Why So Blu?

New Year’s Evil (Blu-ray Review)

New Year’s Evil is one of the more better known or higher profile golden age slasher films that has yet to see its release on Blu-ray.  That is no longer a thing as Scream Factory is rectifying the situation come February 24.  And mainly its in the conscience because its a one of them that got to claim one of the biggest holiday’s in their title.  Its a film that is a face paced, race against the clock thriller as a man tries to off a woman for every time zone in the United States’ hits the midnight hour.  Yes, that’s all very silly, but its all very fun at the same time.  Looking back on this film has become a lot more fun than during the time when it was supposed to be “scary”.  Time has been kind to it and allowed us to see it in a different way than maybe it was before.  As told on the bonus features, this was a pleasant, happy and fun production to work on and it shows on both the film and this Blu-ray release.

Film 

You already know this, but the film takes place on New Year’s Eve.  Video DJ “Blaze” is holding a new wave rock countdown party (Called “New Year’s Evil”) to compete with all the other ball dropping entertainment spectacles.  She also takes calls while on the air.  During her first round, a distorted voice calls in and threatens to kill a “naughty girl” each moment one of the time zones strikes midnight, with Blaze being the final victim representing the west coast.  Its laughed off for a bit, until 9 pm and a dead body is reported and found in a mental institution.  Are there any clues, can this killer be found before the ball drops on New Year’s Eve?

New Year’s Evil is an incredibly entertaining film nowadays.  First off, if you’re looking for something scary or vintage dirty/disturbing horror its not going to work for you.  Time has been kind to New Year’s Evil in a different sort of way.  Whereas, I can see why this movie was widely planned and disliked back in 1980.  It wasn’t until I got curious to revisit maybe 5 0r 6 years ago that I really got on board with it too.  I remember not thinking too much of the film when I first saw it back in my VHS horror study session days of the late 80s/early 90s.

This holiday named/themed slasher unintentionally kind of plays as a satirical look at the slasher films of its era.  It couldn’t really be that back then, because, well, it was one of the first of its kind.  That it came in the first year of that golden era, and managed to accidentally craft something that was a sort of look at the rest is quite a nice feat.  The film does have some dread and menace, but there’s plenty of it that’s silly and goofy, too.  And nothing beats the campiness of the killer’s phone calls that will surely have you speaking like you’re talking through a vibration tool box while emphasizing the first E in the word “evil”.

Roger Ebert referred to this film as being super bloody, but its pretty tame.  Most of the blood shown is either aftermath or on the knife while someone is being killed but not in frame.  There are some cool graphic details that happen when a body is found, but this one isn’t some mean spirited or brutal film.  At least not by today’s standards, but I don’t think its really even that way for the time it was released either.

Kip Niven plays the killer in the film.  Its one where you get to see him the whole time.  He’s not strategically hidden in frames or wearing a mask (He does, but later on).  Sometimes I always find it a bummer if you just see the guy from the outset killing, but Niven is incredibly fun in the role and basically carries this film with his antics.  There’s also a really cool twist this movie has going into the final act which makes seeing him early on a pretty cool aspect once you get to the later point in the film.

For me, New Year’s Evil plays much better now than it did back in the day.  Its not a scary movie, but like most 80s horror output, its at least fun if its not working in that regard.  There’s a lot of crazy music and fun psycho killer stuff to go along with some interesting styles.  Its certainly a movie to party with your friends to.  Many folks watch this as a tradition before the ball drops, and that’s certainly not a bad idea or an eeeeeeeeeeeevil one!

Video 

Encoding: MPEG-4 AVC

Resolution: 1080p

Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1

Clarity/Detail:  New Year’s Evil looks better than ever on Blu-ray.  The image is one full of detail, adequate sharpness and full of life.  Its another in a long line of movies that “don’t deserve to look this good”.  Scream Factory’s transfer is able to capture the vibrancy and energy of the film.

Depth:  Some well done areas in this film give a real sense of distance and character in the lonely darkened streets of nighttime Los Angeles.  The concert scenes also find a nice with character and environment display.

Black Levels:  Blacks are pretty deep and add a nice sense of dread.  Sometimes its pretty dark, but no crushing is evident and detail is still pretty visible.

Color Reproduction:  Colors take on a natural look and appear to accurately reflect a realistic tone.  Grounded clothing and surface colors appear lifelike, and the concert setting is able to pop with its vibrant and flashy lighting and clothing colors.

Flesh Tones:  Skin tones are natural and carry some great detail.  Facial wrinkles, scars, cracks, stubble and make up lines are clear from close ups to medium shots.

Noise/Artifacts:  A nice layer of grain along with some specs throughout.

Audio 

Audio Format(s): English 2.0 DTS-HD MA

Subtitles: English

Dynamics:  The 80s new wave jams sound better than ever on this uncompressed mono track.  Its nice and loud.  There are varying degrees of playful “jump scare” volumes that translate rather well here in this mix.  What’s great is that the sounds, voice and music are all nice and clean sounding.  No sign of age or weathering.

Low Frequency Extension: N/A

Surround Sound Presentation: N/A

Dialogue Reproduction:  The eeeeeevil voice sound loud, present and clean.

Extras 

New Year’s Evil comes with reversible cover artwork featuring alternate poster art.

Audio Commentary

• With Writer And Director Emmett Alston

The Making Of New Year’s Evil (HD, 37:16) – Another groovy little doc on the making of a film.  This one turns out was a rather pleasant production for all involved.  Everyone is rather calm discussing it and pretty happy and pleased with the production.

Trailer (HD, 1:46)

Summary 

New Year’s Evil is a fun 80s slasher film that winds up playing very satirical in its old age, only strengthening it.  Scream Factory has this one looking and sounding better than ever on their Blu-ray release.  The extras may seem light, but “The Making Of” is worth the price of this one alone and they retained the director’s commentary track from a previous release as well.  This one is a must for any collector of vintage horror cinema or slasher fans.