New Year's Evil (1980)

New Year's Evil (1980) (see below for trailer and preview images)

Directed by Emmett Alston
 
Starring: Kip Niven, Roz Kelly, Chris Wallace
 
IMDb 4.8/10                Rotten Tomatoes 14%            Metacritic NO DATA

This film is definitely a horror film.  But for many more reasons than just pure blood and gore.  Let’s just start with the basics.  We have a female rock ‘n’ roll shock jock who looks like she should have retired ten or fifteen years ago.  She’s way over done it with the make-up and the clothes, looking like something that made out with a clown and then raided someone’s old 80s version disco clothes. She’s doing a live radio show for New Year’s, celebrating as each time zone strikes midnight across the United States. And as all shock jocks do, she takes calls from her listeners.
 
One particular caller disguises his voice and informs her, on the air, that he will commit a murder at each stroke of midnight as each of the time zones ring in the new year.  Obviously, at first, she (and everybody else) thinks it’s some kind of hoax.  But, as the caller continues to call and taunt the party hostess, he plays audio recordings of each murder, on the air.
 
But, the real horror of this movie, the real terror driven images and sounds that I cannot release from my mind, the music and dancing that takes place through the majority of the film.  Dear lord, it was like Saturday Night Fever threw up in techno and neon.  And the dancing, oh my goodness, can we even call it that???  Just horrific.  I mean, this stuff, this film has truly scarred me for life.  
 
I think the actual story line, if done now, would work but, the visual aspect of the movie is so off-putting it’s like purposely making your eyes bleed.  I don’t know about any of you but, I don’t want my eyes to bleed. It was truly painful to watch.
 
And let’s talk about the music for a minute. I get that the whole end of the year bash radio show requires music.  But, there’s ONE band and they SUCK.  Royally suck. I don’t know who told these people they had talent but, they were outrageously and cruelly lied to.
 
As I write this I keep trying to figure out something good about the movie and all I can say is that the plot isn’t that bad.  Other than that, I got nothing.
 
RATINGS
1/5 Stars