February 9, 2010

My Bloody Valentine (1980)


Forget last year's moronic 3D remake: if there is one horror film you should watch this February 14h, that's the original My Bloody Valentine. Known as one of the best non-franchise slashers from the 1980s despite the severe censorship that cut 9 minutes of gore from the final version, MBV is one of those films that is much more influential than one would initially suspect. The plot goes something like this...

Twenty years ago in Valentine Bluffs, the supervisors at the town's mine were so eager to get to the annual Valentine dance that they didn't bother to check the levels of the methane gas. There was a massive explosion and five workers were trapped underneath the rubble. The only survivor was one Harry Warden, who never mentally recovered from the accident. Exactly a year later he returned and brutally killed the two who were responsible for the tragic mishap. He cut out their hearts, stuck them in candy boxes and sent them to the authorities. Fortunately, he was caught before he carried out any more killings and was put into Eastfield Asylum for the insane. Now in 1981 the happy go lucky residents of the usually tranquil town are preparing themselves for the first Valentine dance to be held since that fateful night two decades ago. Memories of Warden's murders have passed and a group of fun loving kids are thinking about nothing else but the anticipated party. However the night before the event the town mayor receives a blooded heart in a candy box with a poetic warning. It seems Harry has returned…

If it sounds like heaps of fun, that's because it is. That said, MBV is a 1980s slasher, which means that it is bogged down quite a bit by bad acting and predictable plot development... so don't say I didn't warn you :) If you still think you can stomach this, watch the newly re-released version; it should be available pretty much everywhere.


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