreshing look on a film genre that was dominated by British movies at the time when British studios were the best in the world at horror.
bloody new year is different compared to the other horrors made in Britain as it is a time warp horror with the story stuck in 1959 going into the new year of 1960. the movies lives out the story of some British teenagers being chased from a fairground to a desolate island and being haunted by ghosts that were killed by a tragic plane crash which killed the occupants of the island, but they turn into bitter spirits who are hell bent on killing any occupant of the island and making them join their eternal party.
in all the film was made on a low budget, but that takes nothing away from the original idea and the script (even though the acting is something to be desired) is a brilliant original which cannot be copied.
i myself enjoyed the film and my family has too, originality comes 10/10 the acting is 5/10 but you will keep watching time and time again so the films stamina is also 10/10, so the film overall is 8.3/10
Fantastically terrible,but enjoyable to watch!
HumanoidOfFlesh26 May 2003
"Bloody New Year" is a very cheesy horror film set on an isolated island.The acting is wonderfully bad and the gore scenes as well as various exploitation elements known from earlier Norman J.Warren's releases("Satan's Slave","Alien Prey")are almost completely absent.The film has some really surprising moments-the scene where Rick and his girlfriend are chased by a crowd of people through the rustling woods except their pursuers are invisible is the highlight of the film.6 out of 10!
Mouldy heap of cheese
Randomgirl1113 August 2022
Warning: Spoilers
Story:
I enjoyed the beginning of this film. Yeah, it was cheesily done but it was also really entertaining. I also, think the film had some interesting concepts. So why did I rate this 2 stars? Because that is literally all the praise I have for this. Sadly, when our protagonists arrive at the island, everything quickly goes downhill. One big reason for this is the mess the writers call a script. Nothing makes sense. Random things happen but they aren't explained. Not even the plot twist about the hotel being stuck in a time loop because of the government covers up all the plot holes. I still have many questions. Why did one door lead to a cliff? Why did another door lead to a snow storm? Why did that snow storm scene end up being a character's vision? Was it a vision? Those are just a fith of the questions that are left unanswered. What doesn't help is that the viewers are stuck with these poorly written protagonists, which I'll talk about more later. Not even the unpredictability of the script can get me invested because there's nothing engaging to latch my serious attention on to. There's nothing to care about here. Never have I found a story so insane but also boring at the same time...
Visuals: One word: cheap. The make up is cheap, the effects are cheap and the costumes are cheap. I would forgive this if the resources were used to their full potential but it doesn't even try to do that. The monsters look unoriginal and generic, the island has no atmosphere and the transitions between scenes are so clumsy and jarring, it added to the confusion I had from the writing. Considering the craziness and concepts of this script, I expected so much more.
Characters: Never have I wanted a cast of characters to be killed off so badly! Here we have another big reason why this movie is painful to watch. The antagonists lack depth and memorability and the protagonists make me wanna tear out my hair out! I hate every single one of those annoying idiots! They are more dim witted than Jigsaw's dumbest victims! Janet especially gets on my nerves because all she does is run away and cry instead of helping her friends! The cherry on top of this is the acting, which ranges from mediocre to downright amateurish. You know a movie has failed when it's audience wants the characters to be killed off to make it shorter.
Music: Like the visuals: cheap. Like the story: convoluted.
Overall: Instead of watching an over the top, entertaining movie, I ended up watching a boring, nonsensical, cheaply made mess. The writing is disgraceful, the visuals are cheap, even by 80s standards, the music is a broken orchestra and the characters give me headaches. I highly recommend you skip this. Probably the worst horror film I've ever watched.
Visuals: One word: cheap. The make up is cheap, the effects are cheap and the costumes are cheap. I would forgive this if the resources were used to their full potential but it doesn't even try to do that. The monsters look unoriginal and generic, the island has no atmosphere and the transitions between scenes are so clumsy and jarring, it added to the confusion I had from the writing. Considering the craziness and concepts of this script, I expected so much more.
Characters: Never have I wanted a cast of characters to be killed off so badly! Here we have another big reason why this movie is painful to watch. The antagonists lack depth and memorability and the protagonists make me wanna tear out my hair out! I hate every single one of those annoying idiots! They are more dim witted than Jigsaw's dumbest victims! Janet especially gets on my nerves because all she does is run away and cry instead of helping her friends! The cherry on top of this is the acting, which ranges from mediocre to downright amateurish. You know a movie has failed when it's audience wants the characters to be killed off to make it shorter.
Music: Like the visuals: cheap. Like the story: convoluted.
Overall: Instead of watching an over the top, entertaining movie, I ended up watching a boring, nonsensical, cheaply made mess. The writing is disgraceful, the visuals are cheap, even by 80s standards, the music is a broken orchestra and the characters give me headaches. I highly recommend you skip this. Probably the worst horror film I've ever watched.
Killer nets, carnival rides, 80's guitar playing ghosts!
ethylester29 July 2002
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.
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.
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