My Bloody Valentine
The film opens up with a miner fooling around with a woman (who sneaked into the coal mine wearing miner gear) in a dark, strange coal mine. When the unknown miner spots a heart-shaped tattoo above the woman's breast, he becomes enraged and abruptly impales her on a pickaxe.
We're then introduced to the town where this and all the terror unfolds, Valentine's Bluff, where everyone's exicted about the upcoming, first Valentine's dance in twenty years. Obviously a small town, many local men work in the coal mine, including T.J. (Paul Kelman) and Axel (Neil Affleck), who share an ongoing fued between the lovely Sarah (Lori Hallier), who's going steady with Axel after breaking up with T.J.
While driving along the road in a truck with Chief Jake Newby (Don Francks), Mayor Hanniger (Larry Reynolds) opens a heart-shaped box left for him. Discovering a morbid, warning poem, Hanniger is also shocked by a human heart (which is later on revealed to be of a woman in her early thirties) placed under the card.
The town's horrible past is then revealed throughout the film. Two decades ago, while miners worked below, two supervisors left their post for the town's Valentine's dance. Forgetting to check the methane gas levels, the supervisors were unaware when one worker lit a lantern, causing an explosion that trapped all of them within the mines.
Weeks passed by until one survivor, Harry Warden, was finally found. Unfortunately, he was eating the flesh of one of the other coal miners. He was put into a mental institution and was released a year later, only to return to Valentine's Bluff to kill the two supervisors and place their hearts in heart-shaped boxes.
Harry Warden warned the town to never throw another Valentine's dance, or he'd return to kill again. Now, the authority figures think just that, and after other vicious murders, the dance is finally cancelled.
A group of young men and women, hard-headed and unaware of the murders, have a party near the mines, while the killer lurks within the darkness. Some of the party-goers decide to go underground and explore the mines, while the others above discover dead bodies and become hysterical.
At first immune to the terror, the group is soon terrorized by the murderous miner who stalks them one by one in the mines. Has Harry Warden really returned, or does someone else want to end Valentine's Day for good?
This 1981 Canadian slasher, directed by George Mihalka, is definitely another one that delivers all your horror needs. It has received a cult following by loyal fans, and it is still highly anticipated to have a DVD re-release with much cut footage, which consisted of more gore, intact.
The light humor thrown about doesn't ruin the film, making way for the creepiness mostly established by the primary setting in the mines. The cast is also an enjoyable aspect of the film, and the tense situations actually make you care for the characters going through sheer terror.
Definitely a favorite of mine and many others, My Bloody Valentine is another great holiday-themed slasher. It's a wonder to me why this hasn't received more recognition by critics, but fans will always remember this great flick. Definitely worthy of repeated viewings by horror hounds.
