BLOODY NEW YEAR (1987) Blu-ray/DVD combo
Director: Norman J. Warren
Vinegar Syndrome

Vinegar Syndrome is a little late to the party but no more than anyone else ringing in a BLOODY NEW YEAR with Norman J. Warren's final feature on Blu-ray/DVD combo.

Five pals – couple Rick (Mark Powley, BRONSON) and Janet (Nikki Brooks), Lesley (Suzy Aitchison), mulletted Spud (Colin Heywood), and geeky Tom (Julian Ronnie) – visit the seaside and nearly fairgrounds run afoul of a ride operator (Steve Emerson, SHAUN OF THE DEAD) when intervening in the harassment of American tourist Carol (Catherine Roman) by two bouncers (Steve Wilsher and Jon Glentoran), causing damage in the process. They escape by boat but run aground on a nearby island. Soaking wet and without a means back to the mainland, they explore the island and come across the wreck of a plain before discovering The Grand Island Hotel from which everyone has seemed to disappear after a fifties-themed Christmas party. The more they settle in, the more they realize that time seems to have stopped here twenty-seven years ago on New Year's Eve 1959 and the restless spirits are resentful of those who come to the island and visit a grisly brand of hospitality upon them.

The final theatrical feature of director Norman J. Warren – who, like Pete Walker (FRIGHTMARE), had his horror heyday in the mid to late 1970s when the slump in British filmmaking allowed exploitation filmmakers to avail themselves of talented actors and behind the scenes crafts persons with works like SATAN'S SLAVE, TERROR, and PREY – BLOODY NEW YEAR feels more like an attempt at an American-style horror/slasher film than his more Gothic fare which similarly put modern characters in settings imbued with past evil. This is partially due to the low budget with production designer Hayden Pearce (HAUNTED HOUSE OF HORROR) – who also scripted with brother Frazer Pearce (DARKLANDS) – doing his best with a less interesting location than usual and stretched financial resources. Also to blame is the anything-but-the-kitchen-sink plot of visiting various supernatural horrors upon the victims with in-camera effects, the motivation for which is more economical than creative (endless reverse motion shots and mirror tricks do not make this another Cocteau's ORPHEUS). Rather than being unpredictable, it all comes across as quite monotonous. The most novel aspect ends up being the theme song "Recipe for Romance" by Cry No More.

Although given a theatrical release in the United Kingdom, BLOODY NEW YEAR went straight to VHS in the states in 1987 from Academy Home Entertainment (unfortunately not as one of their big box titles). When Redemption licensed titles from the Euro London catalogue, BLOODY NEW YEAR appeared on DVD from Image Entertainment in 2004, but the fullscreen transfer was derived from the PAL video master struck for the UK VHS. Either before or after it ended up with Euro London, the original camera negative was destroyed and intermediate elements vanished. Vinegar Syndrome's 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 1.85:1 widescreen Blu-ray is derived from a 2K scan of a poorly archived 35mm print which they have done their best to restore. The underlying image generally looks quite good at its best, there are occasional faint vertical scratches, water stains, torn frames, and some fading on the right side of the frame for a brief passage seems to flicker with every turn of the reel. It's a rescue job that probably looks better than what any other niche label would have bothered to do with the same materials. The DTS-HD Master Audio 1.0 mono track fares better with clear music and dialogue, although it is not an ambitious mix despite the supernatural fireworks. The optional English SDH subtitles could have used some proofing as Lesley's name is differently spelled in different places, Spud is called "Sput" early on, and actor Michael Landon referenced in the dialogue is subtitled as "Michael Landis."

The sole extra is a new audio commentary by director Warren who really could have used some prompting as his discussion is a bit unfocused, providing production anecdotes on the onscreen action – they could not afford extras for the opening flashback but one of the actors belonged tot the Rock and Roll Preservation Society and brought other members who had their own fifties clothing and stayed for food and drink – but repeatedly falling back on the contributions of Hayden Pearce who was extremely resourceful in dressing up the town council-owned derelict location and noting the non-CGI special effects. This release is currently limited to 3,000 copies available directly from Vinegar Syndrome with an exclusive slipcover (a standard edition is expected to follow in late 2019 or early 2020). (Eric Cotenas)

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