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My Bloody Valentine

My Bloody Valentine

List Price: $14.99
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Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Restore the Cuts!
Review: 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.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Bloody
Review: My Bloody Valentine is another movie where a group of young people are at the mercy of a maniac. The movie starts in a mining town, where twenty years earlier, a sole survivor of a cave-in kills a couple of men responsible for the accident. In the present day a group of miners throw a Valentine Day party (it has been 'canceled' for many years) and one by one partygoers are killed. As the movie climax's we discover who the murder is!

My Bloody Valentine was another one of those slasher movies made in the wake of Halloween and Friday the 13th but with the atmospheric portrayal of the mining town and some of the gruesome acts ' its is a good movie!

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Bloody Good Fun
Review: Paramount pictures had been enjoying success with Friday The 13th, so why not strike while the iron is hot? My Bloody Valentine came out at the perfect time(though not to much financial success) in the slasher heyday. I saw it when I was 5, and thought it was very scary. Now I think it's just silly, but fun! Basically there's nothing new here if you've seen any slasher flicks before. It's just fun to see variations on the subject. This time it's a guy in a miner's outfit, which is actually one of the cooler looking psycho slasher getups. As far as plot goes-Horrible mining accident years back on Valentine's Day. Flash forward to 81 and the killer warns the town not to throw a Valentine bash or there will be hell to pay(even though he starts killing before Valentine's Day). The kids don't heed the warning, tra-la, tra-la. The killer hacks away at our partying kids, gets mixed up in industrial espionage and battles a team of bloodthirsty mutant whales. There's also a subplot of two guys fighting for the affections of our leading lady. Not scary, but fun in that slasher way. I watched this suffering a bad gas attack from a BBQ chicken pizza I had ate earlier for dinner, so it all had kind of a 3-D effect with the dark, stanky, damp mine scenes. As you'll read, the MPAA took a special interest in this film and cut down the gore. I have no idea why coz you wouldn't let your kid watch this anyway. But it's still enough to satisfy. It's no less gory than the later Friday the 13th films. Watch with someone you love.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Halloween and Friday the 13th spin off...
Review: These horrific events began 20 years ago in the small mining town, Valentine's Bluff, when some miners got trapped in the mines and their rescue got delayed due to a Valentine's day party. The only survivor sought his revenge a year later by killing everyone who was celebrating Valentine's day. Now the curse is about to be brought back as the people of Valentine's Bluff are preparing for their first Valentine's day party in 20 years. My Bloody Valentine is a poor slasher film that seems to be a spin off from Halloween (1978) and Friday the 13th (1980), which offers an awkward cinematic experience.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: A Very Creepy Movie!
Review: In the vein of Halloween come's another Holiday Horror movie and like Halloween Depends on its spooky setting to Keep the viewer on edge. After a 20 year break from having the towns annual valentines dance due to a viscous murder, The town decide to leave the past behind them a have the dance, but someone doesnt want the dance to happen so he kills a few people and delivers their hearts in a heart shaped box to the sheriff.After 2 killings the Sheriff informs the mayor that he had better call off the dance before anyone else dies. Some of the local towns people ain't happy about the cancelation and decide to throw a party in the towns abandoned mine. As soon as the party starts the party guests begin to get slaughtered one by one with a pick axe. Even though this movie has a extremely high body count, the gore is pretty much absent from the film because over half the killings are off screen. With the very interesting plot, eerie setting and a bone chilling ending this is one of the greater 80s horror flicks. P.S This was one of the only 80s slasher flicks that didnt produce a sequel.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: My Bloody Valentine
Review: My Bloody Valentine is an interesting film.It's a horror flick and some of the acting is actually good.The characters aren't too memorable.The dialogue is fairly nice.There isn't much gore though for an 80's movie.The plot is well calculated and thought out.Paul Kelman and Lori Hallier do a great job in My Bloody Valentine.The movie has horror, comedy, and some romance if you look close enough.This is definetly a ok horror movie for being different nevertheless.The ending is also a big suprise.Twenty years ago, a tragic accident in a mine on St. Valentines day took the lives of five miner's. The disaster occurred while supervisors left their posts to attend the town's annual Valentine's Day danceThe only survivor,Harry Warden, was confined to a mental institution after the ordeal. On the disaster's first anniversary, he returned to the town for bloody revenge. That was nineteen years ago, and memories have dimmed. Young lovers T.J. and Sarah and friend Axel are among the townspeople attending another Valentine's party.Then, a box of Valentine candy arrives, containing an ominous message and a blood- soaked heart.Before the night is over, terror will strike again and again and again....

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: I HOPE I NEVER GET THIS FOR A VALENTINE'S DAY PRESENT
Review: A COAL MINER GOES ON A KILLING SPREE ON VALENTINE'S DAY. THIS IS ONE OF THE WORST HORROR MOVIES OF ALL TIME. THERE IS ABSOLUTELY NOTHING GOOD ABOUT THIS MOVIE. EVEN THE MURDER SEQUENCES ARE BORING TO WATCH! FROM THE WAY THIS MOVIE ENDED, THE MAKERS OF THIS MOVIE MUST'VE WANTED TO MAKE A SEQUEL TO THIS TRASH. IT'S A VERY GOOD THING THAT THAT SEQUEL NEVER DID SEE THE LIGHT OF DAY. TOTALLY LAUGHABLE AND FORGETTABLE. DON'T EVEN PICK UP THE COVER FOR THIS MOVIE. TRUST ME, THIS IS EXTREMELY BAD!

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: TACKY SLASHER
Review: This is a very cheesy, yet entertaining slasher. Thank you Paramount for keeping the gore shots out. The movie has some seriously gory and disturbing deaths, but they were edited shorter and Paramount didn't bother with a DIRECTOR'S CUT. The transfer and sound quality were A grade and very much worth the $... price tag. For fans of the Friday the 13th series, you will love this cheesy slash fest which is actually a pretty creepy and original 80's flick.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Pretty decent horror outing, definitely best holiday-themed.
Review: This movie is, admittedly, another cash-in on the holiday-themed horror spate of films in the early '80s. But it's the best of the unsavory lot, thanks to a dark, foreboding mine used in the final third where an equally creepy miner in full garb stalks and kills them. Let's forget that the "kids" are all in their early-to-mid 20's, most can't act worth beans, the love triangle aspect is boring as hell, and the main hero of the film breaks into accent (sounds Irish). And forget that the effects are sometimes laughable (is human blood really doghnut filling?) It's creepy fun, and even though the film was badly edited (damn you Paramount!) it still has memorably icky scenes, like Mabel in the dryer (a scene ripped off to this day) and the obligatory hearts in the candy boxes that drip onto the tables they're laid on. The DVD by Paramount is clear but needs extras badly! If it's ever rereleased with a trailer and unedited I'm first in line to buy it! Good horror from the good ol' days of the genre.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: WORST DVD I'VE EVER PURCHASED
Review: I just purchased this DVD because the store was partically giving it away (9.99) and let me say I still feel cheated. This movie is your typical clone,lets make a movie about a holiday(Valentines Day) and cash in on it. First its got your typical crazy man just like crazy Ralph in Friday The 13th and also has a guy wearing a mask(a miners mask to be exact)and it uses the same theme as the prowler(another ... film,but I won't go there),its about a guy Harry Walden who has been decieved on Valentines Day left in a mine and later returns. Not to mention this movie was so cut and edited I would show it to my parents at dinner. Parmount has done another horrible job with another DVD,no extras,not even a trailer. ... ... MOVIE WITH NO PLOT,NO GORE,AND NO EXTRAS,NOT EVEN THE ORIGINAL COVER ART JUST LIKE THE FRIDAY THE 13th FILMS ON DVD,THIS IS AS HORRID AS SCREAM SERIES,I KNOW WHAT YOU DID.,AND VALENTINE(THE [re-make] OF THIS ... MOVIE)


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