My Bloody Valentine (1981)

What a freaking movie. So many twists and turns. Absolutely intense from start to finish.

In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.

Close shines in drama with strong language, adult themes.

One of the film's great tricks is that, for a time, you think it will go down a rabbit hole of unrealistic glorification.

Quentin Tarantino has called this his all-time favorite slasher film, and it's one I'd never seen, so I went into this with fairly high expectation. Unfortunately, this film still pales when compared to John Carpenters "Halloween" or William Lustig's "Maniac." Still, it's well made and does stand shoulder to shoulder with some of the better slasher films of the 70s and 80s; "The Town that Dreaded Sundown," "The Burning," "Sleepaway Camp," "Black Christmas," and such. The story involves a coal mining town where a maniac wearing mining gear kills hapless victim with a pickax, boiling water, shower head nozzles, and other implements that all prove deadly. The film does have a decent who-done-it mystery element to it and when the mystery is revealed at the end it's not a copout and is satisfyingly done, which is a rarity for most slasher films. Overall, I wouldn't say "My Bloody Valentine" is a classic, but it is a must see for slasher film fans.

A-Z Horror Movie of the Day..."My Bloody Valentine" (R - 1981 - US)Sub-Genre: SlasherMy Score: 6.2Cast=4 Acting=4 Plot=7 Ending=8 Story=5 Scare=6 Jump=7 F/X=7 Blood=8 Twist=6A decades-old folk tale surrounding a deranged murderer killing those who celebrate Valentine's Day turns out to be true to legend when a group defies the killer's order and people start turning up dead. "Roses are red, violets are blue, one is dead, and so are you." Maybe a lesser known title from those 80's campy slasher flicks, but still one to watch. I didn't think it held up as well as maybe ANOES or ISOYG, but no one can use a pick like this guy...at least not until "Cold Prey". With silly scary nursery rhymes like, "It happened once, it happened twice. Cancel the dance, or it'll happen thrice" and "Beware of having a party at all on Saturday night! You may not live to see daylight!"...you may gag or chuckle a bit. One thing's for sure, the kills do hold up pretty well...Happy Valentine's Day!

This story essentially begins in a small mining town called "Valentine Bluffs" with 5 miners and 2 supervisors going deep into a mine shaft to work just prior to their traditional St. Valentine's Day party that night. Eager to begin festivities the 2 supervisors depart a little early and let the 5 miners continue working without them. Not long afterward an explosion rips through the tunnel which causes the mine shaft to collapse. Eventually, after 6 weeks of effort, the rescuers finally get to those trapped inside only to find one survivor named "Harry Warden" (Peter Cowper) who has managed to stay alive by feeding on his comrades. He has also gone quite insane. One year later, Harry Warden returns to Valentine Bluffs and goes on a killing spree which results in the town permanently terminating all celebrations for that specific day. Twenty years later the townsfolk decide to resume their traditional dance-and the killings start again. Now rather than reveal any more I will just say that I thought this was one of the better "slasher movies" from this particular era. Although the gore isn't as big a factor as others films of this time, the mystery and suspense manage to keep things interesting just the same. Likewise, the drama between "Axel" (Neil Affleck) and "T.J." (Paul Kelman) as suitors for "Sarah" (Lori Hallier) helped the overall story as well. On the flip side, I didn't particularly care for the ending which seemed much too abrupt. But other than that this was a fairly entertaining film and I rate it as slightly above average.

My Bloody Valentine (1981) is one of the "slasher" greats, in my opinion. However, when I first watched the film, I found it to be quite predictable up until the ending. Want to know why the remake was horrible? Because it didn't feature "The Ballad of Harry Warden." I was surprised a sequel wasn't attempted, given that the ending basically was open for a follow-up. By the way, I'm Nova Scotian and a filmmaker. A horror filmmaker. This film will always be an influence. I found the image of the real Harry Warden murdering Axel's father, dark in tone. It contributed greatly to the film. I gave this film nine out of ten, because, like I mentioned earlier, I found it quite predictable. But then again, isn't it all of the clichés that make for a classic horror film?