New Year's Evil (1980)Directed by: Emmett Alston
Written by: Emmett Alston and Leonard Neubauer
Starring: Roz Kelly, Kip Niven, Chris Wallace, Grant Cramer, Louisa Moritz
The hostess of a televised New Years Eve punk show is terrorized by a killer. Throughout Los Angeles the killer murders various people, eventually finding his way to the hotel where the punk show is being broadcast. This is one of the many holiday themed slasher films that were churned out after 'Halloween' hit big. This movie features some awful acting, particularly Roz Kelly as the lead, terrible punk music from no-name bands, and absolutely no scares. Completely inept on every level. F
The Stepfather (2009)Directed by: Nelson McCormick
Written by: J.S. Cardone
Starring: Dylan Walsh, Sela Ward, Penn Badgley, Amber Heard, Sherry Stringfield, Paige Turco, Jon Tenney
Remake of the 80's cult classic has the same basic storyline, but switches the genders of the teenage protagonist (for no apparent reason.) A nut-job (a decent Dylan Walsh) goes from family to family, seeking the perfect family, killing them if they don't meet his high expectations of perfection. This time he marries a single mom with two sons. The eldest son (a sleep inducing Penn Badgley) grows suspicious of his step-dad, and things sloooooooowly build to a predictable, cliched climax. Stick to the original. D-
The Countess (2009)Directed by: Julie Delpy
Written by: Julie Delpy
Starring: Julie Delpy, William Hurt, Daniel Bruhl, Anamaria Marinca, Andy Gatjen, Adriana Altaras
I really wanted to like this. Based on the true story of 17th century Countess Bathory, who grew obsessed with retaining her youth, and decided the best way to do this was by bathing in the blood of virgins. What could have been a disturbing descent into madness turns out to be a dull by the numbers bio-pic/period piece. Julie Delpy does an alright job in the titular role, but the departure from her usual romantic roles doesn't really work, as Delpy just seems like she's on auto-pilot thru most of the film. The script, written by Delpy, treats the Countess as some sort of feminist pioneer, and at other times, shows her to be a monster. The movie wants to have it both ways, but in the end it it just seems really confused and tiresome. C-
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