New Year's Evil (1980) YIFY - Download Movie TORRENT

Movie Reviews

Reviewed by ofumalow 5 / 10

Annoying killer, annoying target

This Golan-Globus production is a bit slicker than most non-major-studio slashers of the era, and the polish helps it move along painlessly--except for the onscreen victims of course. Roz Kelly plays an obnoxiously self-absorbed radio celebrity hosting a New Year's Eve "New Wave" bash--we get a lot of generic rock music located somewhere between lesser 70s power pop and 80s lite metal. (The musicians in the presumably fictitious bands playing probably grew their hair out and tried to be "the next Poison" a few years later.) Before her hosting duties begin, she gets a call from an anonymous, vocally distorted man who insists she call him "Eeeeeeeevillllll" and says he's going to kill on the hour each other before midnight, at which point it will be her turn. Trouper that she is--or perhaps just too abrasive to care--our protagonist goes on with the show, while the killer gradually approaches the venue, killing people on the way.The story is pretty thin, such as it is. There's a late hint of something unsavory going on between the heroine's son and husband (it's unclear whether he's the boy's father), both of whom have cause to hate her guts, but the film doesn't have the nerve to really "go there." It aims mild satire at both the Hollywood and punk scenes, but those caricatures are too familiar to be effective. Roz Kelly was said to be a piece of work offscreen--she acknowledged she was known as "pushy," which is maybe what got her sacked from her most famous role on "Happy Days"--so this role seems tailored to her as a glam, flashy but unsympathetic entertainer who is oblivious to others (even at her own peril) and bosses everybody around. The villain's "scary voice" on phone calls is ridiculous, his dialogue worse, his motivation flimsy, but then you don't go into a movie like this one expecting much psychological depth.Despite the fair number of deaths, none of them are particularly memorable in deed or staging; the only good idea is a climactic scene in which someone is very unhappy to find themselves dangling from the bottom of an elevator as it rockets up and plunges down the shaft.In short, more watchable than some more poorly-produced slashers of the time, but just OK, with both a protagonist and antagonist that are a little too effectively annoying as personalities.

Reviewed by Hey_Sweden 6 / 10

Goofy cheese ball slasher does have some good moments.

It's New Years' Eve, and D. J. Blaze Sullivan (Pinky Tuscadero, a.k.a. Actress Roz Kelly) is hosting a night long dance party / concert celebrating supposed "new wave" music. Somebody else is celebrating, but in their own macabre way: a dude named EEE-vil (Kip Niven, "Damnation Alley") is calling Blazes' show and following through on his threat to murder someone every time the clock strikes midnight in a time zone. The clueless cops can't do much to stop him, as he goes through one masquerade after another - pretending to be a doctor, a priest, a business agent - while in the act of slaughtering unfortunate women."New Year's Evil" was an early production for producers Menahem Golan and Yoram Globus and their Cannon Group company; written by Leonard Neubauer and directed by Emmett Alston, it's mostly good for the laughs it provides. "Evil" speaks through a voice modulator and it's a hoot when he calls Blaze, remaining deadly serious while his voice sounds so funny.The movie has some fun bits, such as "Evil" having a surprise in store, inside a dumpster, for a young lady. Also, it's interesting the way the movie focuses so much on its killer, not bothering to obscure his face, and following him just as much as it follows the activities of Blaze. It's quite amusing when "Evil", while in his priest garb, incurs the wrath of some bikers and is forced to abandon his mode of transportation. Also entertaining are the hilarious extras in the dance sequences, busting some of the most lethargic and priceless dance moves one is ever likely to see. In fact, all the extras and bit players in this thing are worthy of chuckles. Adding a creepiness factor is Blazes' oddball son Derek (Grant Cramer, "Killer Klowns from Outer Space"). Co-starring are Chris Wallace ("Don't Answer the Phone!") as the not terribly efficient police detective, and lovely ladies Louisa Moritz ("The Last American Virgin") and Taaffe O'Connell ("Galaxy of Terror") as victims. Niven is a standout, giving his all to a killer with a thin, not very convincing motivation. Kelly's character is clearly not meant to be sympathetic, but it would help if she weren't so damn annoying in the role. The music is insidiously catchy, especially that title theme song which we get to hear a couple of times. The finale, however, falls short of being really satisfying, at least in terms of the killers' comeuppance.Overall, this is a fairly underwhelming slasher, with limited gore and no nudity, but it is good for some entertainment value.Six out of 10.

Reviewed by getconedproductions09 6 / 10

What did I see? A wacky night comedy with a slasher as the main character

New Year's Evil: Directed by Emmett Alston and written by Leonard Neubauer and Emmett AlstonWelcome to 2019. Twenty years from 1999. Fight Club is now a 20 year old movie along with American Beauty. What better way to ring in the new year than an 80s slasher movie themed after the holiday! I'm thinking a masked killer stalking a new year's eve party and offing them one by one. Nope. It's not that movie at all. It tries something else entirely. It shows you the killer right from the get go. The killer is the main character. It felt like a comedy where this killer was going through a wacky night trying to achieve his goal and having obstacles thrown in his way the entire time. It's Adventures in Babysitting or the Hangover but with a serial killer at the center. It's insane.What's even more insane than that is the fact that this movie was made and released the same year as Friday the 13th. There wasn't a whole bunch of slasher films at this time. I think the formula might not have been established at this time. This could be the reason it deviates and tries this bat crazy insane movie idea. They sure weren't trying to make it scary. There was no suspense. There were no surprises. It doesn't even try to go in that direction. I'm not even sure it knows how much of a comedy it actually is.It could go for the gore factor but it doesn't. The aftermaths of the kills are theatrical and shocking in a silly sense. I'm not sure it's trying for those clever kills either. It also has no clue what punk rock is. It dresses extras up how you imagine punk rockers should look like. It then plays the goofiest 80s music it can find to have them having a seizure on the dance floor. It's like a cartoon slasher. He plays around with an elevator using a screwdriver. It's all over the place.This is a fascinating film in its own right. It fails miserably as a horror movie. It fails as a comedy which I'm not sure its intent was. I have no idea what they were thinking but damn it's so bizarre. I have to recommend it on that alone. I give it a C.

New Year's Evil

1980

Action / Horror / Thriller

New Year's Evil

1980

Action / Horror / Thriller

Plot summary

Director

Top cast

Tech specs

Movie Reviews

Annoying killer, annoying target

Goofy cheese ball slasher does have some good moments.

What did I see? A wacky night comedy with a slasher as the main character

No comments yet