My Bloody Valentine

Alternate titles : The Murders on Valentine's Day, The Secret.

Tagline : "Cross your heart...and hope to die."

Coming out in the wake of "Friday the 13th", this similarly themed slasher pic from the early 80s takes place in a small mining community, where the townsfolk are preparing to have their first Valentines dance, since an unfortunate mining accident rocked the town some 14 years earlier.

Unfortunately, somebody wearing a miners overalls and a gas mask seems hell bent on stopping the upcoming festivities, as he starts hacking up the locals with his trusty pickaxe and gouging out their hearts.

Rumours quickly spread that it could be Harry Warden, sole survivor of the earlier accident, who went on to murder several officials at the mine, who he believed werevresponsible for the accident that killed several workers. But considering he was supposedly committed to a mental institution, could it really be him?

Looking somewhat dated now and heavily censored upon its original release, when viewing the cut theatrical version, "My Bloody Valentine" is still a moderately entertaining film. However, when viewed in it's uncut form, it becomes a much different story as we get to see in full all the axe killings, nail-gun shootings and eye gougings in all there gory glory.

So, if your a fan of 80s slashers, you'd be advised to seek out the uncut version and giving it a go...

Overall Marks : 6/10.

Terrifying Trivia

• Alternate tag lines "Harry's out to steal your heart", "Heart. Burn", "This Valentine's Day, romance is DEAD", "There's more than one way to lose your heart", "Valentine's Day will never be the same again".
• The mine used in the film was Sydney Mine in Nova Scotia, Canada
• The films budget was $2,300,000 (Canadian).
• The Valentines dance in the film takes place on Saturday the 14th of February, meaning the previous day would have been "Friday the 13th", which is the movie the film makers had loosely based this on
• The director did approach Paramount pictures in 2001 to see about making a sequel, but owing to the fact the original had not been a huge success, they said they were not interested.
• Virtually every death scene was shortened at the insistence of the US ratings board to get an R-rating. The Director had wanted to do a restored version for some time, but the original elements had gone missing. When copies of the missing footage were later discovered in the Director's personal collection, Paramount claimed not to be interested. It wasn't until Lions Gate films purchased the rights from Paramount pictures in 2008 that a properly restored uncut version was finally released on Disc.
• The mine and nearby town used in the film were chosen because of their 'rustic' appearance. However, when the locals found out they were making a movie there, they spent $50,000 sprucing the place up, which defeated the object of them filming there. So the film makers had to spend $75,000 dirtying it up again.
• The UK cinema release was the same as the cut US theatrical version, however this released contained an additional shot at the end showing the killer severing his arm in order to escape, which was not in the US print. The subsequent UK video and DVD releases reverted to the same cut US theatrical versions.
• Although the current US Discs from Lions Gate are supposedly uncut, there is one death scene that is apparently still missing, where the killer impales a couple using an industrial drill. This scene was apparently shot, but the director couldn't find the missing footage from this scene when he came to do the restored version.

Other Recomendations

A-Z REVIEWS | REVIEWS INDEX | HOME