Kanada Killer
My Bloody Valentine (1981): 5 out of 10: Apparently, if you repeat the mantra “this was a classic cult horror film”, people may begin to believe you. In particular, if they are young people, who were not yet born when this movie came out in 1981, and they are starring in the 3-d remake coming out in 2009.
My Bloody Valentine is a remake (rip-off) of sorts as well. In fact, it is almost plot point for plot point a remake of Halloween. Same escaped mental patient killer as Halloween, same holiday theme as well. They do downshift the social status of the victims by replacing an Illinois suburb with a Canadian mining town, but other than that, it is a very similar film.
My Bloody Valentine found itself In competition with such films as Mother’s Day and Graduation Day, (One can be thankful that Martin Luther King Jr.’s Birthday was not a nationally recognized holiday in 1980. One shudders to imagine that holiday themed slasher film.) The film is famous in some circles for getting all of its gore cut out by the ratings board. Combined with a complete (and surprising, considering the actresses and subject matter) lack of nudity, filmgoers in the early eighties could easily have wondered how the film got an R rating at all.
Fortunately, a re-release of the 1981 film on DVD to coincide with the theatrical 3-D remake reinserts the lost footage. Unfortunately, they did not spend the extra money to remaster said footage, so it fit in with the rest of the film. As a result, we get a strange spaghetti vision every time a gore scene starts. Despite this, it is an improvement on the original theatrical cut. No amount of edits could solve the fundamental script problems the film suffers from (even by genre standards); and the lackluster killer the movie is saddled with.
Overall, My Bloody Valentine is a watchable slasher film, especially for those who like the early eighties slasher classics. It could have used more gore and nudity and a much better plot. Something its 3-D remake delivers in spades.
