MY BLOODY VALENTINE (1981)
Director: George Mihalka
Paramount


There are some slasher movies that you enjoy because they are genuinely frightening (BLACK CHRISTMAS, HALLOWEEN) and then there are others that you enjoy based on its interesting premise, killer, or death scenes. MY BLOODY VALENTINE falls into the second category.

Twenty years ago, five miners died in an unsupervised accident below the Earth's surface. The sole survivor, a man by the name of Harry Warden, was taken to a mental hospital for recovery. On the first anniversary of the event (while decked out in his mining gear) Harry Warden escaped and went to claim revenge on the supervisors who chose to attend the Valentine's Day dance instead of watching their posts in the mine. Nineteen years later, the Valentine's Day dance is making a return to the sleepy town of Valentine Bluff. Someone dressed in mining garb is sending bloody human hearts to the police and making threats about stopping the dance. Is Harry back in town, or is someone taking a local legend a little too far?

MY BLOODY VALENTINE isn't the best of the early 80's slasher rip-offs (MADMAN, THE BURNING) but it is far from being the worst (FATAL GAMES). The acting (from the sound of it, by a mostly Canadian cast) is actually not bad at all for the material they're given. The film has a lush use of color and is generally well-photographed. One interesting thing of note is that the film's token fat guy character is dating the absolute most gorgeous female in the film. Nobody in the film makes a big deal out of it either. It's just the way it is. You accept it. This was a welcome bit of casting that you don't always see in movies, even if it's not being entirely realistic (unfortunately). I also liked the killer's gimmick. The killer wears a creepy miner's mask, helmet, and clothes while killing people with, among other things, a pickax. Very unique indeed.

The main flaw with the film is it is very, very badly edited. Most horror fans know that of all the early 80's slasher films, MY BLOODY VALENTINE was one of the worst cases of MPAA intrusion. Extensive, gory death sequences were sloppily reduced to mere seconds, making the proceedings as they currently stand, rather forgettable. What's sad is that other early 80's horror films have gotten and continue to get better treatment than MY BLOODY VALENTINE. THE BURNING was chopped up just as badly, however MGM accidentally released the Uncut version to VHS not too long ago, and will most likely release the DVD Uncut sometime in the future. Why couldn't Paramount give MY BLOODY VALENTINE similar treatment on DVD? Producer John Dunning has reportedly found the long lost footage and even asked Paramount about releasing the film Uncut. Instead, all we get is the same R rated MPAA butcher job that we've watched countless times on VHS. The only real gore seen in the film is the bloody hearts that the killer sends to people as valentines. To those at the Paramount who cut it way back when, I have to ask…why couldn't you cut some of the extra "bloody heart" footage? For an edited movie, the film has an awful lot of scenes where the viewer sees a character looking at or even holding a fresh bloody heart. Couldn't you guys have used shorter shots of the bloody hearts and given us more footage of the actual deaths? Some 8-9 minutes are reportedly missing from the film, so you can just imagine how extensive Paramount's scissor-work was to this film.

While Paramount continues to toy with the notion of revisiting the FRIDAY THE 13TH films Uncut on DVD someday, I'm left wondering what will happen to MY BLOODY VALENTINE. Its fanbase is considerably smaller than the FRIDAY series, so even if the FRIDAY movies do get their Uncut re-releases someday, I'm not so sure Paramount will remember to do the same for MY BLOODY VALENTINE. One can only hope that they may eventually start a separate line of horror discs which are Uncut/Director's Cut editions and that they will revisit MY BLOODY VALENTINE in all its gory glory. It's not a matter of just wanting cheap gore thrills. Believe me, there are plenty enough movies out there for gore fans to go to if all we wanted were gore for gore's sake. We just want THIS cut footage with THIS cast and with THIS killer. It's all about seeing THIS complete story, as was intended to be told. We're not getting the film that was meant to be seen, and that is a true shame.

The MY BLOODY VALENTINE DVD is presented anamorphic, in its original theatrical aspect ratio of 1:85:1. I must admit Paramount has done a great job with the transfer. The scenes look crystal clear and the colors (especially reds and blues) look extremely vibrant. The audio for MY BLOODY VALENTINE is Dolby Digital English mono. There's not a lot you can say about how effective a slasher movie is in English mono, but MY BLOODY VALENTINE sounds pretty decent. It's nothing to get excited about, but not bad by any means. A French mono track has also been included, as have English subtitles for the hard of hearing.

The DVD cover artwork for MY BLOODY VALENTINE is a new design. I never quite liked the bloody miner's mask artwork from the original one-sheet and VHS, but for the sake of sentimental value, I felt it should've been used. The new artwork isn't as bad as some of Paramount's other recent cover changes but does look a little cheap. If they absolutely had to change the artwork, I think they should've gone with the European artwork. It had a very creepy image of a potential female victim in front of a section of the mine containing the pickax wielding shadow of the killer. No trailers or any other extras were included with the disc. This may hopefully signal a glimmer of hope that Paramount will revisit the film in the future, but who knows. A lot of Paramount titles have been completely bare these days. I have mixed feelings about this disc. Yes, MY BLOODY VALENTINE is a fun, but flawed entry in the early 80's slasher cycle, any serious 80's slasher fan will most likely enjoy it, despite the obvious MPAA cuts, and yes, Paramount has given us an excellent transfer of the film. However, the MPAA cuts truly hurt the film from becoming more than just another slasher movie. I've seen the Uncut pictures over at Hysteria! This was one gruesome movie in its original form! There's a chance Paramount may re-release it someday fully Uncut, but there is also a chance that they may not. If you're a fan, I recommend buying the current disc, but only if you can find it relatively cheap somewhere. As they've done a number of their other horror discs, Paramount will eventually lower the price on this one, and that's when I suggest picking it up. You won't be disappointed with how the film looks, but you will definitely be disappointed that such an interesting and well-loved slasher wasn't given a better treatment on disc. (Wes Ray)

If you'd like more info on the efforts to get My Bloody Valentine released Uncut on DVD as well as a chance to see actual pictures from the original Uncut print, check out http://www.south-over.demon.co.uk/Hysteria/campaignindexmbvmain.htm

 

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