My Bloody Valentine (1981)

Ah, the early eighties…a time when every holiday on the calendar was the basis for the next “Halloween” or “Friday the 13th” kind of flick. You know how it goes, tragic accident/murder that took place many years prior, town drunk/crazy warning of a future repeat, escaped killer returning to scene of crime/murders, and of course, lots of teenagers partying/fornicating while ignoring the warnings of the said drunk/crazy.

This 1981 effort is no different, as we learn of a tragic mining accident that took place many years prior in a small Canadian town. I know it’s in Canada thanks to the local bar that only seemingly serves Moosehead beer. Seems a cave-in trapped a party of miners underground, with only one survivor coming out of the mess sans his sanity and with a bellyful of his coworkers whom he cannibalized to survive. Out for revenge against the mining supervisors whom he blames for the accident, survivor Harry Warden murdered the negligent supervisors while adorned in full mining regalia complete with a big ass pickaxe. Warning the town to “never celebrate on Valentine’s again” lest the murders are repeated, Harry is arrested and sent to the cozy confines of the quite room. Well, time goes on and years later the local yahoo’s have decided it’s time to have the big dance and ignore Harry’s warning. The local kids all scoff at the “myth” of the murderous miner, and we all know where that will get them. Did you say dead? Well, you’re right.

“My Bloody Valentine” is slightly a notch above your typical early eighties slasher. The acting is decent, the production values suggest that some actual money was spent, and you even get a pretty cool killer in our murderous miner. The dude’s all done up in the latest mining fashion complete with mask and breathing apparatus, and of course, there’s that pickaxe. Maybe our miner is feeling inadequate in a certain area huh? Some scenes are actually fairly suspenseful, especially those shot in the underground mines. The gore quotient is fairly low thanks to the bastards over at the MPAA, and a little more of the red stuff would have definitely helped. The acting ranges from adequate to bad, of course, and there’s a romantic subplot that really did nothing more than pad the film in between all the mad miner mayhem. This one’s still a fairly decent flick, and is worth a view for all students of the American slasher film.