My Bloody Valentine

Another Slasher Saturday and it is time for a classic that I'm a little surprised I had not seen before.

Most horror-fare gives us a scare on or around Halloween. Some, even try their hand at Christmas (Gremlins, Black Christmas). But, My Bloody Valentine may have been the first to turn the day of love, into a scare-fest. In the small mining town of Valentine Bluffs, everyone is preparing for a Valentine's Day dance. The mayor is given a mysterious heart-shaped chocolate box with a note that reads "From the heart, comes a warning filled with bloody good cheer, remember what happened as the 14th draws near," and he opens it only to find a human heart! Thus begins the reign of terror of ex-miner Harry Warden, or so they think. The story goes, that 20 years ago on Valentine's Day, two supervisors left the mine early for the dance - leaving five miners down below and without checking methane gas levels. A gas main exploded and trapped the men in the mine for awhile and when the town finally is able to clear away the rubble to rescue them, they discover one survivor (Warden) eating the others. A year later he gets his revenge on the two men, killing them on the night of Valentine's Day dance. He cuts out their hearts and puts them into heart-shaped boxes with a note warning the town never to have another Valentine's Day dance or he will kill again. Back to 20 years later, the town has mostly forgotten Warden as he is locked away in an asylum, and decide to have a dance once again. Until they receive that box and others are brutally killed with a pickaxe and they cancel the dance. Yet, the young miners decide phooey on the legend and throw a party at the mine, only to their demise.

Deadly miner

Heart in a box

This film's setting is most unusual and really unlike any other slasher movie. One of the main reasons I liked it. It had good scares, and creative death scenes. Apparently there was some controversy over its original release. The MPAA would not give it an R-rating unless some of the death sequences were cut. The filmmakers did their cuts and the MPAA was still dissatisfied. In 2009 the film was released on DVD with the cut footage reinstated and shortly after, the remake was made, maybe due to the popularity of the DVD release.

One of the cut death scenes

My rating: