My Bloody Valentine 3D Review by thegoldensimatar

My Bloody Valentine 3D Review

Written by: thegoldensimatar

The redux of the Canadian Cult Classic My Bloody Valentine first and foremost is a successful remake. It’s a fun, scary slasher that goes off in it’s own direction with the material while still paying homage to the original film. Thank Cthulhu this isn’t a shot by shot remake done in 3D, there are enough twists and turns as well to keep even the fans guessing who is the killer.

But, I will press now, fork over the extra $2.50 and see it in 3D, as it is intended, don’t be cheap. It’s worth the surcharge seeing in 3D.

Eleven years after a disastrous cave in that left several miners dead, one in a coma and ten years after the sole survivor awoke from his sleep and slaughtered dozens of people, the killings begin anew in the small town of Harmony. Is it Tom Hanniger, son of the mine owner and the one responsible for the mine disaster years earlier? Is his ex-friend Axel, now town sheriff, who has it in for Tom as Tom used to date his wife? Or is it Harry Warden? The single miner to survive the cave in and who was apparently gunned down after his spree?

The things fans should be happy about is that the mystery that ran through the original film of who was the murderer still comes through in this film. However don’t be so easy to dismiss this, writers Todd Farmer and Zane Smith obviously spent time thinking about how best to deceive the audience, knowing fans of the original would watch the movie smugly believing they knew the ending. There are a few titillating red herrings thrown around that about the time you think you know who wears the miner’s mask, another one that makes you reconsider is thrown at you. But don’t worry, unlike a lot of movies that spit out red herring after red herring before a completely illogical, head scratching twist, the reveal makes sense and is logical.

Director Patrick Lussier has spent the bulk of his career working as an editor on a number of films and his experience as an editor is help in my opinion. The film moves along at a deliberate paced, it doesn’t fell rushed nor does it feel overblown and ponderous.

Since Dracula 2000, Lussier has shown a lot of maturity behind the camera, pulling off some enjoyable jumps and thrills over the course of the film. The scare sequences are well built, though I think that there are a few too many ‘false’ scares, one or two is nice, but just before nearly every scare, there is a false alarm. It wears out after a while. There is some other times where attempts at ratcheting up the tension slightly deflate the scene with unintentional humor.

Even so, the fright moments are constructed fairly well and the iconic ‘death by dryer’ from the original is brought back in this film. As a slasher movie, it really doesn’t reinvent the wheel; it just makes the wheel entertaining again.

The acting in the film isn’t the best in the world, but it is still rather good. The cast is highly competent in their respective roles and while the small blue collar feel of the original cast isn’t so much present here, yet the actors have enough weight there is some believability to it. Of course horror fans will appreciate seeing Tom Atkins back on the silver screen again, he doesn’t seem to have lost any of his touch and his role is fairly sizeable and isn’t a one scene cameo.

One of the big reasons for seeing this film is that it is in 3D. Most of the 3D movies made since Disney introduced its RealD system haven’t really been 3D. All you have been getting are movies with greater depth of field without anything popping out at you. Now this isn’t old school cardboard glasses and crappy looking effects, this is the 21st Century with plastic glasses and much smoother effects. There isn’t the ‘reach out and touch’ aspect of old 3D, yet there is still stuff popping out at the screen.

Seeing Valentine in 2D just will not be the same experience, you might as well just wait for it to hit DVD. See it in 3D, it’s much more fun. Thankfully the 3D aspect isn’t used at every turn. You don’t have a 3D spitball coming at you or a doorknob. The 3D is saved for when the Miner attacks with his pick and with a few other spooks. That way it doesn’t become boring.

However, the 3D does pull you out of the film because of the CGI aspect. The bloodied pick sticking out the back of someone’s noggin is painfully noticeable and while its hard to make a case of ‘staying in the movie’ that’s 3D; the very noticeable CG just makes it a slight eyesore.

Besides that, the practical effects are awesome. Veteran special effects maestro Gary Tunnicliffe has concocted some very cool corpses and situations of death. Baring the death by dryer, the Miner uses his pick near exclusively in highly graphic, yet equally entertaining ways. The deaths aren’t just ‘pick to the stomach’ or ‘pick to the head’ time and again. While a lot of movies nowadays go for gritty realism, there is that here, yet with some of the kills, there’s almost a nod at the audience of ‘hey, this is a movie, its meant to be fun.’

The severed limbs and blood (baring the 3D spray) is practically done and looks all rather snazzy. The dryer victim this time however is much more moist than last, probably should have put the setting to High. And there is one death involving a character slowly getting pushed towards the pointed end of the pick before getting his head shoved down on it that I went away with thinking if it was an homage to Zombi 2.

Harry Warden aka The Miner is an icon of the genre, a minor icon, but still an icon. The silhouette is an imposing one without being over dramatic. Unfortunately he’s never gotten the recognition that Michael and many others have. Despite this, there is such uniqueness about his look, its almost alien in appearance with the gas mask. I feel I have to side with the remake on this one, the mask looks cooler here than the original.

One thing that irked me a bit about the movie was the music. At times it was going for more atmospheric sounds and suspense, a lot of other times it was more like a heavy rock soundtrack than a movie score. Michael Bay might like throwing rock and roll songs into his movies, but with a horror film it just doesn’t work…it just doesn’t work.

However the sound design is good, the breathing sound from the mask is just as creepy as it was in the first film and the ‘crunch-squish’ of human bone and flesh getting several pounds of metal going through them is gleefully satisfying. Take note future filmmakers, sound design is incredibly important, don’t skimp on it.

Overall, My Bloody Valentine is a very entertaining and engaging slasher show. If you can ignore The Unborn, it marks a solid opening for the genre for 2009. I definitely recommend going to see it, as long as it is in 3D. Don’t be cheap, shell out the extra money to see it. For fans of the original, there is plenty of new material to enjoy and not get bored by while there are enough references to the first that you can rub your hands in glee knowing the blood that is about to be spilled.

I think this about concludes my review. This is thegoldensimatar signing off, but unlike all the past times, there is something at the end of the credits.

This is a community member review and not a staff member review. We appreciate and respect the opinions of our readers and are gratefull that they took the time to contribute it.