Remember those heady days in the late 1970s and early 1980s when films like "Halloween" and "Friday the 13th" attained stellar success at the box office, resulting in a slew of holiday themed copycats? Movies like "April Fool's Day," "My Bloody Valentine," and "Graduation Day" arrived on the scene and dropped off the radar just as rapidly. Thanks to the appearance of DVD players, these films are reappearing with a disturbing rapidity. Unfortunately, the movies aren't much better than they were when they first came out. This is especially true for Paramount's release of the 1981 slasher film "My Bloody Valentine." At the time, Paramount demanded a mountain of cuts from director George Mihalka in order to avoid a dreaded 'X' rating for graphic violence. That's acceptable for a theatrical release, but a DVD version should reinsert all of the gory footage. Well, this release is the boring old 'R' rated version, and to make matters worse Paramount technicians included nothing else with the movie: no stills, no commentaries, no behind the scenes stuff, and no trailers. Get with the program, Paramount! The customer who will buy this movie on DVD is a genre fan; they want to see all of those gory killings you lopped off with indifference."My Bloody Valentine" takes place in a little mining town called Valentine Bluffs. We don't really know the location of the town, but the accents of the some of the characters hint at a Canadian setting somewhere near Quebec. Some years before a terrible mining accident resulting in the deaths of several miners caused Harry Warden to snap. Warden went on a killing spree through the town on the night of the Valentine's Day dance. Ever since then, the authorities in Valentine Bluffs banned parties on Valentine's Day, ever mindful of Harry Warden's threat to wreak bloody havoc on the town if they held another dance. Harry Warden, for the record, was one of the survivors of the mining accident, an accident caused by negligence on the part of two of the supervisors. After his murderous spree, Warden ended up in an insane asylum and the town slowly forgot his grim threats.
Now it's the present (or at least 1981), and the mineworkers want to have another holiday party. The authorities, which include a neurotic mayor and a police chief who looks like Steve McQueen from a distance, are willing to go along with the idea of a celebration. Then the valentines start showing up, one of which contains a bloody human heart. The mayor and police chief initially try to keep the threat hush-hush, but a few more murders persuade them to cancel the dance. The young people in town throw a fit, deciding that they will still have a party but hold it at the mine instead. You can guess what happens from this point on: bodies drop like flies as a madman in mining gear (gas mask, helmet, black clothing, and pickax) works his way through the group of bubbleheads. As the chief desperately attempts to track down the whereabouts of Harry Warden, a group of especially idiotic partygoers head down into the mine for a few yucks. The last twenty minutes of the film take place in the darkly atmospheric mine, as the killer picks off several of the kids in the quarry. There's a twist ending that achieves only a moderate level of interest, and then the whole thing ends.
"My Bloody Valentine" is a major rip off of other slasher films. This movie even has its own version of "Crazy Ralph" from "Friday the 13th" in the form of a testy bar owner who continually spouts stories about Harry Warden and the foolishness of throwing another party. You just know this guy is going to get his, and he does, but I kept wondering how he got any business. Who wants to go to a place where the proprietor keeps talking about gruesome murders? The other characters fall into typical slasher movie typecasting as well: the two guys fighting over the girl, the ineffective police chief and mayor who try to ignore the warning signs until it's too late, and the omnipresent killer. When it comes to original and engaging characters, "My Bloody Valentine" doesn't offer much except stereotypes with bad haircuts. Horror movie buffs should take note of Ray Sager's name (as first assistant director) in the credits: Sager played Montag the Magnificent in H.G. Lewis's "The Wizard of Gore."
At first, the gore seems to promise that "My Bloody Valentine" is a step above your typical slasher film. The heart in the box is gruesome, but after that initial shocker the movie steps back into rather banal exercises in the sauce department. The heavy handed editing is to blame here, as nearly every murder that takes place either happens completely off camera (the idea of it!), or cuts away before the serious bloodletting starts. There are places where you can discover what Paramount removed to get that all-important 'R' rating, and it's obvious that this film would have been much better if we could have seen the full effect of the killer's actions. A boiled face, a hook through the head, and a body in a laundromat dryer sound great on paper, but the execution suffers horribly because we never get the full, grotesque effect. It's the equivalent of watching a Richard Pryor concert with all of the profanity bleeped out. I pray Paramount comes to their senses and finally releases this film, along with the first eight "Friday the 13th" movies, in uncut formats. "My Bloody Valentine," as it stands now, falls squarely into the "rent, not buy" category: an interesting film with great promise, but an ultimate failure due to circumstances beyond the control of the cast and crew.
Start with an interesting setting. Rather than a college campus or high school, we have a bleak, blue-collar mining town. Instead of free-wheeling students or teenagers we have working class twentysomethings pushing thirty. Then add a creepy backstory: a mining accident that entombed and killed all but one of a handful of miners. That survivor, Harry Warden, had to resort to cannibalism until he was rescued, messing him up for eternity and a day. The next year, on Valentine's Day, he returned (in full miner's garb with pick-axe) and brutally murdered the two supervisors who inadverdently caused the accident. He then cut their hearts out and sent it to the dance with a warning never to have another Valentine's dance.
Flash forward to the present. The townspeople are contemplating the first dance in twenty years. Naturally, a series of murders begin, with the victim's hearts cut out. Alarmed, the police decide to cancel the dance. Undeterred, the young folk decide to have a secret party (at the mine's cafeteria). And that's when the real fun begins. Some highlights: a dude's face scalded in a huge pot of boiling water, and his cut-out heart being thrown in with the franks (yum), a girl getting her head impaled on a shower head (no repetition intended), and the local drunk becoming the victim of his own practical joke.
Of course, no film (slasher or otherwise) would be set around Valentine's day without having a romantic supplot, and MY BLOODY VALENTINE is no exception. We're introduced to Axel and T.J., two former friends now duking it out for the affections of Sarah (Lori Hallier, in the film's best performance). This triangle could've been more fully developed, but it was sufficient enought to keep the audience interested. Who will get Sarah? Axel or T.J.? And as the murders multiply (and intensify) the question becomes "What does Harry Warden want?" Is it even him? Or someone else?
Watch this flick and find out. There's a great final act set in the darkened mine, with an extended cat and mouse chase scene between the killer and T.J. and Sarah. This last half-hour rivals anything in HALLOWEEN. Scary last scene, too.
Bottom line? Craftsmanship-wise, MY BLOODY VALENTINE is no HALLOWEEN, but in some ways, it's scarier.At last! Slasher fans will finally get the opportunity to see this excellent slasher film completely RESTORED AND UNCUT.
Initial rumours peristed the gore footage would be as a bonus feature not spliced back into the film, HOWEVER, this it has been confirmed by Lionsgate that the movie will be released with the gore restored in its correct place.
Lionsgate have done what Paramount should have done several times before. Slasher fans could do with a company like Lionsgate to get their hands on the Friday The 13th series so we can see those uncut too but i'm dreaming of course paramount will never sell the rights to those because it makes too much cash for them.
So at last MY BLOODY AVLENTINE TOTALLY UNCUT, REMASTERED AND RESTORED, IN WIDESCREEN! What more could a slasher fan ask for don't hesitate BUY THIS NOW!
Read Best Reviews of My Bloody Valentine Here
The Canadian slasher, "My Bloody Valentine" received a theatrical release in 1981. However, due to its violent content, the MPAA severely butchered numerous scenes. Fans of the horror genre grew extremely outraged. Nevertheless, it became one the best, most underrated 80s horror films. For years, it earned a large cult following. Quentin Tarantino also labeled it as his favorite slasher film of all time!In 2002, Paramount released it on DVD. To everyone's dismay, it was still the original, heavily edited theatrical cut. As a result, fans screamed for an uncut version. But Paramount refused. Fortunately, Lionsgate bought the rights to the film, and (finally) gave us what we wanted. This is the COMPLETE, UNCUT version that the censors wouldn't approve. Most of the deleted footage has been re-inserted back into the film (including the infamous pickax-through-the-eye scene). In addition, you can choose to watch the footage separately, or as part of the film (for those who cannot handle the gore, the original theatrical cut is also included). The Special Features include:
"Bloodlust: My Bloody Valentine and the Rise of the Slasher Film": A 20 minute documentary on "My Bloody Valentine". This includes interviews with the cast and crew of the original 1981 version and the 2009 remake: "My Bloody Valentine 3D".
"Bloodlines: An Interactive Horror Film History": Chronicling various kinds of horror from the past to the present.
"Deleted Footage with Director, Cast and Special Effects Designer Introductions": All of the uncut footage, which you can view here OR as part of the film!
...And there you have it!
While inspired by earlier productions, such as "Halloween" and "Friday the 13th", the plot is not the most original. However, while those films took place in the suburbs or at a camping site, the setting for "My Bloody Valentine" takes place in a small mining town (located in Nova Scotia, Canada). Also, instead of teenagers, all of the characters in this movie are adults. These factors make this gem slightly more unique than the usual slasher. Horror fans (both old and new) and gore hounds alike will appreciate this movie, finally released in all its gory glory! The only downside: the picture quality in most of the uncut footage is not that great. But this hardly detracts from the movie, as a whole. It's also understandable that this footage might've been difficult for Lionsgate to fully restore. Regardless, this Special Edition is one that you won't want to miss!
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I saw this when I was a young teen after sneaking into the theater and it scared the socks off me now over 20 years later, I put in the DVD of MY BLOODY VALENTINE (hey, I guess that's where the shoe-gazer band got its name, huh?) and...of course...it's a typically lame, gutless Paramount DVD release. WHY BOTHER?! The answer? PURE STUDIO GREED. If you're going to re-release MY BLOODY VALENTINE on DVD, WHY leave out the best parts, i.e. the GORY KILLINGS we are teased with, but never get the opportunity to WITNESS in all their full, twisted glory I mean, the laundromat scene has potential, but then just a quick glimpse of the corpse popping out of the dryer...just a hint of a the dead girl hanging on a hook with water pouring out of her mouth...the slightest suggestion of a pick-axes impaling chests...we all know there are several MINUTES of GRAPHIC FOOTAGE that Paramount HACKED out to get the almighty "R" rating, but everyone knows the real market in DVD is the UNRATED, UNCUT DIRECTORS CUT why not here to please the fans? Without the explicit, creative blood-letting, this is a bit of a snooze, but still gets over on pure 80s fond nostalgia and unintentionally campy atmosphere, not to mention some of the worst acting in horror film history. If you look at a new flick like HOUSE OF WAX that's able to show fingers being chopped off, heads decapitated, and a spear through Paris Hilton's forehead, you'd think they could do THIS slasher classic justice. Oh well, maybe next time. But don't count on it. C'mon, Paramount, not even a trailer?! That is CHEAP!
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