Fear Itself (TV Series) New Year's Day (2008) User Reviews

A Decent Zombie Story, If Only the Editor Was Fired

[gavin6942 · 6/10 · 5 August 2008]

Still recovering from the painful memories of her brother's death, a young woman (Briana Evigan) is reluctantly dragged to a New Years Eve Party. But her poor mood is soon overshadowed by a chemical spill that leads to a zombie outbreak and survival becomes priority number one.

This film comes from director Darren Bousman (the "Saw" franchise) and the writers of "30 Days of Night", so we're dealing with some big names in horror right now. And they pull all the stops. Plenty of blood, a decent backstory and zombies that are fairly terrorizing. The fact this is on NBC and is only 42 minutes (as opposed to Showtime for 50 minutes, as it should be) put some limits in place, but those limits were clearly tested here.

I had some concerns, all of which have been raised by other reviewers. My biggest problem was the editing. Whoever decided that the zombies should have camera shots that make them appear faster, I really think you need to re-examine your methods. Had those shots been included with a normal pace, I would have found this episode to be the highlight of the series, or at least near the top. Now, I find it simply hackneyed and distracting.

Another reviewer was bothered by the cliché factor (sorry, you didn't use your real name so I can't credit you). Yes, there's a chick depressed that no one understands her or likes her (even though she's played by a hot actress -- making her both attractive and intelligent). There's the zombie outbreak factor, which is starting to run its course in film. These plots and themes have been done. But I want to defend that on two grounds: first, horror in general is always a cliché (think of the thousand Frankenstein-inspired flicks). The trick is to make your version unique. And second, a zombie outbreak is welcome on "Fear Itself". "Masters of Horror" had one (thanks, Joe Dante) but this new show seems to be one serial killer after another (with more coming out yet this season).

As far as pure mindless entertainment goes, "New Years Day" seems to be the best of the series more or less. It's not a thinker film, and if you spend too much time analyzing the background then you're wasting your time because it doesn't really factor into the plot. This is just fast-paced blood-splatter goodness with a little twist at the end (possibly predictable, but not obvious). This episode's worth a view.

Zombies meet the sixth sense

[ericphil · 7/10 · 18 July 2008]

I haven't particularly enjoyed any of these "Fear Itself" episodes. It's not that I don't enjoy horror movies and it's not that I have a problem with a low budget. My problem has been with the stories themselves. This episode, however, represented an improvement.

The episode involves an attractive twenty something girl who wakes up in her apartment hung over after a late night of New Year's Eve partying. There's blood on the floor, the room is shaking, and air sirens are blaring in the background. We then have flashbacks of what happened earlier that night where the same twenty-something girl went to a party with the intention of telling the guy she has been seeing that she loves him. When we jump to the present, the plot focuses on the protagonist and her attempt to reach her "boyfriend's" apartment. The city is in chaos and zombies are roaming the streets and attacking people.

The ending was clever as long as you don't take too much time dissecting exactly what happened. Seven out of Ten.

Terrible Zombie Episode

[claudio_carvalho · 5/10 · 22 February 2015]

On the New Year's Day, the young woman Helen awakes dazed and confused with hangover and without recollections of the previous night. Soon she finds that the world is chaotic with zombies everywhere. Her friend Christie calls her and asks Helen to go to the apartment of her boyfriend James. Along her dangerous journey through the streets, she has flashbacks until the complete recollection of the events when she meets Christie and James.

"New Year's Day" is a terrible zombie episode of "Fear Itself". The messy screenplay and edition does not help the poor story. My vote is five.

Title (Brazil): "Fear Itself - New Year's Day"

It Had To Happen Sometime...

[cchase · 6/10 · 20 July 2008]

Since FEAR ITSELF is from the same group who brought you MASTERS OF HORROR, I knew the run of well-done stories was too good to last. Granted, I haven't seen all the episodes, so the few I viewed surprised and impressed me. But there is a pattern to the way these guys work, and it was only a matter of time before a clunker came along...and here it is. Call it complete thievery from George Romero, as this tale crosses NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD and DAWN OF THE DEAD with BEVERLY HILLS 9021-"ARRRRGH".

It's New Year's Day, as the title informs us, and Helen (Brianna Evigan) wakes with The Ultimate Hangover. Only it's much worse than the usual case of "Boy, Was I Drunk Last Night." She remembers very little, feels extremely sick and OHMIGODWHATISTHATNOISEOUTSIDE??? As she gets violently ill, comes to her senses somewhat and goes looking for her MIA roommate, Eddie (Niall Matter), bits and pieces of the night before come back to her in disjointed flashes, in between the horrifying realization that whatever happened outside of their apartment is now INSIDE, and this includes neighbors and various folks suddenly appearing as the hungry walking dead.

Just as in the hit CLOVERFIELD, what we have here in the flashback sequences of Helen's night before is a pretty pathetic picture of self-absorbed, pretty young twentysomethings who bicker, whine, snivel and basically have cows about how that one person they love won't love them back, so they feel their 'world is coming to an end'...until certain events bring it brutally to their attention that the world around them is, in fact, REALLY COMING TO AN END.

It's a painful thing to watch a promising series suddenly hurl itself into the cruel and jagged chasm of mediocrity, but with NEW YEAR'S DAY, that's exactly what happens. Darren Lynn Bousman, the director of the last few installments of the SAW franchise, finds himself floundering here, unable to punctuate weak dialog and plot holes with that series' signature buckets 'o' gore. Although there is a nod here and there to some old-fashioned, down-home, Romero-style gut-munching, which I did appreciate as a zombie-fan.

As for the "twist" ending, seasoned horror vets will have it figured out well before Helen stumbles out of her apartment. I didn't catch it until about the last twenty minute mark, but by then I really wasn't paying attention. Bousman's "MacGuffin" to replace gore and gadgets was to throw as many visual and editing effects into the mix as possible, to distract the audience from the glaring fact that We've Seen It All Before, and done much better, too.

In light of the almost laughable conclusion, which is supposedly designed to make you run screaming from the room - only not with laughter - a great tag line for this episode would have been "Romance Is Dead."

But not nearly as dead as this script is, or any of the attempts the game cast tried to make to revive it.

Alright, guys. Let's try again next week, shall we?

Ouch

[seanjnelson-1 · 2/10 · 17 July 2008]

This episode is utterly terrible- even for this series. Failed stripper turned 'actress' Evigan plays a boozy and needy pair of breasts, blind to the affections of 'nice guy' nerd next door. Her performance is best when off camera and for some reason her voice is dubbed over by a Burgess Merideth sound-alike! The zombies are never a threat- just an excuse to jump cut the film. Blurred, sped up footage is constantly used in place of effects, acting or plot. The inoffensiveness of the zombie threat is all eventually explained, too late to save the audience from being fed up with it all. Of course, the 'surprise' twist ending comes far too late to help you sit through the frustratingly insipid actions of the main characters.

I could complain some more but I'd rather go take a shower and get the stink off of me.

Ending?

[jjtwinsies · 6/10 · 26 July 2008]

Is she the zombie ringleader? Is she the undead? The bogus flashbacks show that SHE was the one doing the terrible things. How is that? Does she become a zombie by killing herself or is she already one? And what's with her dead brother? Did he die because of her or did she convert to 'goth' or zombie-ism because of his death? Odd how she blames herself for James' betrayal, yet she's eager to kill her friend who betrayed her. But that's no surprise; the 'prettier' friend always is either a b&tch or dies horribly. Anyone know this director? I see some of Briana Evigan's father Greg in her! Also, did anyone recognize the song playing on the grammaphone the landlady was playing? Maybe Auld Lang Syne? How many people her age even know what that is? J & J

A good demonstration of how to not direct horror

[jdollak · 1/10 · 19 September 2009]

I reviewed every episode of the first season of Masters of Horror, and enjoyed them, for the most part. I only discovered Fear Itself a few days ago, and this is the second episode I've gotten around to watching. The first one was Something With Bite. It was laughable. It was bad, silly, not scary, but ultimately a satisfying story, closer in style to Tales From the Darkside.

This episode took a premise that can do no wrong, and managed to really, really mess it up. It wasn't as comically bad as something like the Day of the Dead remake, but this was a more serious level of badness.

The editing and direction is miserably bad. Lots of edits have an effect of reducing horror. Lots of bizarre angles, lots of effects, and more bad lighting to cover up the "on-the-cheap" nature of the show.

The story could have had the possibility of being good, except that there are certain rules that can't be broken in terms of storytelling, and this ridiculous twist breaks one of those golden rules. The result is not that you come out of the show feeling like you saw something clever, it comes out feeling like you saw something that cheated you.

The flashback storyline just serves to make all of the characters unlikable, despite their intention.

I love horror, and I'm not very picky about it. I'm very forgiving when it comes to convenient plotting, limitations of budget, and nearly every problem that can happen with a story. This episode is a pure demonstration what a lack of directorial understanding can do to destroy a story.

I actually liked this episode...

[bleukreuz · 8/10 · 9 August 2008]

YAY!!! It's what I say when the so-called-twist came. I've watched Fear itself from the first episode (at the time I watched this) and I can say that this particular episode is truly wonderful! And here I am thinking that all the episodes would be rubbish. I'm glad I wasn't right...

I mean, where else can you get a happily-ever-after zombie story (aside from the great Shaun of The Dead, really). I like happy ending after all, and to this episode, other Fear Itself ending always leaves too many question or horrible nonsense ending, or a rushed out ending, whatever you call it.

But in this episode there is some improvement, and one of it was CLOSURE!! The background story and the climax and the conclusion was explained clear enough, and that's why I like it! (Aside from the main character getting her well-deserved revenge, and a boyfriend too) Maybe it because I'm in fact haven't seen thousands of zombie movie (I'm 19 years old at the moment)but I think this episode is somewhat clever.

*Other people started shouting and throwing rocks at me* Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I've got it, it's not perfect, it's cliché, it's boring, it makes you sick, you've seen it a thousand times before, etc, etc, etc.

COME ON already!! Give it a break guys...

"New Years Day" is very watchable, it's decent enough, and guess what? the shaky camera is supposed to make you feel uneasy!! Try to think if there was no shaky effect, no dark room, no cut-scene. It would be even more worse than this...

So please just give it a chance...

Too many new TV series (which I usually like) were canceled... It's so sad...

Crap-tastic!

[darth_schneider67 · 2/10 · 21 July 2008]

Probable spoilers...

In the whole Masters of Horror\Fear Itself collection, I have to rank his one slightly above Chocolate and Sounds Like, (worst 2 things put to film, technically OK, stories were crap) this is horrid solely on the fact a decent premise was obliterated by horrible direction, editing and writing...come on! I mean what the hell is up with Zombie-spastic vision?

I T iS th E Eq UIV I LeNT of ME TYp InG liK E ThI s!

You know something is there but have to squint really hard to make any sense of it. (except I also need to add larger fonts and colors mixed in..)

In storytelling there is foreshadowing and here we get the obvious.

What the guy is coming for her, no she may be in an elevator up wait there he is strobing on screen...commercial break there he is again...oh wait guess she was in elevator...it was the Eddie the Zombie Commercial break attack freeze frame! (which they did twice)

It was runny diarrhea bad....("Sounds Like" was runny diarrhea bad with no toilet paper in the house)

Fear Itself...soon to be Cancelled Itself

Bang-up episode

[Woodyanders · 8/10 · 3 August 2012]

Troubled young Helen (a sturdy and sympathetic performance by the lovely Briana Evigan) wakes up on New Year's Day in a nightmarish post-apocalyptic world that's been overrun by vicious flesh-munching zombies. As Helen struggles to survive this harrowing ordeal she slowly pieces together the events of the previous evening. Director Darren Lynn Bousman, working from a tight and absorbing script by Steven Niles, relates the gripping story at a breathless constant pace, does an ace job of creating and sustaining an intense and frightening atmosphere of mounting dread, delivers a generous amount of bloody'n'brutal violence, and makes expert use of unnerving sound effects (the zombie neck snaps and jaw crunches in particular are extremely jarring). Evigan effortlessly carries the whole show in the lead; she receives excellent support from Niall Matter as the amiable and smitten Eddie, Zulay Henao as loyal and perky gal pal Christie, and Cory Monteith as unfaithful boyfriend James. The infected people are quite scary and savage. The flashbacks to New Year's Eve add an extra touching human element of pathos and tragedy. The surprise twist bummer ending packs a really wicked, yet still oddly moving punch, with a very cute and sweet central message about "undying" love. The fierce rapid-fire editing, John Spooner's shadowy cinematography, and Charlie Clouser's ominous score all further enhance the gloomy mood of this effective and unsettling episode.

The Turd Has Risen

[ricardovs27 · 3/10 · 15 July 2011]

Friends, the producers achieved what I thought was impossible, concocted an episode worse than the pilot.

And they did it with gusto, calling the awful Darren Lynn Bousman (of the "Saw" series fame) to helm this one, bringing all his cheap edit tricks and style-over-substance thang to the mix.

Since the beginning, I knew I was about to see a "hip and modern" - whatever Bousman thinks that is - teen angst ridden plot. Smelled "Twilight" crap all over.

During the development, the previously quoted stench became more and more unbearable and I started to be very annoyed by the stupid decisions the main character made - the hot to trot Brianna Evigan - and a red light started to flash: "idiotic twist ahead".

And so it came.

Man, this ending was atrocious. The idea was not so bad, really. The problem was how the episode reached that point. And the capacity of some "zombies" to keep popping up on every corner.

Damn, this episode was a waste of time.

Z-Rate

[Adarcoi · 4/10 · 20 July 2008]

Okay--First thing off; 'Fear Itself' personally, is not that bad of a show, but some of their plot lines could be sped up and resolved in about five minutes instead of being drug out into a boring hour. Though I couldn't exactly tell what was going to happen at the end of 'New Years Day', the other episodes like 'Family Man' and 'Eater' the episode is totally transparent from beginning to end.

This episode, with her whole 'drunken nature' and shaky camera work made me sick (NOT LITERALLY). The entire acting on the main characters part was sort of bad, or at least her character was written bad, I found myself screaming at the Television, "STUPID BITCH! DON'T STOP, THE ZOMBIES ARE STILL BEHIND YOU!"

This would have to be the worst episode I've seen, but it held my attention better than 'Better or Worse'. The entire fact that there was almost no real plot line was a real let down, but the overall effect of the dance was good. (If the entire show was just a flash back, it would make a really good hurt/comfort episode...if that's what this show would be about.)

The one thing I loved about this episode though--was the ending, where the 'roommate-zombie' and the main character (realized in zombie form), clasp hands as live happily ever after devouring bodies! It's like a zombie B-rated horror fairy tale! Oh the joy and happiness! LOL.

Oh well, Overall rate: 4 out of 10. (That's 40% out of a possible 100%; at least it's higher than my interest of Disney's Dinosaurs.)

Had promise, but.....

[teebear817 · 1/10 · 15 April 2021]

Lead actress was not likeable. Her horrible smokers voice throughout was awful. Raspy, throaty smokers voice was very irtitating. The annoying, cutesy camera work and non stop blasting music anytime any sudden thing happened was just intolerable. One of the loudest tv movies i have ever heard. Non stop blasting mood music, blasts, explosions, pounding, screaming, gunshots. But that ugly raspy smokers voice made it unwatchable. This is really a LOUD movie!!

Nice addition to the series

[lovecraft231 · 8/10 · 18 July 2008]

Helen (Briana Evigan) wakes up in the New Year-to find an epidemic of The Living Dead taking place. Now, she must take refuge-but all is not what it seems...

Darren Lynn Bousman's entry into the series "Fear Itself" (written by Steve Niles) is an effective episode that, next to Stuart Gordon's exceptional entry "Eater", is a high point in the series. The episode is well acted, with likable characters, and some memorable moments. The best moment involves an old couple, and brings to mind the sense of loss created by films such as "28 Days Later." While the Post Apocalyptic Zombie tale has been done before, Bousman manages to make everything interesting throughout, especially through flashbacks showing what happened before the outbreak.

If there is any problem, it's a predictable twist that comes in near the conclusion, and while the final image may make up for it some, it still doesn't help enough. Still, it's a great episode, and makes one hopeful for the remainder of the series.

28 splinters

[trashgang · 5/10 · 26 May 2010]

The man from the Saw legacy. What can I say. It's bloody but the only thing that bothers me is the shaky camera and the use of slomo while people are attacked. Again, the story is very simple and as said in my summary, it is a combination of 28 Days Later and Splinter. Due to a chemical fire people are changing into flesh eating kind of zombies. That part made me think of 28 Days Later. But their bodies transform into weird shapes and that part reminded me, as did their noises, of the movie Splinter. What everybody is saying that all episodes were written in a fast way. the ending is mostly huh, what the f***. This episode works for some parts but again, it isn't Masters of Horror, sad but true.

Bitter awakening

[Fernando-Rodrigues · 1/10 · 22 November 2020]

One of the WORST (in capital) zombie movies I've ever seen. Bad acting, makeup FX, and a messy storyline, with a predictable ending (the final girl turns to a zombie along with the boy she rejected and they kill the people who messed with them).

Really Bad!

[collectorofsorts · 1/10 · 14 January 2023]

I just re-found this old series and this is my second episode to watch. It's about the worst zombie short I've ever seen. There was no storyline. It was just scene cuts from the living to the undead, one after another.

How did this get through the previews at the studio and onto the air? How did anyone think this was good enough to air?

I'm rating it a one-star. And I don't think I've ever rated anything so lowly. There was just nothing here of redeeming quality. Just one random scene after another.

If you're into zombie flicks and thinking about watching this, take my advice and pick something else. I wish I would have. Now there's a lost hour that I'll never get back.