Whilst it still revels in the tropes of the slasher genre 'My Bloody Valentine' is a solid, entertaining and slightly different film which should be enjoyed by fans as well as the casual viewer. 'Valentine' is notable for being one of the few good Canadian entries to the eighties slasher craze and makes the most of a limited, somewhat clichéd idea with a welcome professional, creative element that slashers often lack.
Following on the heels of 'Halloween' and other holiday based plots 'Valentine' concerns the holiday, a card shop holiday anyway, in a small Canadian town also helpfully named Valentine's Bluff. You'd think it'd be the perfect place for a valentine's party but a mine collapse twenty years prior leaves a madman named Harry Warden buried alive whilst the rest of the town parties. You can imagine what happens next. The madman bans Valentine's in the town and enforces the ban in a violent fashion. Twenty years later a new valentine celebration is planned as Harry Warden has faded into legend.
What makes Valentine's stand out is two things. One, the actual slasher set pieces are superb. Creative, brutal and sometimes funny. The filmmakers were forced to cut about eight or nine minutes of footage to appease the censors which adds to the cult appeal of the piece. Yet despite the cuts the bloody nature of Valentine will please fans of the genre and some genuinely unsettling moments are also scattered throughout the film when it comes to the use of blood and guts.
The other appealing element is the film's professionalism. Whereas other slasher films fall into the cheesiest and cheesiest of quality through bad acting, bad camera-work and generally amateurish production Valentine does not. The acting is good and naturalistic, a nice surprise from the genre, the cinematography is interesting and inventive, making use of a wider range of camera expression than falling back on the POV shot. The focus of the characters in peril are also far more interesting. Valentine's Bluff is a dreary working class town with a single industry, the mines, to keep it going. As such the characters are smarter, more bitter and, in many ways, better than their college co-ed, teenage counterparts.
In the ranks of slasher films 'My Bloody Valentine' ranks high. For those who are fans of the genre it is definitely required watching. For the more casual viewer the film's professional tint and interesting, though still generic holiday based premise, will distinguish itself from other less astute entries.
Following on the heels of 'Halloween' and other holiday based plots 'Valentine' concerns the holiday, a card shop holiday anyway, in a small Canadian town also helpfully named Valentine's Bluff. You'd think it'd be the perfect place for a valentine's party but a mine collapse twenty years prior leaves a madman named Harry Warden buried alive whilst the rest of the town parties. You can imagine what happens next. The madman bans Valentine's in the town and enforces the ban in a violent fashion. Twenty years later a new valentine celebration is planned as Harry Warden has faded into legend.
What makes Valentine's stand out is two things. One, the actual slasher set pieces are superb. Creative, brutal and sometimes funny. The filmmakers were forced to cut about eight or nine minutes of footage to appease the censors which adds to the cult appeal of the piece. Yet despite the cuts the bloody nature of Valentine will please fans of the genre and some genuinely unsettling moments are also scattered throughout the film when it comes to the use of blood and guts.
The other appealing element is the film's professionalism. Whereas other slasher films fall into the cheesiest and cheesiest of quality through bad acting, bad camera-work and generally amateurish production Valentine does not. The acting is good and naturalistic, a nice surprise from the genre, the cinematography is interesting and inventive, making use of a wider range of camera expression than falling back on the POV shot. The focus of the characters in peril are also far more interesting. Valentine's Bluff is a dreary working class town with a single industry, the mines, to keep it going. As such the characters are smarter, more bitter and, in many ways, better than their college co-ed, teenage counterparts.
In the ranks of slasher films 'My Bloody Valentine' ranks high. For those who are fans of the genre it is definitely required watching. For the more casual viewer the film's professional tint and interesting, though still generic holiday based premise, will distinguish itself from other less astute entries.