new year's evil is a 1980 american slasher film written and directed by emmett alston, co-written by leonard neubauer, and starring kip niven, roz kelly, and chris wallace. the plot follows a los angeles punk rock and new wave show host who receives a series of phone calls during a televised new year's eve bash from a killer warning of impending murders that he plans to exact as the new year dawns on each time zone.