Starring - Felissa Rose (Sleepaway Camp, Christmas Slasher), Dave Sheridan (Scary Movie, The Devil's Rejects), and Hannah Fierman (V/H/S, Dead by Midnight (Y2Kill)
Release Date - 2025
Genre - Horror/Comedy
Tagline - "The doctor will slay you now!"
Format - Streaming (Online Screener)
Rating (out of 5):
Just a week or two ago I made the remark in a review that there wasn't enough New Years themed horror titles. We have a couple slashers and a zombie movie from the 80s along with a couple random ones that popped up here and there over the last ten years or so but nowhere near as many Halloween or Christmas themed horror titles. I said this in the review I wrote for Screw Year's Eve and I was not expecting to get an email a few days later from director P.J. Starks for his newest slasher New Fears Eve. I've known P.J. for several years now after befriending him when he was promoting his horror anthology film Volumes of Blood and was looking forward to checking this one out. I want to take a moment to thank P.J. for reaching out to me to review this one!
The film follows a small group of friends who work for a company ran by a complete douchebag and his suck up manager. They are gearing up for their annual New Year's Eve party where several people were laid off before hand. However, as the night gets going, people begin getting knocked off by a murderer wearing a plague doctor's mask.
New Fears Eve is a slasher codirected by Eric Huskisson and P.J. Starks. I've been familiar with Starks and his work for many years now but Huskisson is fairly new to me. I reviewed Huskisson's 12 Slays Till X-Mas a year or so ago and, sadly, I wasn't a fan of the film. It had a few moments that I liked but the overall film was a bit underwhelming. The same can be said about New Fears Eve. I was really excited for this one but I just couldn't get into it. It had some moments but the overall movie just wasn't for me. The acting in this one is solid. The cast does a great job at getting into character but there is a few scenes where the dialogue is a bit forced or has no emotional range. This doesn't happen during the entire film and is only confined to a few scenes. I don't know if the filming was rushed or what but these scenes do stand out. The story for this one is exactly what I would expect from a film centered around New Year's Eve. New Year's Eve is nothing more than a reason to get together and party so it makes sense that almost every film centered around the holiday focuses on that aspect. New Fears Eve is no exception and I respect that. However, while the film gives us a solid premise and takes great care as to give us a decent slasher story, it struggles with giving the viewer likable characters. The characters are extremely cliched, especially for a horror comedy, which made it difficult for the viewer to associate with any of them. I've said this a few times throughout the year and it may be because I'm old and hateful but I was really hoping many of them met a tragic end at the hand of the plague doctor. Finally, the film has several really graphic death scenes. The effects look great and are easily the highlight of the film. I would have loved to see more gore but the deaths do fit the slasher film very well and that's all any genre fan can ask for. Overall, New Fears Eve has a story that I was expecting with some kills that looked great but the characters are so unlikable. This has nothing to do with the cast and their acting ability but it does make it difficult to finish. I seriously wanted to like this one but it wasn't for me.
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