Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		2.0
Overall		4.0

Bloody New Year Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Brian Orndorf January 30, 2019

Norman J. Warren is a maker of B-movies, working with minimal budgets and locations to crank out horror and sci-fi endeavors, sometimes mixing the genres, as found in 1977’s “Prey.” For 1987’s “Bloody New Year,” Warren returns to the confines of a small setting to arrange a tradition haunting, staging the action inside a hotel on a remote island. The outside world remains at bay in the tale, giving the helmer an opportunity to arrange a steady stream of stalking and attack sequences, presenting the English production a chance to play in the “Evil Dead” sandbox for 90 minutes. Screenwriter Frazer Pearce sets up a spooky situation featuring persistent ghosts, bringing in a small band of youngsters to experience the fight of their lives, and Warren supports with a spare, somewhat slow, but engaging screen nightmare, clearly enjoying himself as he organizes various survival challenges while maintaining an eerie sense of ghoulish discovery.

It’s a big day at a local fun fair for Lesley (Suzy Aitchison), Janet (Nikki Brooks), Spud (Daniel James), Rick (Mark Powley), Tom (Julian Ronnie), and Carol (Catherine Roman). While trying to enjoy some rides at an amusement park, the gang is targeted by local bullies, getting mixed up with dangerous folk as they attempt to escape the property without a violent confrontation. The group ends up on a rowboat, trying to make their way back home, soon dealing with a major leak in the vessel, forcing the friends to wade their way to the nearest shore, ending up on a mysterious island. While there are no signs of life, the kids discover the Grand Island Hotel, which is open but seemingly unstaffed, while the décor remains from a 1959 New Year’s Eve party, baffling the visitors. Trying to get warm and dry, the youngsters borrow vintage clothes and explore the hotel, only to come into contact with strange visions of ghouls, with supernatural events turned into a full-scale attack, urging the outsiders to find a way off the island, discovering its secrets as hope for a safe return home slowly diminishes.

Before the group settles into their final days at the Grand Island Hotel, “Bloody New Year” does spend a little time in the open air, establishing the crisis at hand at a fun fair, with the characters trying to enjoy themselves on various rides. However, the tilt-a-whirl proves to be the most troublesome experience for the women, with two hooligans trying to make the attraction unbearable for the riders, giving them intimidating spins. Masculine confrontations ensue, but Warren aims to create a chase within the amusement park, keeping the players on the move as they zip through the midway, ending up inside a haunted dark ride, soon claiming a breaker needed to power the festivities. There’s excitement to be found here, along with a smart use of space and a few surprisingly crunchy stunts, launching “Bloody New Year” with a little more action-y firepower than the average summary of personalities.

Once escape is managed by the parkgoers, a trip across the water proves to be even more trouble, with the gang losing their boat and patience, finally ending up on the island, which is home to addition evidence of wrecked boats, providing the first clue that something isn’t right. However, the quest for heat and dryness wins over common sense, and Warren soon has his genre chessboard of characters, who separate for a more thorough examination of the Grand Island Hotel, which has been left untouched since 1959. “Bloody New Year” spends most of its run time on scenes of exploration, following the visitors as they take clothing from closets, warm up by the fire, and, in Leslie’s case, try to find an intimate spot, like a snooker table, to have sex. Such gradual uncovering of hotel particulars tends to slow the movie to a crawl, but Warren doesn’t leave many extended gaps, always there with a flash of trouble as ghosts begin making appearances around the rooms and halls, while one excursion outside leads a couple to the site of a plane crash, which factors into Pearce’s grand design of explanation for all that’s going on.

While “Bloody New Year” is a little static, there are enough crazy encounters and violence to hold interest. One inspired scene finds the kids inside the hotel movie theater, experiencing the worst kind of 3D when a figure on the screen jumps into the room. In the projection booth, a film reel comes alive, trying to wrap celluloid around one unsuspecting character. “Bloody New Year” has many of these small moments, with the team battling fishing nets, a staircase handrail, and the appearance of a rotting pilot. Warren adds some Raimi-esque touches as well, hitting the poor saps with an indoor blizzard and a laughing forest, while the general vibe of the picture is soon reminiscent of John Carpenter’s “The Fog.”

Bloody New Year Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

It seems someone, somewhere destroyed the original camera negative for "Bloody New Year," forcing Vinegar Syndrome to look elsewhere for HD material, ending up with the "only surviving film element," which was an improperly stored print. The disc carries a warning about consistent damage, and the AVC encoded image (1.85:1 aspect ratio) presentation certainly showcases a lot of wear and tear, finding the viewing experience encountering speckling and scratches, judder, discoloration and flashing, warping, damaged frames, and a chemical staining. While it sounds like trouble, detail is actually superb, delivering fresh facial surfaces, a sharp look at hotel and fun fair decoration, and island distances retain dimension. Colors are vivid, offering bold reds and blues, doing well with costuming and greenery, capturing the isolation of the island. Delineation is quite capable. Of course, it's not a pristine view of "Bloody New Year," but element issues aren't distracting, and perhaps add to the enjoyment of the feature for some B-movie lovers.

Bloody New Year Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The 1.0 DTS-HD MA sound mix presents a fresh frontal push of dialogue exchanges, with accents and attitudes easy to follow, while panicky escalations don't inch the track into distortion. Scoring is capable, adding to pressure points in the feature, but the movie largely goes without musical accompaniment, and this forbidding silence is preserved. Sound effects are direct, without issue, maintaining ghoulish developments, shock value, and, for one scene, canned laughter.

Bloody New Year Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Commentary features director Norman J. Warren.

• A Theatrical Trailer has not been included.

Bloody New Year Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

"Bloody New Year" eventually makes its way to explanations, hoping to give the audience some type of payoff for all the weirdness it summons. Such exposure doesn't satisfy as much as hotel mayhem, which supports the viewing experience, giving the routine of young people in peril, picked off one- by-one, a different sort of intensity. The ghostly encounters are where it's at in "Bloody New Year," and they come with some level of regularity, giving the faithful a few jolts of gore and ghosts, with the island setting supporting a feeling of hopelessness that carries through to the end. Warren isn't too concerned with precision, but he can launch a few attack sequences with verve.