Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.0
Audio		4.5
Extras		3.5
Overall		3.5

New Year's Evil Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov May 21, 2022

Emmett Alston's "New Year's Evil" (1980) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Kino Lorber. The supplemental features on the disc include archival audio commentary recorded by director Emmett Alston and Bill Olsen; archival program on the making of the film; and vintage trailer. In English, with optional English SDH subtitled for the main feature. Region-A "locked".

Overzealous fans of the slasher genre would quickly uncover all kinds of different flaws in Emmett Alston’s New Year’s Evil and even identify a few of the classic films that shaped its identity. Then, if in a good mood, they would proceed to explain how New Year’s Evil should have been done so that it is a lot more exciting. One of the classic rules that are never altered in these educational lessons is that more graphic killings usually equate to more excitement, especially if they are done like the undisputed masters of the genre did them during the ‘70s and ‘80s. Think Mario Bava, Dario Argento, Sergio Martino and Lucio Fulci.

It would be pretty difficult to come up with any good reasons to dismiss such a hypothetical lesson in constructing a better version of New Year’s Evil. Why? Because this film does have some obvious flaws, and a few tweaks here and there could have made it more exciting. I don’t know if it would have been possible to make it look original, and below I would explain why, but parts of it certainly could have been spiced up so that it delivers the greater excitement some of its biggest critics wanted from it. So, just to be clear, New Year’s Evil could have been conceived and executed better.

But I am unsure if I would have enjoyed this fictional superior film. Sometimes I enjoy smaller genre films precisely because they are not as polished and effective as their bigger and critically acclaimed relatives. And no, I am not referring to the so-bad-that-they-are-actually-good genre films. These smaller genre films are just below the ones that you would consider to be average and are usually made with modest budgets and actors that do not have overly impressive résumes. For example, on the right night I would enjoy Deadly Force as much as I would The Driver, or Fire with Fire as much as I would The Getaway. I would still recognize the flaws that could have been avoided, but they would not have disrupted my enjoyment.

New Year’s Evil has never been on my radar and my very first experience with it was via this new Blu-ray release from Kino Lorber. Prior to receiving the release, I did not have any particular expectations for it, but the early promotional materials I saw convinced me that it might be similar to StageFright. In a way it was, but I ended up enjoying it far more than I thought possible. Below I am going to tell you why.

New Year’s Evil is an early Cannon Group project, which means that it was done with respectable enthusiasm and a proper budget. Now, don’t get the wrong idea here. Menahem Golan and Yoram Globus did not just hand out a blank check, but the film does not look cheaply made either. It looks respectable and does not have any big stars that just stopped by to make a quick buck. The Cannon Group’s later and more ambitious projects have plenty of such visitors, which is precisely why so many of them are rightfully dismissed as unfortunate turkeys. So, when Alston went to work, he had a crystal-clear idea of how big of a film New Year’s Evil can be and delivered exactly what he was hired for. Believe it or not, this clarity is easily felt and happens to be the main reason why the mayhem isn't overdone. I liked this a lot because it makes New Year’s Evil look like a working-class slasher, the kind that materializes organically, not because a director and a group of actors are pursuing such an identity.

The second big reason I enjoyed New Year’s Evil is its transparency. It is set in Los Angeles, during New Year’s Eve, and follows closely a maniac who plans to destroy the career of a famous TV host (Roz Kelly) and then kill her in the studio as she celebrates with her appreciative fans. Before he gets to her, the maniac would ‘punish’ one naughty girl for each time zone from New York to Los Angeles. It is hardly an original plot, and the identity of the maniac is revealed shortly after the opening credits disappear, but I thought that this is precisely how a working-class slasher should be done -- all cards on the table, no cliched tricks to make the maniac appear like a closeted genius.

This is it. I enjoyed New Year’s Evil for what it was and thought that it had a pretty nice ‘80s atmosphere. I even found the twist at the very end entirely logical and organic, which does not happen often when I spend time with some of the slasher genre’s supposedly vastly superior representatives.

New Year's Evil Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.85:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, New Year's Evil arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Kino Lorber.

New Year's Evil was initially released on Blu-ray by Scream Factory, but I do not have this release in my library. This release is apparently sourced from an exclusive new 2K master.

On my system the film looked quite good. The visuals looked just a notch softer than I would have liked them, and some of the darker areas revealed light crush, but overall I thought they were pretty well balanced. If I had to guess I would say that the new master was struck from an interpositive, which is why in some areas delineation and depth could be better, but even if you view your films on a larger screen I think that you will be pleased with the quality of the presentation. If you ignore the light black crush that I mentioned above, color balance is very convincing, too. There are no stability issues, though I did notice some very light shakiness popping up in the very beginning of the film. (See opening credits and the footage shortly after). I noticed a few blemishes and small spots, but there are no distracting large cuts, debris, warped or torn frames to report. (Note: This is a Region-A "locked" Blu-ray release. Therefore, you must have a native Region-A or Region-Free player in order to access its content).

New Year's Evil Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There is only one standard audio track on this Blu-ray release: English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0. Optional English SDH subtitles are provided for the main feature.

The dialog was clear and very easy to follow. Balance was good, too. I expected slightly better dynamic intensity during the music performances in the studio, but it is very difficult for me to say if there is any room for solid improvement(s) because New Year's Evil was not shot with a massive budget. If I had to guess I would say that a proper remastering job of the original audio stems will likely producer a better track, but the current lossless track does not disappoint.

New Year's Evil Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Trailer - a remastered vintage trailer for New Year's Evil. In English, not subtitled. (2 min).

• The Making of New Year's Evil - in this archival program, cinematographer Thomas Ackerman and actors Kip Niven, Grant Cramer and Taaffe O'Connell recall their collaboration with Emmett Alston on New Year's Evil, which was a 'first big project' for a lot of different people that contributed to it. There are some quite interesting comments about the state of the film industry during in the early 1980s and the Cannon Group. The program was produced by Shout Factory and initially appeared on the label's 2015 Blu-ray release of the film. In English, not subtitled. (38 min).

• Commentary - this archival audio commentary was recorded by director Emmett Alston and is moderated by the founder of Code Red, Bill 'Banana Man' Olsen. The bulk of the comments address the different locations where parts of New Year's Evil were shot, the personalities and work of the different actors that contributed to the film, and the film's stylistic identity.

• Cover - reversible cover with vintage poster art for New Year's Evil.

New Year's Evil Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

New Year's Evil was apparently a 'first big project' for a lot of different people that contributed to it. It isn't universally liked because the consensus is that it should have been much better polished, but this is precisely the reason why I had a good time with it. I saw it as a working-class '80s slasher with a genuine personality that makes the bloody fun in it look pretty organic -- at least as far as this particular genre is concerned. I really mean it, folks, there are nights when these types of smaller and imperfect slashers seem much more attractive than their universally praised relatives. Kino Lorber's Blu-ray release is sourced from a nice exclusive new 2K master and features a very good archival program that was produced by the folks at Scream Factory. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.