Bloody New Year(1987) Movie Review

Trailer here.

Bloody New Year is  a 1987 horror movie directed by Norman J. Warren and starring Suzy Aitchison,Colin Heywood, Mark Powley, Nikki Brooks, Catherine Roman and Julian Ronnie.

The movie begins in 1959 on New Year's Eve. A woman gets pulled into a mirror. Cut to present day and young people on the beach. They go to the funfair. Some guys are tormenting a girl. Some young guys intervene and there is an argument. The bullies are called Dad, Ace and The Bear. The youngsters manage to escape. They are Spud(Heywood), Carol(Roman), Rick(Powley), Janet(Brooks), Leslie(Aitchison) and Tom(Ronnie). They are in a boat and it hits a rock. It begins to sink. They jump into the water and find an island. Someone is watching them. They discover a hotel on the island. It is July but the hotel is decorated for Christmas. It is called Grand Island Hotel. A maid(Val Graham) shows up. Spud looks around. He hears music playing. Someone is playing the guitar and singing but they disappear. 

The group discover clothes from the 1950's. They search for a power source and get the power going in the hotel. They decide to dress in the old clothes and hear a movie playing. It is called Fiend without a Face. It is set at the hotel but years earlier. A guy emerges from the screen and kills Spud. Everyone is upset. Leslie and Tom find a cottage. Leslie gets caught up in a fishing net. A creature tries to kill her. Tom stabs it. Rick and Janet hear voices and run down to the beach where they discover ghostly footprints. They witness an explosion.  Rick sees a ghostly pilot. Carol finds a house and looks around. There is a room filled with snow and then there is a blizzard. Carol gets covered in snow. Suddenly it is gone and she is outside. Everyone meets up and Leslie tells them that something happened to Tom.

The three bullies show up on the island. One of them fights Rick and tries to attack Leslie but she is a ghost now. The others try to destroy her. Rick, Janet and Carol are left. They run to the hotel. They can hear Leslie at the door. The bullies come for them again but Leslie kills one and Carol attacks the other. Leslie explains that they are stuck in some sort of time warp which was caused by a plane crashing on the island. Lesley wants Janet but Rick shoots her. Tom stumbles in. He is delirious. Rick and Carol go to get a boat as they are chased by the others who have turned into ghosts. They find the bullies boat but Rick gets killed by one of the ghosts. Carol is alone and she gets pulled underwater. She ends up in a mirror in the ballroom of the hotel where her friends are celebrating New Year's Eve.

This is a really weird film, I thought. It was interesting in parts but nothing amazing. I did like the poster though. I think that was better than the movie itself. I will give this one a 4/10.

Horrors of the Black Museum(1959) Movie Review

Trailer here.

Horrors of the Black Museum is a 1959 horror movie directed by Arthur Crabtree and starring Michael Gough, Shirley Ann Field and Geoffrey Keen.

The movie begins with a woman called Gail who receives a gift of a pair of binoculars. She ends up dying when she uses them and there are spikes in them which go through her eyes. Her friend, Peggy goes to the police. They ask about Gail's boyfriend. A man called Edmond Bancroft(Gough) goes to the police and he looks at the binoculars. He is a writer and he is there to ask questions about the murder. The police don't have any clues. There is a place in Scotland Yard called the 'Black Museum' and the binoculars seem to come from there. Bancroft goes to an anitque shop and he sees a dagger which he buys and places into his own museum with his friend, Rick. It emerges that Bancroft has more items in his morbid collection. He is very interested in objects that have a bloody past.

Bancroft is being seen by a doctor who thinks that he should be in hospital because he is obsessed with the killing. He falls out with his lover, Joan and she ends up dead. The police come. The residents tell them that the man they saw was old. A kid spotted Bancroft. She tells the police, but they don't take her seriously. Joan's head is missing. Superintendent Graham(Keen) speaks to Bancroft about the nasty business. The killer is found and he is a crazy man who confesses to dozens of other crimes. The police can't hold him. They decide that they might be able to use him to flush out the real killer.

Rick is meeting his girlfriend, Angela(Field). He tells her that Bancroft has a hold on him. Rick tells her not to tell anyone about them yet. Bancroft goes to the antique shop and talks to the lady who works there. She has something for him. She tells him that he needs to pay her for all the help that she has given him. She knows that he is associated with the murders. He makes a bargain with her but he kills her after. He ends up murdering the doctor also because the doctor has figured out that he is the killer. Rick helps him dispose of the body. Rick isn't very happy about it. Bancroft catches Rick with Angela. She wants to know more about the work that Rick does with Bancroft.  Bancroft is furious and tells him that women cannot be trusted.

Bancroft injects Rick with something. He tells Rick that he will leave everything to Rick and he wants him to take over his 'work' when he is gone. He also tells Rick to get rid of Angela. Angela is afraid of Bancroft. Rick takes her to the funfair and he kills her. He runs off and the police are after him. Bancroft is at the police station with his new book. He hears them receive a phone call. Rick is on the ferris wheel. Bancroft rushes there and talks to him. Rick tells him that he did everything Bancroft told him and jumps off the ferris wheel, killing himself but not before killing Bancroft. The police realise what was happening and they solve the murders.

This is a good film with a fine cast. There is plenty to like about it. It has a good story and is very entertaining. Michael Gough is good in the lead role. I recommend this one and I will give it a 6/10.