BLOODY NEW YEAR (1987) Enormously stupid British slasher about a group of wankers left stranded on a small island after their boat capsizes. Seeking shelter from the chilly July sunshine, they find an empty hotel that’s seemingly stuck in time, specifically New Year’s Eve, 1959. The gang is eventually dispatched by all manner of supernatural creatures and ghosts, apparently the products of a failed government time-travel experiment. None of this is the least bit interesting thanks to very incoherent storytelling, terrible direction, and shoddy FX. The acting and dialogue are also banal, with colorless characters not being killed off fast enough for my taste. A bloodless borefest that will test your patience – from the director of the equally wretched Inseminoid. D–
BUTCHER, BAKER, NIGHTMARE MAKER (1981) Offbeat psychodrama about crazy old Cheryl (Susan Tyrrell) and her teenage nephew, Billy (Jimmy McNichol), who Cheryl has been raising since he was a baby and trying to keep from going to college by sabotaging his life. After Cheryl kills a gay repairman because he refused her sexual advances, Billy is blamed for the crime by a homophobic cop (Bo Svenson) who thinks Billy murdered the man in a fit of homosexual jealously! Um… Sure, why not? The police investigation, along with Billy’s bubbly girlfriend (Julia Duffy), slowly turns Cheryl’s screws until she snaps and goes on a killing spree. This gets points for doing something different with the slasher formula, but it’s so hysterically melodramatic it comes off as an unintentional comedy, especially a catfight between Cheryl and Billy’s girlfriend that ends up in the middle of a swamp. Tyrrell’s performance is unhinged and makes Joan Crawford seem downright subtle. A goofy howler with an unbelievably happy ending. C
DADDY’S GONE A-HUNTING (1969) Arriving in San Francisco, British transplant Cathy (Carol White) thinks she’s met Mr. Right in the form of Kenneth (Scott Hylands), a handsome, carefree photographer, who also happens to be an abusive nut job. When Carol becomes pregnant, she decides to leaves him and has an abortion, turning Kenneth into an obsessive psychopath who makes Carol’s new life a living hell. A compelling, pre-Play Misty for Me psycho-stalker that was obviously influential to future films like Fatal Attraction, this benefits greatly from a good, controlled performance by Hylands and a suspenseful climax. A tighter script and shorter runtime could have made this a classic, but as is this is an effective shocker. B
KILLER PARTY (1986) Sorority pledging is literal hell for a trio of friends in this spirited romp that feels like an early companion piece to the equally humorous Pledge Night. College freshmen Phoebe (Elaine Wilkes), Vivia (Sherry Willis-Burch), and Jennifer (Joanna Johnson) are forced into setting up pranks and practical jokes for their pledging sorority’s annual April Fool’s Day costume party, conveniently being held at the campus haunted house, where years earlier a frat brother was accidentally killed. Fun and games turn to horror when Jennifer becomes possessed by the malevolent spirit of said dead bro and begins picking off her fellow classmates one-by-one. Although unfortunately saddled with a sluggish first half, Killer Party is never dull and kicks into gear during its creative and fun climax. The cast is good, and the tipping-of-the-hat to the slasher genre a welcome addition to the screenplay, written by Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter‘s Barney Cohen. The pre-credits sequence parodying Michael Jackson’s Thriller is charming. B–