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New Year's Eve can be a scary time. The sheer volume of crowds, the expectation to stay up past midnight — and on some occasions, serial killers and various hauntings. Horror movies with recurring themes make them oft-revisited staples of the season, and ringing in the New Year with a horror film can be quite the tradition. Some may use a new decade, century, or even millennium to draw focus to the many fears that the unknown can bring.

A fresh start can be something positive and exciting, so juxtaposing that feeling of excitement with gore and terror is a great setting for a horror film. The white snow that often accompanies these festivities tends to be the perfect canvas for blood as well. Not to mention parties are a great place for bad things to happen, as it's easier to hide in a crowd.

New Year's Evil (1980) Directed By Emmett Alston...

Clint Eastwood soared to fame during the 1960s, when his role as the Man With No Name in Sergio Leone's Dollars Trilogy turned him into the new face of the Western genre. In the years since, the actor-director has tackled almost every genre in film, from comedy and adventure to thriller and drama. Along the way, he's built a reputation as one of Hollywood's quintessential tough guys, which has been reflected through various iconic quotes in his various roles.

Clint Eastwood has been given more one-liners and tough-guy quotes than even the best action heroes, with some of his movies producing dozens of memorable quips and jabs. Ranging from insults to warnings, the character is at his best when playing a gun-toting lawman or Western antihero, and those roles have been responsible for his most enduring lines. As Hollywood's resident badass, few people have delivered as many great lines...

One of the great things about the slasher sub-genre is the fact that it provides movies to watch for pretty much any holiday that comes along. For New Year’s Eve we have films like the original Terror Train, Bloody New Year, and the film we’re covering with the latest episode of the Real Slashers video series: 1980’s New Year’s Evil (watch it Here). To hear all about it, check out the video embedded above!

Directed by Emmett Alston, who crafted the story with screenwriter Leonard Neubauer, New Year’s Evil has the following synopsis: On New Year’s Eve, a famous TV punk-rock lady icon hosts a late hour countdown celebration of music and partying. All goes well, until she receives a strange sounding phone call. Lonely women wanting to celebrate the holiday become easy prey for a maniacal murdering misogynist whose New Year’s resolution is to...

Grant Cramer sits at his office desk. On the wall behind him hangs framed movie posters: Willy’s Wonderland (2021), which he produced, and a poster of The Stunt Man (1980) autographed by its director, Richard Rush, who was a mentor to him. Cramer’s career in show business spans 40 years and includes film and television acting, producing, and writing. His dirty blond hair is pulled back into a ponytail. He sports a beard, and he has that kind of smile that spreads throughout his entire face and crinkles his eyes. He’s generous with his time, and over the next hour, we talk horror, killer klowns, absurdity, acting, Hollywood politics, and living a life in the present with gratitude and passion.

Cramer’s first film role was in the 1980 psychological slasher New Year’s Evil. “I’ve always loved the Sam Raimi-type whacky horror: a little goofy, and a little bit tongue in cheek,...

To ring in the new year, select members of the Trailers From Hell team celebrated by watching the holiday’s signature slasher picture, the rock ‘n’ roll serial killer thriller New Year’s Evil (1980).

New Year’s Evil is a nasty little slice of fiction. The set-up: Hollywood TV punk rock host with the most Diane “Blaze” Sullivan (Roz Kelly) finds herself the subject of a series of sinister phone calls in the midst of a televised New Year’s Eve concert extravaganza she’s presenting. The caller (Kip Niven) speaks through a voice modulator and uses pay phones, identifying himself only as “Evil.”

“Evil” informs Blaze that he has already begun killing a series of women, some of whom are connected to her, at the stroke of midnight across several time zones. He has already handled Eastern Standard Time by the time he rings her, and recorded the murder for good measure.

Walter Mirisch’s slam-bang, eardrum-pounding Sensurround stock footage orgy for the Centennial Year gathers an impressive lineup of big stars to celebrate the U.S. Navy’s biggest aircraft carrier battle: Charlton Heston, Henry Fonda, James Coburn, Glenn Ford, Hal Holbrook, Toshiro Mifune. Director Jack Smight manages the talky, exposition-laden account of a sprawling, complicated battle rather well, at least in terms of clarity. What is unwatchable pan-scanned on TV isn’t half bad for fans of big-scale war movies. Pi gives us an approximation of Sensurround (I think), and also John Ford’s short subject The Battle of Midway from 1942.

Midway

Region B Blu-ray

Powerhouse Indicator

1976 / Color / 2:35 widescreen / 132 min. / Street Date October 25, 2021 / available from Powerhouse Films UK / £15.99

Starring: Charlton Heston, Henry Fonda.

Guest Stars (in alphabetical order): James Coburn, Glenn Ford, Hal Holbrook, Toshiro Mifune, Robert Mitchum, Cliff Robertson, Robert Wagner. Also starring: Edward Albert, Robert Webber, Ed Nelson,...

Sunday’s telecast of the 2020 Screen Actors Guild Awards will feature a special In Memoriam segment devoted to many of the actors and actresses who have died since last year’s ceremony in late January. Sure to be among those saluted include Oscar-nominated actresses Diahann Carroll and Doris Day, plus nominated “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood” actor Luke Perry. Visit our own Gold Derby memoriam gallery for the year of 2019.

The 26th annual ceremony will be live on TNT and TBS on Sunday, January 19, at 8:00 p.m. Et; 5:00 p.m. Pt. The SAG life achievement award will be presented to Robert De Niro.

SEE2020 SAG Awards nominations: Full list of Screen Actors Guild Awards nominees

Over 100 people in SAG/AFTRA have passed away in the past 12 months. Which of the following 50+ names will also be featured in the televised tribute?

Julie Adams

Danny Aiello

Jed Allan

Bibi Andersson...

Kip Niven, a veteran character actor whose career ranged from early-’70s TV and the first two Sensurround films to regional theater and starring in 2014’s Jayhawkers, has died. He was 73. Local media outlets in his native Kansas City, Mo, said Niven died Monday of a heart attack.

Born on May 27, 1945, he got his start with guest roles in such 1970s TV dramas as Night Gallery, Escape and Emergency! before landing a key role in the first Dirty Harry sequel. In 1973’s Magnum Force, Niven played “Red” Astrachan, one of the vigilante rookie cops who terrorize San Francisco’s underworld — and eventually Clint Eastwood, who eventually gets his revenge. Astrachan’s comrades were played by future stars Robert Urich, Tim Matheson and David Soul.

After that, Niven would appear in dozens of TV shows and more than a dozen features including Earthquake (1974) and Midway (1976), the first two movies released in...

Actor Kip Niven, who played one of the young rogue motorcycle cops in Magnum Force and appeared on such TV shows as Alice and The Waltons, has died. He was 73.

Niven, a theater mainstay in his native Kansas City, Missouri, died Monday, The Kansas City Star reported. Local radio station Kcur-fm said the cause of death was a heart attack.

Niven starred as legendary University of Kansas basketball coach Phog Allen in Jayhawkers (2014), written and directed by Kevin Willmott, a University of Kansas professor and recent Oscar screenplay winner for BlacKkKlansman.

"Kip was Kansas City theater and film in many ways. He was a symbol ...

Actor Kip Niven, who played one of the young rogue motorcycle cops in Magnum Force and appeared on such TV shows as Alice and The Waltons, has died. He was 73.

Niven, a theater mainstay in his native Kansas City, Missouri, died Monday, The Kansas City Star reported. Local radio station Kcur-fm said the cause of death was a heart attack.

Niven starred as legendary University of Kansas basketball coach Phog Allen in Jayhawkers (2014), written and directed by Kevin Willmott, a University of Kansas professor and recent Oscar screenplay winner for BlacKkKlansman.

"Kip was Kansas City theater and film in many ways. He was a symbol ...

There’s nothing like some yokel conversation to introduce a film’s environment while also foreshadowing the ensuing plot. It’s easy to dismiss the aging gas station owner and his even older customer’s back and forth about a wolf seen a few miles away because neither is listening to the other. The former explains how it was probably just a coyote before the latter comes to his own epiphany that the game warden will end up finding a coyote. We want to laugh except for the fact that their delivery is arid dry, their performances straightforward without a notion of breaking from steely façades in morning gossip. These are two citizens of Goodland, Kansas and perhaps perfect exemplars of that label: slow yet tenacious, always serious and ready to fight.

We assume these men are merely color populating the background of the scene’s true intent: to provide...

Screen Media has secured the North American rights to Robert Schwartzman’s (Dreamland) sophomore film, The Unicorn, which had its world premiere at the recent SXSW Film Festival. The romantic comedy, which will be released sometime this year, stars comedians Lauren Lapkus and Nick Rutherford as an indecisive couple thrust into the most uncomfortable night of their lives when they decide to invite a third party into their relationship. Lucy Hale, Beck Bennett, Dree Hemingway, Beverly D’Angelo, John Kapelos, Maya Kazan, Darrell Britt-Gibson, and Kyle Mooney co-star. Rutherford, a former SNL writer, co-wrote the screenplay with Kirk C. Johnson and Will Elliott. Schwartzman and Russell Wayne Grove produced the pic, while Bret Disend, Al Di, Mark Weiss, Jessica James, Bo An, Viola Du, and Nick Gross served as executive producers. Seth Needle negotiated the deal for Screen Media with ICM and Submarine on behalf of the filmmakers.

Parade Deck Films...

The clock is ticking down, the party’s getting started, and no one is prepared for… New Year’s Evil (1980). Okay, I just made up that slogan, but it encapsulates the spirit of this Cannon release; perhaps not in execution, as its perspective is definitely from an earlier era at odds with the then current slasher boom. This is its strength, as it dares to be different from the masked forays of the day. (Fine, he wears a mask once - but that’s all, I swear!)

Released on December 26th (or Boxing Day, as we Canucks call it), this Golan-Globus production didn’t stir up the box office and was summarily dismissed by critics as yet another tiring slash and gash. And while it certainly adheres to a few popular elements of the sub-genre, it chooses to upend that by focusing on its antagonist rather than the protagonist. For this alone,...

For the final week of February, horror fans have several fun cult classics getting a high definition upgrade this Tuesday, including New Year’s Evil from Scream Factory, Larry Cohen’s God Told Me To and the unforgettable Black Sunday from Mario Bava. Also coming to DVD are several indie thrillers including VANish and The Intruders as well as the upcoming horror comedy Amityville Death House and the 70’s shocker A Candle for the Devil (aka It Happened at Nightmare Inn).

Black Sunday- Aip Version (Kino Lorber, Blu-ray)

When Mario Bava's groundbreaking Black Sunday was introduced to the U.S. market, American International Pictures retooled the film for the release. In addition to being redubbed in English, the film was given a new musical score and re-edited.

In one of the most auspicious directorial debuts in movie history, Mario Bava bridged the gap between the gothic horror picture...

We’re back with another video round-up. This time around we have a trailer, clip, and bonus feature interview excerpt from Scream Factory’s upcoming New Year’s Evil Blu-ray release (due out on February 24th), as well as the green band trailer and a new clip from IFC Midnight’s road trip zombie movie, Wyrmwood: Road Of The Dead, and also a video celebrating the wonderful traits of a key character on AMC’s The Walking Dead. *Spoiler warning for those who haven’t seen the latest episode of The Walking Dead.*

New Year’s Evil Blu-ray: “Diane “Blaze” Sullivan, the host of a nationally televised punk-rock show on New Year’s Eve, is receiving calls from a mysterious killer who tells her of his plans to off someone at midnight in each of America’s major time zones… and she will be the last.

Starring Roz Kelly (who...

Sixteen years before Roger L. Jackson’s chilling Ghostface voice haunted the characters of Wes Craven’s Scream, another caller made sinister threats via the telephone in Emmett Alston’s New Year’s Evil. The 1980 holiday slasher film comes out on Blu-ray in February from the folks at Scream Factory and they’ve just unveiled the final special features, including a fresh HD transfer and new interviews with the cast and crew.

New Year’s Evil will be available on Blu-ray beginning February 24th, 2015. We have the final extras announcement from Scream Factory and the film’s synopsis below:

“**Final Extras revealed for New Year’S Evil**

As we ride out the last day of 2014 we thought it would be appropriate to end it today by revealing the extras on our upcoming blu-ray release of the slasher favorite New Year’S Evil.

Brand new HD transfer of the film Audio...

After diving into all the great Christmas-themed slashers and horror movies like Silent Night, Deadly Night, Santa's Slay, Christmas Evil, Saint Nick, and many others, it’s sometimes hard to believe there’s another great holiday to revel in just around the corner. There might not be as many films directly centered on ushering in the New Year, but there’s plenty to keep you entertained for a few days and nights.

I realize that not everyone smiles in glee like I do as teenagers get axed and knifed. Some folks just want some alternate choices in the face of all the countdowns and variety shows they’re bombarded with every year. The list I’ve put together includes not only slasher and horror flicks, but disaster, sci-fi, and action-oriented ones as well.

“New Year’s Evil” tells the tale of a Punk Rock and New Wave TV show host...

Getting stuck in an elevator is scary enough, but doing so with a bunch of senior citizens? You can be sure filmmaker Patrick Rea piles on the spooky - plus a little silly - in this teaser for his "It's Hell Getting Old" segment of the Hellevator Man anthology.

Kansas City-based Rea's short stars Kip Niven (Jayhawkers, New Year’s Evil), Joicie Appell (Nailbiter), Victor Raider-Wexler (Minority Report), and Nancy Marcy. It was executive produced by Jennifer Blanc-Biehn, Michael Biehn, and Lony Ruhmann.

The script, written by Rea, deals with four elderly people trapped in an elevator on their way to their 50th Class Reunion, and one of them may have forgotten to take some important medication.

The film was shot in Kansas City, Missouri, and the director of photography was Hanuman Brown-Eagle.

Other segments include Vincent J. Guastini's “The Future Executive,” which centers around Devi (Sushi Girl’s...

Two forces to be reckoned with have teamed up to bring us our first look at "It's Hell Getting Old," a horror short from director Patrick Rea that will be part of Blanc/Biehn Productions' new elevator-set anthology Hellevator Man.

Kansas City-based Rea's short stars Kip Niven (Jayhawkers, New Year’s Evil), Joicie Appell (Nailbiter), Victor Raider-Wexler (Minority Report), and Nancy Marcy. It was executive produced by Jennifer Blanc-Biehn, Michael Biehn, and Lony Ruhmann.

The script, written by Rea, deals with four elderly people trapped in an elevator on their way to their 50th Class Reunion, and one of them may have forgotten to take some important medication. The film was shot in Kansas City, Missouri, and the director of photography was Hanuman Brown-Eagle.

In addition to a few behind-the-scenes photos from "It's Hell Getting Old," we also have the kick-off announcement for Bbp's Mindless, a mind-bending thriller that marks...

  New Year's Evil (1980)   Director: Emmett Alston Stars: Roz Kelly, Kip Niven, Grant Cramer A serial killer calls in to a rocking New Year's Eve party and promises to kill one person at the stroke of midnight across the country. There are a lot of holiday-centric horror movies, and even other New Year ones, but New Year's Evil might take the cake on sheer goofiness alone. In it, Blaze, the middle aged "First Lady...

Horror films are filled with all types of unimaginable threats, from child-killing dream stalkers with razorblade fingers to invincible, homicidal summer-camp psychopaths, to escaped mental patients hell-bent on settling scores by way of murder. But sometimes we find that the greatest screen villain hits a little closer to home... or in some cases, literally at home. It’s unspeakably terrifying to entertain the idea that the family patriarch is a psycho, and that as a member of that family, you're unable to escape Dad's murderous rage and must comply with his every whim just to stay alive. So, for your reading pleasure, we are naming ten of the most unfit fathers in horror film history. [Warning: Big spoilers ahead!] Jerry Blake in The Stepfather Jerry is the poster boy for unfit parents: he has the best of intentions, but the moment things go awry, he starts to lose his cool and begins murdering anyone...

Ryan Reynolds visits The Today Show

Birthday shoutouts go to Tom Hanks, who is 57, Fred Savage is 37, and Courtney Love is 49.

Jonathan Groff is an instructor at Theater Camp. Lucky little bastards.

Remembering Diseased Pariah News.

HBO Producing Documentary On Historic Supreme Court Gay Marriage Case

Below you can see Jeppe Hansen talk about being kicked out of ballet school when his porn career was discovered.

Stars’ Torquil Campbell To Critics Of Band’s Gay-Friendly New Video: ‘Your Parents Raised You Wrong’

Warehouse 13 aired the final episode of the season last night, and below you can see a behind-the-scenes look.

Wanda Sykes on Paula Deen.

James Franco for Gucci Eyewear.

A Scrubs reunion.

And here’s The Weekly ShoutOUT™. Each week we’re going to focus on one out athlete/performer and feature a daily pic and career timeline. We’ll be showcasing the big names, but also...

Recent hot cinema topics such as the portrayal of the Mandarin character in Shane Black’s Iron Man 3 and speculations about what classic Star Trek villain Benedict Cumberbatch’s character in J.J Abrams’ Star Trek: Into Darkness was modeled after leading up to the film’s release, among others, underline the importance of great villains in genre cinema.

Creating a great cinematic villain is a difficult goal that makes for an incredibly rewarding and memorable viewer experience when it is achieved.

We’ll now take a look at the greatest film villains. Other writing on this subject tends to be a bit unfocused, as “greatest villain” articles tend to mix live-action human villains with animated characters and even animals. Many of these articles also lack a cohesive quality as they attempt to cover too much ground at once by spanning all of film history.

This article focuses on the 1970’s,...

Chances are good that if you a horror fan and it’s new year’s eve, you’re searching for something to watch. Most of us hope to find the Twilight Zone marathon running strong late into the evening if we’re lucky, but it’s fickle. Hit or miss. Sometimes SyFy graces us with its presence… sometimes… they put on absolutely garbage and we take it. There are, of course, a few movies that have New Year’s Eve as the focus. Bloody New Year, Terror Train and New Year’s Evil which I can consider to be the pinnacle of New Year’s horror even if Terror Train is far superior movie. Is it any wonder that all three of these features of seen distinct DVD of Blu-ray releases? Fan/cult favorites with varying degree of quality and merit. Aren’t there just a pile of other movies...

by Chris Wright, MoreHorror.com

Ring in the New Year with this punk rock slasher flick! New Year's Evil is far from perfect and only has a few good moments. I personally prefer Bloody New Year but this, as far as I know, isthe only other New Year’s themed horror movie. It’s only been released once on VHS and for that reason, is highly sought after by horror movie collectors. Whether this will ever get a decent re-release is unknown, but for slasher fans, this is a must see.

The plot is fairly simple. A crazed person on New Year’s Eve wants to kill off people with important connections to the lead character one by one. This occurs at the dawn of New Year’s as it relates to each time zone. All the while, he corresponds with the lead through a pay phone using a voice modifier to disguise his identity.

Rank the week of July 12th’s Blu-ray and DVD new releases against the best films of all-time: New Releases Arthur

(DVD and Blu-ray | PG13 | 2011)

Flickchart Ranking: #5711

Times Ranked: 827

Win Percentage: 52%

Top-20 Rankings: 6

Directed By: Jason Winer

Starring: Russell Brand • Helen Mirren • Greta Gerwig • Jennifer Garner • Luis Guzman

Genres: Comedy • Farce

Rank This Movie

The Lincoln Lawyer

(DVD and Blu-ray | R | 2011)

Flickchart Ranking: #2807

Times Ranked: 1535

Win Percentage: 55%

Top-20 Rankings: 6

Directed By: Brad Furman

Starring: Matthew McConaughey • Marisa Tomei • Ryan Phillippe • William H. Macy • John Leguizamo

Genres: Drama • Psychological Thriller • Thriller

Rank This Movie

Rango

(DVD and Blu-ray | PG | 2011)

Flickchart Ranking: #595

Times Ranked: 5790

Win Percentage: 38%

Top-20 Rankings: 18

Directed By: Gore Verbinski

Starring: Johnny Depp • Isla Fisher • Abigail Breslin • Ned Beatty • Alfred Molina

Genres: Action • Adventure • Animation • Comedy • Family-Oriented Adventure • Family-Oriented Comedy • Western

Rank This Movie

Insidious

(DVD and Blu-ray | PG13 | 2010)

Flickchart Ranking: #3119

Times Ranked: 1785

Win Percentage: 52%

Top-20 Rankings: 6

Directed By: James Wan...

I have been waiting forever for this 1977 post apocalyptic thriller to be released on DVD, and the fine folks at Shout! Factory are making it come true. Look for it on July 12, 2011.

Source: DVD Active

Lt. Jake Tanner (Jan-Michael Vincent), an unorthodox Air Force officer, shares Icbm silo duty at an Air Force missile base in California with Major Eugene “Sam” Denton (George Peppard). When the United States detects incoming nuclear missiles, Tanner and Denton “turn the key” to launch part of the retaliatory strike, initiating Doomsday. After launching their entire arsenal of nuclear missiles, Tanner and Denton witness nuclear devastation rain down all around them.

Two years later the Earth, tilted off its axis by World War III, radiation has mutated insect life and is constantly wracked by massive storms that cover the entire hemisphere. Military order at the base has broken down. Tanner resigned his commission and Denton is considering going to Albany,...

1980 - 93 mins. - Rated R

D: Emmett Alston

C: Roz Kelly, Kip Niven, Chris Wallace

Serial killer phones in a televised New Year's Eve party informing the hostess of the show that he is going to kill someone during each of the four major time zones with herself being the final victim.

The film's premise of a slasher killing victims according to time zone's is an intriguing premise. However, the film is so poorly done that it doesn't warrant the attention of those suckered in by the enticing initial concept. First off, all of the characters are rather annoying. Since the film is told, in part, through the point of view of the killer, the killer should either be seductively evil or repugnantly vile. Instead, viewers are stuck listening to a killer with a completely off putting voice that he is altering to hide his identity. The well known 1996 slasher...