My Review of My Bloody Valentine 3D (2009)

 

Written by Todd Farmer And Zane Smith

Directed by Patrick Lussier

Axel: "Are you there, Harry? You living inside Tom? Huh? Are you in there?"

Tom: "Oh... I'm right here."

Axel: "I fucking knew it!"

Yesterday I reviewed the original movie from 1981 and last night, I watched the remake from 2009. Horror remakes from the 2000s were certainly a thing, weren't they? They either completely missed the point or were just straight up bad.

Oddly enough, this one managed to fall into neither category. Now I'm not saying it's an amazing movie by any stretch of the imagination but it's certainly an entertaining one and more than I expected it to be.

The opening of the movie had The Miner aka Harry Warden (Richard John Walters) attacking his fellow miners following an explosion that the mine owner's son, Tom Hanniger (Jensen Ackles) from the previous year. Other survivors from Harry's attack included Tom's childhood sweetheart Sarah Mercer (Jamie King), rival Axel Palmer (Kerr Smith) and the unfortunate Irene (Betsy Rue).

Cut to a decade later and you've got Sarah and Axel (now the town Sheriff) in an unhappy marriage with the latter having an affair with Sarah's co-worker, Megan (Megan Boone). Then there's Tom returning to the town in order to sell off his father's mine, which both Ben Foley (Kevin Tighe) and Sheriff Jim Burke (Tom Atkins) were opposed to.

Anyways, the Miner came back to life and throughout the movie we saw various characters getting gruesomely killed as suspicion grew heavily on Tom. I mentioned in my review for the original that I didn't care for the Tom/Sarah/Axel triangle and I kind of don't here too but it's actually better written compared to the original itself.

Another good thing about this movie was the change of killer. The original had Axel being the killer but here, it was Tom who was suffering from split personalities. It actually worked as a reveal and again, the last scene left it open for a sequel. 

- Fans of a certain horror franchise would've spotted both Tom Atkins and Betsy Rue, the latter being a sequel to a remake released months after this one.

- Despite being a massive hit, a sequel didn't happen because of the poor critical reception this one got.

- Todd Farmer who co-wrote the movie also had a role of a sleazy truck driver named Frank.

- Chronology: We go from Valentine's Day in 1997, 1998 and 2008 in the mining town.

I know it's not a beloved remake by any stretch but I had a pleasantly good time with My Bloody Valentine 3D. There's some good performances from the lead cast and the kills are impressive enough with some nice nods to the original.

Rating: 7 out of 10 

My Review of My Bloody Valentine (1981)

 

Written by John Beaird And Stephen Miller

Directed by George Mihalka

Axel: "Hanniger, I'll be in Hell waiting for you! Harry? Harry, I'm coming! This whole FUCKING TOWN is going to die! We're coming back, you bastards! Sarah, be my bloody Valentine! Daddy's gone away, Harry Warden made you pay..."

With Valentine's Day approaching, I thought I'd delve into some old horror movies focused on the day in particular. This meant finally watching this cult favourite from 1981 where the premise of a mining incident didn't really feel like the grounds for a Valentine's themed horror fest.

The film started with a miner losing his cool when his girlfriend showed a heart tattoo on her breast. He snapped and killed her. Then there was a backstory about a local dance being reinstated twenty years after an incident where five miners died with Harry Warden (Peter Cowper) resorting to cannibalism for survival.

In the current day of this movie's release, you had a lovely triangle between the seemingly nice Axel Palmer (Neil Affleck), his girlfriend Sarah Mercer (Lori Happier) and her ex boyfriend, Tom Jesse "T.J." Hanniger (Paul Kelman). The latter having recently returned to the town of Valentine Bluffs and already making his presence felt by everyone, but especially Axel and Sarah.

Of course with this triangle brewing, there was the Miner as well going around and killing as many of the locals as possible. Locals that included Mabel (Patricia Hamilton), Dave (Carl Marotte) and Sylvia (Helene Udy) to name but a few. The deaths are gory with the likes of laundromats, impaling and boiling water factoring into the kills along with some heart eating and gruesome calling cards left in their wake.

With the younger cast responding to their Valentine's dance being banned again by taking their party to the mines, it seemed like a fitting location for the Miner to finish the job. Not to mention it was also the perfect place for the Miner to reveal their identity.

Having the nice but seemingly boring Axel being revealed as the Miner did kind of work, especially with flashbacks providing suitable context for why he snapped and started killing. Axel almost got a rather suitable demise as well as a maniacal laugh to end the movie on an unsettling note.

- A remake, titled My Bloody Valentine 3D came out in 2009 and I'll be reviewing that as well. Blumhouse are also doing their own reboot.

- Harry Warden's laugh can be heard at the start of the movie.

- Standout music: There's a rather creepy ballad for Harry Warden (the original killer that triggered Axel) that's used a lot in the movie. 

- Chronology: Set in the fictional Canadian town of Valentine Bluffs.

My Bloody Valentine did make for a decent enough horror with some suitably gory. It's weakened by the main live triangle not being very compelling though but not enough to overall derail the movie.

Rating: 7 out of 10