My Bloody Valentine Review
Written by: Bulin
Ah 1981 was a great year for horror films! Funhouse, Evil Dead, An American Werewolf in London, The Prowler, Halloween 2,Friday the 13th 2,The Howling, Wolfen, Omen 3, Basket Case, Scanners, the very funny horror movie Student Bodies and the best slasher film to ever come out of Canada, My Bloody Valentine.
I have fond memories of watching this film on a Saturday afternoon growing up and now 25 years later, it is still a great watch! The story takes place in Valentine's Bluff, a small mining town in Canada. The town legend is that in 1960 there was a methane gas explosion in the mine which killed several miners and left only 1 survivor. The explosion occurred because those left in charge of monitoring things snuck out of work to go to a Valentine's Day Dance. The one surviving miner, Harry Warden, went crazy and was institutionalized for a year. The next Valentine's Day in 1961, Harry returned to town and got his vengence during the annual dance, killing serveral people with a pickaxe and leaving candy boxes filled with human hearts, dripping blood. Harry was caught and institutionalized and the town decided not to celebrate Valentine's day anymore.
Ok, now we fastforward to 1981 on Thursday, Febuary 12th, (ironic, huh?) as the town has decided that it is now safe to renew the Valentine's Day Festivities...I mean it is called Valentine's Bluff, right!? So Everyone is going all out. In the Town rec center where the party is to happen, someone leaves the Mayor a little Valentine's gift, a heart shaped chocolate box (no CGI here! jsut honest to goodness latex, quite refreshing and nostalgic). The Sheriff and Mayor decide not to tempt fate but do not let everyone know why they are not going through with the celebratin. Ok, so you see where that is headed. The town calls off the party, they take down all decorations and the sheriff forbids anyone to celebrate.
Unwisely all of the 20somethings that work in the mines and their girlfriends decide to get their party on anyway and what better place to have it unnoticed by the town than at the breakroom at the mine! Many 80s style slasher killings ensue including the scene I remember the most, which involves a large pot of boiling hotdogs and everyone ends up in the very spooky and atmospheric mine shaft for the big finale. In true 80's style the movie wraps up with a setup for the sequel which never came, and the closing credit song kicked in. By the way the end song was a ballad that basically recapped the movie for us, they never do that anymore either, I gave the music a 10 just for the nostalgic replay ballad.
If you like 80's horror and haven't seen My Bloody Valentine, go out and get it. I know it tends to frequent the $5 bin at Wal-mart and I picked up my copy brand new online for $3 shipped! I highly recommend it over that $20 Horror movie remake you were thinking about picking up!