Bloody New Year, aka Timewarp Terror (which is actually a much more apt title), is kind of in a class of its own, horror-wise, to put it mildly. That's not to say it's some diamond in the rough, per se, but it is certainly an anomaly amongst the horror films being released at the time in the late 80's. And that uniqueness, despite all its faults- and there are many- makes it stand out from the rest of the films within the horror genre of that era.
I first saw it via the Redemption Films label (now better known by its parent company, Salvation Films), which was a film line known for re-releasing a host of Eurotrash exploitation flicks that had basically been ignored for years. We're talking movies with titles like Nude for Satan, The Sinful Nuns of St. Valentine, The Grapes of Death and Killer Barbys. While not nearly as trashy as their more typical releases, the film nonetheless had an impact on me the first time I saw it, due to its crazy, everything-and-the-kitchen-sink approach.
The film is, at times, a ghost story, a zombie flick, a possession movie, a sci-fi mad scientist/governmental experimentation/time travel pic, a 50's monster movie homage and a wild art-house horror movie in the same vein as something like 1977's mental Japanese supernatural flick House (aka Hausu).
Basically, it's a movie in which anything can happen at any time, making it wildly unpredictable- if also incredibly uneven. But hey, at least it's never boring, even if it often doesn't make a lick of sense, features iffy acting throughout, and a somewhat admirably downbeat ending.
Since it's a relatively lesser-known flick, I don't want to spoil too much here- not that any synopsis would do it justice, anyway. My advice, if you've never seen it, is to just go watch it (it's available here on YouTube, as of this writing), then come back. Trust me, it's an experience you won't soon forget. The crazy stuff doesn't really begin until the main cast gets to the island, but hang in there, because it's worth it.
The plot, such as it is, revolves around a group of British "teens"- and boy, do I use that term loosely- who go to a carnival one day and run afoul of some biker types tormenting an American girl, Carol (Catherine Roman). Some of them rescue the girl and a chase ensues, with the group barely getting out of there intact- though the same cannot be said of the Ghost House at the fair, lol. Might the crash into a "haunted house" be a metaphor? We shall see.
The teens have a boat attached to their car, which they subsequently use to go out to sea later on, though the bikers give chase in a boat of their own, eventually catching up to them somehow. Unfortunately, the boat hits some rocks down below and starts to sink, so the group has to bail, washing up on a nearby island.
There, disregarding the literal and figurative warning signs, they find an abandoned hotel that seems to have been lost in time- specifically New Year's Eve in 1959 going into 1960. Christmas and party decorations abound, and everything seems in perfect working condition, though they do have to reboot the electricity. However, there doesn't seem to be anyone there... at first.
Slowly but surely, weird things begin to happen, when it eventually becomes readily apparent- at least to the viewer, if not the slow-on-the-uptake characters- that we are dealing with a haunted hotel, a la The Overlook in The Shining. Actually, the island itself as a whole seems haunted, as bizarre things happen outside of the hotel as well.
We don't quite get a total explanation, but as far as I can tell, there was a mad scientist type that thought they had figured out time travel, and while getting a pilot to test out the equipment, something went awry, and the plane crashed... but he also succeeded, causing the island and everyone on it to be caught in a time warp of some kind that causes them to eternally be stuck in the time period of late 1959 to early 1960.
In addition, the government-sanctioned experiment seems to have caused some anomalies, such as causing people turning into zombies, inanimate objects to have a mind of their own, and physics-defying strangeness to occur that has to be seen to be believed. Like I said, I don't want to ruin the surprises, but suffice it to say, things get mighty odd.
Bloody New Year is the brainchild of British exploitation maven Norman J. Warren, best-known for films like Satan's Slave, Prey, Terror and Inseminoid. He's sort of akin to the better-known director Pete Walker, of House of Whipcord and Schizo fame, only not quite as good. Points for originality, though, especially for a film written in only a week.
To be sure, the film liberally borrows from other sources, which, in addition to The Shining, include Evil Dead, Carrie, Carnival of Souls and 50's monster movies, notably Fiend Without a Face, clips of which crop up in the movie itself. Be that as it may, the movie has a distinct vibe of its own.
For one thing, the setting is unique. The film was shot at the seaside resort of Barry Island, which is located in South Wales. The carnival scenes were shot at the Barry Island Pleasure Park, which has a sort of Coney Island vibe to it, and the hotel scenes were shot at the Friars Point House. Fans of British TV may recognize some of the shooting locations from Dr. Who, The Sarah Jane Adventures, Gavin & Stacey and Being Human, and the movie Submarine was shot there as well.
Though the cast is mostly made up of unknowns, there are a few British luminaries in the film. As the sex-starved Lesley, who can't seem to get her man interested in sex to save her life, there's Suzy Aitchison, daughter of June Whitfield, of Absolutely Fabulous fame. Mom put in a good word for Suzy and landed her a plum gig in the British sitcom Jam & Jerusalem, which featured a lot of the same creative team as the aforementioned show, including stars Joanna Lumley and Jennifer Saunders.
Aitchison also cropped up in well-known shows like Are You Being Served?, Mr. Bean, Casualty and Filthy Rich and Catflap, featuring three of the leads in the well-regarded British punk/New Wave send-up The Young Ones. She has also done a lot of work in the theatre in England, and is well-regarded as a stage actress there.
In addition, there's Mark Powley as Rick, the longest-surviving of the male contingent of the film, who almost makes it out alive, if not for his being dubiously fooled by an apparition of his late girlfriend. Though the film is light on the gore, his death is perhaps the most memorable, as it involves a boat motor to the head.
Powley landed a role on the British police drama The Bill the same year as this film was released and followed that up with a turn on the sitcom Next of Kin. However, American viewers may know him better for his turn in the action cheese-fest Wing Commander, based on the video game of the same name and starring Freddie Prinze, Jr. More recently, he was in Nicolas Winding Refn's Bronson and in the shows Hidden and The Tunnel.
After that, things go downhill fast. The gorgeous Nikki Brooks, who played Rick's horndog girlfriend, Janet, was reunited with her love with a guest spot on the aforementioned The Bill, had a recurring gig on the sci-fi series Jupiter Moon, and most recently, played the late Judy Garland in an episode of the series Autopsy: The Last Hours Of, but beyond that, her work is limited to a few one-off guest spots here and there on various British TV shows.
Similar fates befell the rest of the main cast, who did a fair amount of TV work, almost entirely of the guest spot variety, in their native Britain, but not much else. Ditto Catherine Roman, the lone American in the mix, who played Carol. She did a few TV movies, including Once in a Life Time and To Be The Best, but not much else.
This was also the lone writing credit for the screenwriters, brothers Frazer and Hayden Pearce, who went onto to work in, respectively, the art and production designer departments (in which they also served on this film) on various other films and TV projects. This was director Warren's final feature length film, and he co-wrote the script and came up with the general story-line as well.
The solid score is by Nick Magnus, with original, 50's-by-way-of-New Wave-style original music by the band Cry No More, who are somewhat catchy at times, but just this side of annoying. Your mileage for the latter may vary depending on your opinions on said musical styles.
But for whatever it's worth, I enjoy bad original horror movie music as much as the next fan, but even I was a bit in From Dusk Till Dawn-style "Let's kill that band!" mode after a certain point. If only they'd done a Bloody New Year theme song, one of my fave aspects of cheesy 80's horror flicks, all might have been forgiven, but no such luck.
TBH, I'll allow that Bloody New Year isn't the best horror film you'll ever see- hell, it's not even the best horror film set on New Year's Eve you'll ever see- but it does have its charms, and it's quirky and unpredictable enough to keep me coming back for re-viewing over the years, time and again, so there's that.
Besides, any movie that has random snowstorms inside, strategically-placed sinkholes outside, doors leading to nowhere, and man-and-woman-eating banisters and desks can't be all bad. At the very least, it's worth seeing once, even if it turns out to not be your particular cup of tea. I, for one, would welcome more of these nutty Brit horror mash-ups any day of the week, though.
By all means, check this one out! 😎🎉🎊🎶
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