Back in 1980 there were few holidays that didn’t have some
sort of stalker/killer attached to them. What kicked off with HALLOWEEN and
FRIDAY THE 13TH gave way to a new sort of horror film, one that was
based around a certain holiday of social gathering. Thus we had SILENT NIGHT
DEADLY NIGHT, PROM NIGHT, HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME and more. Most of them ended up
being decent horror films but not all. Fortunately this one turned out to be a
solid film but maybe a bit on the low end at the same time.
The story revolves around Diane Sullivan aka Blaze (Roz
Kelly), a rock VJ who has been waiting for her big break for some time now.
This New Year’s she’s hosting a live music extravaganza where people will be
calling in to the show to talk about their celebration as each time zone turns
the clock from the past to the future. A national show this could change things
for Diane. But someone has a plan to make this the last celebration she will
see.
As the show goes on one of her first callers tells her his
name is Evil. He informs Diane that he will kill a different victim with the
celebrations in each time zone until the last one at which time he will be
there to kill her. Taking the call seriously the police are called in and the
countdown begins.
One of the interesting things about this film is that we get
to see who the killer is from the start. It’s not a case of his voice only
being heard or of seeing him in the shadows or from the viewpoint of the
victim. The killer (Kip Niven) is always there front and center as each of his
victims is stalked and killed on screen. The question becomes just who is this
killer and why does he have a desire to kill Diane on this particular night?
Tied into this story is that of Diane’s son Derek, an actor
as well who has just landed a plum role in a movie. While he wants to share
this news with his mother she’s far too busy with her own career to pay much
attention to him. But he isn’t alone. Her manager tends to keep her focused on
her career and little else. Will this be the reason she’s being stalked? Or is
it because she stepped on someone in the past? Just how does this killer tie in
to Diane?
While I haven’t revealed who he actually is it won’t take
long to figure it out. As many before me have said, this is not the greatest
movie ever made. The acting is good from some and deplorable from others. The
sets and look of the live show feel more like a high school production than a
major television program. The music falls into the worst of the times category.
Add to that a group of supposed punks in the opening segment who have nothing
to do with anything other than to set the time period and you sometimes find
yourself scratching your head as to what possessed them to include such things.
In the end it doesn’t matter. This is one of those movies that may be bad but
is a guilty pleasure at the same time. It’s a horror movie with heart, even if
the production didn’t have the money to put all they wanted on screen.
The movie has developed something of a cult following over
the years. I managed a theater that showed this when it was released and the
movie did decent business opening weekend but dropped off the charts the next.
It didn’t have the staying power of those other holiday killer flicks at the
time. This new following has made up for that since.
The extras include something I love to see included. It has
interviews with many of the cast members today, talking about the making of the
movie, the good the bad and the ugly. What makes these interesting to me is to
see what they look like now. After all this movie was made in 1980, well over
35 years ago now. Shout Factory has been doing a great job with these on other
rediscovered horror films and this one is no exception.
Fans of horror films, good and bad, will want to add this
one to their collection. Who knows, maybe it will become the movie to watch
each year as we wait for the ball in Times Square to drop. It might also be fun
to have a holiday hacker film festival. In any event, this one will not be for
everyone but for those who are fans of the genre it’s a must have.
Click here to order.
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