My Bloody Valentine
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Movie Reviews of My Bloody Valentine
Movie Review: Holds up quite nicely compared to some of its contemporaries
Summary: 3 Stars
My Bloody Valentine (George Mihalka, 1981)
The early-eighties teen slasher flick became something of an institution, and with the small number of classics were released a great number of forgettable pieces of utter dreck (do you remember Final Exam? Of course you don't). I ate them up, long before I was of legal age to see them in the theater, thanks to my parents being somewhat forward-thinking and having HBO early on. One of my friends was utterly obsessed with this movie, so naturally, I watched it the earliest chance I got. I then pretty much forgot about it, unless listening to the band who took their name from the film, for well over two decades.
Fast forward to 2005, and I get a chance to see it again, which I jump at. And despite its obvious attempt to be one of the genre's classics (they posit Harry Warden as Canada's answer to Jason Voorhees and Michael Myers), the film holds up remarkably well in comparison to most of the other films in this particular subgenre.
Harry Warden, as you find out relatively early in the film, was the sole survivor of a mine disaster in 1960, this disaster being caused by the negligence of his superiors. On Valentines' Day 1961, during the town's annual Valentines' Dance, Warden murdered the two supervisors responsible for the cave-in, after which he was confined to a nearby mental facility for life... or is it all an urban legend? Fast-forward twenty years, and the town is looking to revive the tradition of the annual Valentines' Dance, which was stopped, for obvious reasons, after 1961. (Whether Harry is real or not, the murders did occur.) Someone's not happy about it, and so the bodies start flying.
What distinguishes My Bloody Valentine from the rest of the pack, aside from being arguably the first slasher flick to deal in close-ups of relevant body parts (it being Valentine's Day, you can guess which) is the loving attention paid to camerawork. Especially twenty-four years later, the plot seems quite well-used and the characters are, for the most part, nothing other than cardboard cutouts, yet Mihalka (who's gone on to some semblance of success as a TV director) still directs the film's climax with an eye for detail that makes it truly suspenseful in places. This is not an easy thing to do when the revelation of the killer and the audience guessing-game of who's going to survive is pretty firmly settled within the movie's first half-hour. It's not great cinema by any means, but it's a worthwhile way to kill an hour and a half.
Mihalka, according to IMDB, approached Paramount in 2001 with a completed script for a sequel. It was perfect timing. Paramount turned him down. Mull over, for a few moments, what might have been. ** ½
Movie Review: Surprisingly well written and well acted low budget slasher film
Summary: 3 Stars
I stumbled across My Bloody Valentine on the IFC the other night. It was a film I wanted to see since I'd never seen it as a teen when it first came out. I was sure the "cheese" factor was going to be very high, with really bad acting (Friday the 13th) and exceedingly bloody - ala Pieces.
You could have knocked me over with a feather when I discovered that, while the story itself wouldn't win any awards for originality, the film was well made and acted.
George Mihalka (who?) was directing his second feature film and by all rights this film should be a dog - it isn't! Mihalka has gone on to have a fairly prolific career in television directing since then, according to the Internet Movie Database.
The acting in this film is by and large very good. The actors are believable and not over the top. The actors are attractive, but given what they do for a living (they're miners), understandably not model attractive (this was quite refreshing actually).
Paul Kellman and Lori Hallier as the two leads are surprisingly good. I was also very disappointed that the one really standout actor, Patricia Hamilton as Mabel Osborne, was dispatched so early in the film. However, this is a slasher flick and as such the older characters are not the ones the audience would be interested in.
The basic premise (which was far more fully realized than I'd thought it would be) is that 20 years previous a mine explosion occurred in the mining town of Valentine. Five miners were trapped for six days - only one survived. During the explosion (and without stopping), the townspeople celebrated their annual Valentines Day dance. As revenge for the townspeople not caring enough to come help rescue the lost miners, the surviving miner murdered those he deemed responsible, cutting out their hearts and putting them in candy boxes for the other townspeople. The message from him was that no Valentines Day dance shall ever be held again lest he come and kill those partaking of the festivities. The miner was caught and sent to the nuthouse, where he is assumed to have remained.
Flash forward to present day (1981)and after 20 years of no Valentines Day dances, the town of Valentine is planning a dance. And you know what happens next.
There is a twist to this film that I think would have been a lame one even in 1981, but by and large this film is far better than most such films that came out of the era.
So when compared to the fine original "Halloween" on which all subsequent slasher films owe their allegience (if we remove the excellent "Psycho"), this film deserves three stars.
Movie Review: Low-budget horror with some shocks
Summary: 3 Stars
Along with "April Fool's Day", Paramount is getting its act together and releasing some of their earlier 80's teen horror films on DVD for the first time. As with their Friday the 13th series, I'm going to hedge a bet and say that there will be nothing in the way of extras since Paramount continues to embarass themselves by putting out outrageously priced DVD's that offer no value.ANYWAY...
This movie is really a by the numbers effort that does have several good sequences. You can tell that the filmakers used what little budget they had to put together some genuinely disturbing scenes. The scene with the hanging chains is a good example.
The premise of this story is a small mining town that has outlawed Valentine's Day after a massacre that occured years before. This year is different though, the town finally is giving in and celebrating Valentine's Day with a dance and everything...which of course means that a killer turns up and starts to do away with various townsfolk.
The main characters are young (but not teenage) miners and their girlfriends...there are subplots about jilted lovers and one angry person in a miners outfit that does some pretty gruesome things with a pickax.
My main quibbles are with the acting which is not great with the leads but somewhat strong in various supporting characters. Too bad they get the ax while the bad actors get to keep breathing. Also...the film was obviously filmed in Canada (aren't all movies?) and the accents by some cast members are unintentionally stereotypical. Another thing...what town puts so much effort into Valentine's Day??
All in all an okay movie. Like I always say, if you haven't seen this movie (or any movie)...DON'T BUY IT UNTIL YOU HAVE! Why waste your money on something you may not like. Trust me, those that like this movie will buy it and I'll getting it for camp value alone.
Movie Review: Eat your heart out
Summary: 3 Stars
I have come to accept that there are maybe a dozen people in the world, besides myself, who saw and enjoyed this movie. "My Bloody Valentine" came along during the 80's, when slasher flicks reigned and every holiday, major and minor, warranted a horror title.
I will not attempt to convince anyone that this is among the best of them. I will not assert that this is a masterful movie, or even a very good one. Yet, for outright creepiness -- for the kind of fright that comes home with you -- it holds its own.
The plot is simple, as horror plots tended to be in those gloomy, gorey days of movie making. A murderous fiend with a flair for drama is stalking a small mining town. The victims are hacked up, stuck into driers, or otherwise displayed for maximum shock potential. The only common denominator is that each of the victims has had his or heart removed from the body.
Cue chilling organ music.
In spite of the superficial plot and dime a dozen props and effects, there is something crawlingly disturbing about this movie. Add a long final scene that takes place in the deep, claustrophobic dark of the mines and you've got some serious fright on your hands.
I recommend this flick for your next Valentine's Day date, to go with that big, heart-shaped candy box you hope will win her heart. Add the jolts and screams from this movie, she should be clutching you around the neck by the end of the night.
Movie Review: Why am I craving Moosehead beer suddenly?
Summary: 3 Stars
Looks like quite a few folks here don't like "My Bloody Valentine", you got a handful of reviewers talking about the lousy acting, and another bunch talking about the lame effects, and you have more folks just claiming "Bloody Valentine" is just a rip-off of "Halloween" or "Friday the 13th".....and I gotta ask so what's your point? Sure the acting and script may not be on par with "Shakespeare in Love", but for a B-movie, the acting was just fine. The special effects may not be great, but I will take what is presented here over the cartoony CGI effects presented in most horror films today. As far as being a rip-off...really when is the last time you saw an original story for a horror film? This same story has worked in horror films since the 1960's. If anything almost every slasher flick after Alfred Hitchcock's "Psycho" has basically been a rip-off. If you are a fan of 80's horror, "Bloody Valentine" is well worth buying, it's like "Prom Night", "Madman", "Hell Night" and the scores of other 80's horror flicks that were so much fun, and are still fun to watch today. If nothing else, it's great to play a drinking game with "Bloody Valentine"....every time you see someone drink a Moosehead beer or see a sign for Moosehead beer, you drink. Guaranteed the acting will not bother you...but you may have to visit the ER because of alcohol poisoning by the end of the film.