COLD PREY II (2008) Good sequel to the Norwegian original picks up immediately where the first movie left off with final girl Jannicke (Berdal) being transported to a nearby hospital, along with the body of the pick-ax swinging mountain man who killed her friends, and who isn’t as dead as he appears. Although this lacks the suspense of its predecessor it delivers plenty of bloody mayhem at a fast pace, and a slam-bang finale that any of the Friday the 13ths would be envious of. B d: Mats Stenberg. c: Ingrid Bolsø Berdal, Marthe Snorresdotter Rovik, Fridtjov Såheim, Johanna Mørck
HAPPY HELL NIGHT (1992) When a couple of frat pledges break into a mental hospital as part of a hell night prank they accidentally let loose a psychopathic madman who, 25 years earlier, slaughtered several students from the same fraternity. A surprisingly spirited flick, this seems like a run-of-the-mill slasher but benefits from good direction and a likable cast, including McGavin as a former frat brother who may have something to do with the past event. Lukewarm make-up FX and slightly sluggish pacing hurt, but a good atmosphere and a sense of humor help. Blink and you’ll miss contributions from CSI‘s Jorja Fox and Oscar-winner Sam Rockwell. B– d: Brian Owens. c: Charles Cragin, Nick Gregory, Frank John Hughes, Darin McGavin
NEW YEAR’S EVIL (1980) The host (Kelly) of a televised New Year’s Eve rock special is terrorized by a series of phone calls from a killer (Niven) who’s murdering women at the stroke of midnight from each time zone. There’s a good idea somewhere in this post-Halloween slasher but it’s unfortunately lost in unimaginative direction and unexciting characters. That’s not to say the movie doesn’t have its moments, the highlights being Moritz as a flakey party-goer into “transcendental meditation” and when Niven, disguised as a priest, hides out at a drive-in showing cheap horror movies. Entertaining, but only just. C+ d: Emmett Alston. c: Roz Kelly, Kip Niven, Chris Wallace, Grant Cramer, Louisa Moritz
SLEDGEHAMMER (1983) Rock bottom slasher shot on video about a group of idiotic friends being butchered in an abandoned farmhouse by someone with a sledgehammer. Could it be the now-adult boy who, ten years earlier, killed his abusive mother and her lover in that house with the same weapon? A super-lame Friday the 13th wannabe from beginning to end, with an endless use of slow-motion that makes the 87-minute flick feel like three hours. Not even the graphic violence (which is foiled in extremely low-rent make-up) can save this eye sore bore fest. D– d: David A. Prior. c: Ted Prior, John Eastman, Linda McGill