I saw "My Bloody Valentine" when it played theatrically and I was bored. It's up to scratch technically, but it's just another slasher about a dead miner who shows up on Valentine's Day to kill young lovers because they're busy doing what he never got to do. That's it.
The film, prior to earning its "R" rating, was considerably gorier, and I've read much rubbish about how great the thing would be if the gore was reinstated. I can't agree. If it was bloodier, it would still be a boring slasher... but with bloody killings.
There is no suspense, the characters are the usual clichés, and many scenes are so underlit we might be watching tar dry. I don't like night scenes you can't even see because real night isn't like that. Our eyes adjust to the darkness after a while and sometimes we use flashlights. A much better slasher than this is "Madman", a film with impressive night sequences we can actually see.
The mine location is suitably creepy and probably had potential, but there's no point crying over wasted scenery when quite clearly nobody was up to making much of this thin premise that was probably an easy sell to a studio (Paramount) that was hot for special occasion-based/date-based horror after "Friday The 13th" poured millions into its coffers.
The idea of "My Bloody Valentine" is much more interesting than the reality of slogging through its turgid scenery. Try it yourself if you don't believe me.
The film, prior to earning its "R" rating, was considerably gorier, and I've read much rubbish about how great the thing would be if the gore was reinstated. I can't agree. If it was bloodier, it would still be a boring slasher... but with bloody killings.
There is no suspense, the characters are the usual clichés, and many scenes are so underlit we might be watching tar dry. I don't like night scenes you can't even see because real night isn't like that. Our eyes adjust to the darkness after a while and sometimes we use flashlights. A much better slasher than this is "Madman", a film with impressive night sequences we can actually see.
The mine location is suitably creepy and probably had potential, but there's no point crying over wasted scenery when quite clearly nobody was up to making much of this thin premise that was probably an easy sell to a studio (Paramount) that was hot for special occasion-based/date-based horror after "Friday The 13th" poured millions into its coffers.
The idea of "My Bloody Valentine" is much more interesting than the reality of slogging through its turgid scenery. Try it yourself if you don't believe me.