Years ago, in the town of Harmony, a horrible mining accident occurred, due in part to the negligence of young Tom Hannigar. Five men were found dead and one, Harry Warden, in a coma. It soon came to light that Harry Warden killed those men to conserve his own air supply. On valentine's day, Harry mysteriously awakens from his coma and goes on a killing spree and ultimately met his end at the hands of the town sheriff, But not before confronting the main characters Axel(Kerr Smith), Sarah(Jamie King) and her boyfriend Tom Hannigar(Jensen Ackles) who still harbors the guilt of causing the accident in the first place. Years pass, teenagers become adults and have families. Suddenly, mysterious killings start to happen again with a very familiar M.O; killed by a man in a mining outfit, similar to Harry Warden's. Axel and Sarah are now married but there is trouble brewing in paradise. To complicate matters, Tom Hannigar returned to Harmony and where he goes, the mysterious killings follow.
Is some deranged copycat killer out to make a name for himself by repeating the tragedy from 10 years ago? Or has Harry Warden come back from the grave to exact his revenge on Tom Hannigar and everyone close to him?
For the first time, i surprise even myself by saying that i liked the story. Or at least i was mildly hooked by it. Usually stories in such slasher horror remakes are bland and shoved aside in order to focus more on silly teenage shenanigans and gruesome killings. The story of My Bloody Valentine plays with the "mystery" element very well, throwing many red herrings and misleading little clues as to the identity of the killer. Literally everyone is a suspect and this film keeps you guessing up until the final reveal. There is even a small(though weak, but passable) attempt at a tragic love triangle between the 3 main characters which ties in rather well with the whole "valentine" theme of the movie.
The characters are at least more bearable than the usual slasher movie fare and easier to get into, emotionally. The acting may be a little stiff at times but i did not expect much good acting from horror genre movies.
A mystery story would only work one time around(once you know the ending, the mystery element kinda ends there), so is it worth watching this movie again on DVD or blu ray??? I give it a resounding yes thanks to.......you guessed it, the 3D gimmick.
It has been said many times over that the 3D gimmick coupled with some fresh new ways to kill off characters is the highlight of this movie. I never knew one could get so creative with a pickaxe and shovel. The gore itself is not gratuitous but the kills are shockingly gruesome and some of them rather unique.(my favorite is when the killer shoved a shovel into a girl's mouth and cleaved her face in half). Really must hand it to director Patrick Lussier(also directed Dracula 2000) for his clear straightforward directing style which keeps the usual frantic cuts to a minimum and allows the violence to be played out in its full gory.....i mean glory.
Of course, what would a slasher film be without some mandatory nudity? Thankfully, the nudity is played more for laughs than to titillate here as a dumb blond runs around a motel and car park, completely buck naked in the middle of the night, trying to confront her boyfriend and then trying to escape the killer.
In retrospect, My Bloody Valentine actually plays out like an extremely violent episode of Scooby Doo complete with surprise ending and unmasking. There were some issues with the overall "feel" of the non-3D portions of the film which felt cheap and at times looked no better than a made-for-TV miniseries. Slasher genre fans are sure to love this and casual movie viewer can easily immerse themselves in the well plotted mystery and suspense.
My Bloody Valentine is a surprisingly fresh take on the slasher genre. It takes familiar elements and adds a new twist to it. This movie among other recent slasher remakes is like a breath of fresh air after spending hours in a gas mask. Definitely one of the better ones in the market. Maybe there is hope for the slasher genre yet.
