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My Bloody Valentine (film)
Encyclopedia
My Bloody Valentine is a 1981 Canadian slasher film
released in the wake of the popularity of the slasher genre
that had overtaken the 1970s. Considered an example of the low-budget cult films reminiscent of popular slasher films such as Halloween
(1978) and Friday the 13th (1980), the movie was filmed on location in Sydney Mines, Nova Scotia
, Canada.
The movie is infamous for having had 9 minutes cut by the MPAA
due to the amount of violence and gore. Though co-producer Dunning confirmed that the excised footage still existed, attempts to release it proved difficult as Paramount Pictures
refused to offer an uncut version. Lionsgate subsequently secured DVD rights to the film (as well as several other Paramount features, under license) and released the uncut version on January 13, 2009 (Lionsgate soon after released the remake into theaters).
gas
explosion
at Hanniger Coal Mine trapped five miners in a shaft
when the foremen of the crew left early to attend the town's Valentine's Day
dance. Six weeks later, the sole survivor of the accident, Harry Warden, was rescued; he survived by eating his dead coworkers
and ultimately went mad
. After a year in a mental institution, he escaped on Valentine's Day, killing and cutting out the heart
of the guilty foremen, leaving a warning that the same would happen if the town ever again held a Valentine's Day celebration.
With the legend of Harry Warden nothing but a distant memory, a group of young miner
s and their girlfriends decide that the town has gone without a party long enough. As the night of the dance approaches, a murderous maniac in mining gear begins dispatching townsfolk in bloody and creative ways. The town sheriff and mayor quickly deduce it must be Harry Warden, who was returned to the institution, though their attempts to confirm Warden's status are hindered. Despite the murders, the young adults continue with their plans for a dance, laughing off the "stories" of the murderous Harry Warden. Finally the night of the dance is reached and as the Miner dispatches off several partiers, a group decides to venture into the mines to explore and impress the women. Realizing that a killer is on the loose, a rescue party composed of best friends T.J. and Axel go after the others and Sarah, who both men love.
The Miner has indeed followed them into the mine, killing most of the group, and forcing T.J., Axel, Sarah and Patty to try to escape. Axel appears to be killed and Patty is murdered as well leaving only T.J. and Sarah. On the surface the Mayor and Sheriff find out that Harry Warden died 5 years ago and are preparing to lead a group of men into the mines. In the mine, the Miner attacks T.J. and Sarah on a moving rail line and the fight eventually is forced into an abandoned shaft where the integrity of the ceiling is in doubt. Sarah manages to remove the mask
of the Miner to reveal the killer is in fact not Warden, but Axel.
A flashback reveals that he witnessed the murder of his father, one of the foremen, by Harry Warden when he was a boy.
The ceiling then collapses, burying Axel alive. Only his arm is visible, but as rescue efforts are taken it is soon discovered that Axel has cut off his own arm to escape. Through the hole in the wall, T.J., Sarah and the police watch as the deranged and delusional Axel tells T.J. that he will be waiting in Hell
for him. Axel runs deeper into the mine calling out to Harry Warden, telling him that he is coming. He warns them that he and Harry will be coming back and asks Sarah to be his "Bloody Valentine". The film ends as Axel runs deeper into the mine singing "daddy gone away harry warden made you pay" to himself. The screen fades to black and the audience can hear the sound of Harry Warden laughing, but he stops as the credits roll.
The film was originally entitled "The Secret", however, the producers decided to change it to "My Bloody Valentine", so to overtly reference the holiday trend with which the slasher genre was becoming increasingly popular, through films such as Black Christmas, Halloween, and Friday the 13th.
Shooting on My Bloody Valentine began in September 1980, taking place around the Princess Colliery Mine in Sydney Mines, Nova Scotia, which had closed in 1975. Two mines were considered for the setting, the other in Glace Bay, Nova Scotia
. The production company decided on the Sydney Mines location due to "the exterior [being] a dreary, cold and dusty area [with] no other buildings around it so it looked like it was totally in the middle of nowhere."
Upon arrival at the town for principal photography, the crew found that the townspeople, unbeknownst to them, had redecorated the mine so to make it more presentable, thus destroying the dark atmosphere that had convinced the production company to base the film there. The cast therefore spent a few days staying in Sydney Mines, encouraged by the director to get a feel for the small-town location.
Mihalka has said since making the movie that the most difficult element of My Bloody Valentine was filming in the mines. Located 2,700 feet underground, filming in the mine was a lengthy process, as, due to limited space in the elevators, it would take an hour to assemble the cast and crew underground. Also, due to the methane levels, lighting had to be carefully planned as the amount of bulbs that could be safely utilised was limited.
Lori Hallier, Paul Kelman and Neil Affleck were cast in the lead roles, and Paul Zaza, who had scored Prom Night the previous year, provided the soundtrack. Thom Kovacs, Helene Udy, Carl Marotte and Rob Stein had all appeared in Mihalka's earlier Pinball Summer.
magazine whilst the movie was still in production, even though the sequences were excised in the theatrical version; it was only on January 13, 2009 that the film was finally released for the first time ever with the cut footage reinstated.
There are two reasons that are frequently attributed to the extreme cutting of the film. It has been suggested that Paramount Pictures was keen to remove the offending footage due to the backlash they had received from releasing Friday the 13th the previous year - as a side note, Paramount's Friday the 13th Part 2
, which premiered a couple of months after My Bloody Valentine, also suffered extensive cutting, which has never been released.
The second reason, that Mihalka attributes, is that the movie was cut due to the murder of John Lennon in December 1980, stating that there was a major backlash against movie violence in wake of his death.
The 2009 DVD reinstates around two and a half minutes of footage back into the movie, which contradicts an earlier claim by director Mihalka that the film had been trimmed by 8–9 minutes. It has been argued that the so-called uncut DVD still has some sequences missing, particularly the double-impalement of Mike and Harriet which the director recalls filming. It is thought that the remaining footage appears to be composed of expository scenes, such as dialogue and other non-violence related material. This is given credence by the fact that Mihalka gave his seal of approval to this release, and a written introduction by him precedes the beginning of the special edition DVD, stating that this version was the way that the film was meant to be seen.
The pay-cable service ON-TV
is believed to have shown the entire uncut version in 1982, the only time it was seen publicly until 2009.
it stands with a 33% critics' rating with an average rating of 4.4/10. The film holds a 51 out of 100 on Metacritic
, indicating "Mixed or average reviews".
In a March 30, 2007 issue of Entertainment Weekly
, the film was ranked 17 in a list of guilty pleasures, listed among such films as Dawn of the Dead and Escape from New York
, and called "the most criminally underappreciated of the slasher
genre." Popular filmmaker Quentin Tarantino
calls it his all-time favorite slasher film.
and laserdisc
in the 1980s. In the United Kingdom, the original pre-certificate video release contained an extra four seconds in the sequence where the killer escapes by cutting off his arm; however, the 1989 release was identical to the R-rated version. Rumours were rife that the film had been issued uncut in the East Asian market, most notably Japan, however director Mihalka denies the possibility of this.
With the advent of DVD, My Bloody Valentine has been released three times. The original disc is a bare-bones release without any additional features. This same disc was re-issued as a DVD double bill with April Fool's Day in March 2008. Both discs were supplied by Paramount. The third and most recent DVD release was issued on January 13, 2009, the same week as the remake was released in theatres. This version integrates the cut footage back into the film and features two featurettes and optional introductory sequences to the previously missing murder sequences. Two featurettes are also included. Director Mihalka, cast members Lori Hallier, Neil Affleck, Helene Udy and Carl Marotte, composer Paul Zaza and make-up artists Thomas Burman and Ken Diaz are all involved.
has a song of the same title.
Slasher film
A slasher film is a type of horror film typically involving a psychopathic killer stalking and killing a sequence of victims in a graphically violent manner, often with a cutting tool such as a knife or axe...
released in the wake of the popularity of the slasher genre
Slasher film
A slasher film is a type of horror film typically involving a psychopathic killer stalking and killing a sequence of victims in a graphically violent manner, often with a cutting tool such as a knife or axe...
that had overtaken the 1970s. Considered an example of the low-budget cult films reminiscent of popular slasher films such as Halloween
Halloween (1978 film)
Halloween is a 1978 American independent horror film directed, produced, and scored by John Carpenter, co-written with Debra Hill, and starring Donald Pleasence and Jamie Lee Curtis in her film debut and the first installment in the Halloween franchise. The film is set in the fictional midwestern...
(1978) and Friday the 13th (1980), the movie was filmed on location in Sydney Mines, Nova Scotia
Sydney Mines, Nova Scotia
Sydney Mines is a former town in Nova Scotia's Cape Breton Regional Municipality.Founded in 1784 and incorporated as a town in 1889, Sydney Mines has a rich history in coal production, although mining activity has now ceased.Prior to a permanent settlement being established, there was significant...
, Canada.
The movie is infamous for having had 9 minutes cut by the MPAA
Motion Picture Association of America
The Motion Picture Association of America, Inc. , originally the Motion Picture Producers and Distributors of America , was founded in 1922 and is designed to advance the business interests of its members...
due to the amount of violence and gore. Though co-producer Dunning confirmed that the excised footage still existed, attempts to release it proved difficult as Paramount Pictures
Paramount Pictures
Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film production and distribution company, located at 5555 Melrose Avenue in Hollywood. Founded in 1912 and currently owned by media conglomerate Viacom, it is America's oldest existing film studio; it is also the last major film studio still...
refused to offer an uncut version. Lionsgate subsequently secured DVD rights to the film (as well as several other Paramount features, under license) and released the uncut version on January 13, 2009 (Lionsgate soon after released the remake into theaters).
Plot
In 1960, in the sleepy mining town of Valentine Bluffs, a methaneMethane
Methane is a chemical compound with the chemical formula . It is the simplest alkane, the principal component of natural gas, and probably the most abundant organic compound on earth. The relative abundance of methane makes it an attractive fuel...
gas
Gas
Gas is one of the three classical states of matter . Near absolute zero, a substance exists as a solid. As heat is added to this substance it melts into a liquid at its melting point , boils into a gas at its boiling point, and if heated high enough would enter a plasma state in which the electrons...
explosion
Explosion
An explosion is a rapid increase in volume and release of energy in an extreme manner, usually with the generation of high temperatures and the release of gases. An explosion creates a shock wave. If the shock wave is a supersonic detonation, then the source of the blast is called a "high explosive"...
at Hanniger Coal Mine trapped five miners in a shaft
Shaft mining
Shaft mining or shaft sinking refers to the method of excavating a vertical or near-vertical tunnel from the top down, where there is initially no access to the bottom....
when the foremen of the crew left early to attend the town's Valentine's Day
Valentine's Day
Saint Valentine's Day, commonly shortened to Valentine's Day, is an annual commemoration held on February 14 celebrating love and affection between intimate companions. The day is named after one or more early Christian martyrs named Saint Valentine, and was established by Pope Gelasius I in 496...
dance. Six weeks later, the sole survivor of the accident, Harry Warden, was rescued; he survived by eating his dead coworkers
Cannibalism
Cannibalism is the act or practice of humans eating the flesh of other human beings. It is also called anthropophagy...
and ultimately went mad
Insanity
Insanity, craziness or madness is a spectrum of behaviors characterized by certain abnormal mental or behavioral patterns. Insanity may manifest as violations of societal norms, including becoming a danger to themselves and others, though not all such acts are considered insanity...
. After a year in a mental institution, he escaped on Valentine's Day, killing and cutting out the heart
Heart
The heart is a myogenic muscular organ found in all animals with a circulatory system , that is responsible for pumping blood throughout the blood vessels by repeated, rhythmic contractions...
of the guilty foremen, leaving a warning that the same would happen if the town ever again held a Valentine's Day celebration.
With the legend of Harry Warden nothing but a distant memory, a group of young miner
Miner
A miner is a person whose work or business is to extract ore or minerals from the earth. Mining is one of the most dangerous trades in the world. In some countries miners lack social guarantees and in case of injury may be left to cope without assistance....
s and their girlfriends decide that the town has gone without a party long enough. As the night of the dance approaches, a murderous maniac in mining gear begins dispatching townsfolk in bloody and creative ways. The town sheriff and mayor quickly deduce it must be Harry Warden, who was returned to the institution, though their attempts to confirm Warden's status are hindered. Despite the murders, the young adults continue with their plans for a dance, laughing off the "stories" of the murderous Harry Warden. Finally the night of the dance is reached and as the Miner dispatches off several partiers, a group decides to venture into the mines to explore and impress the women. Realizing that a killer is on the loose, a rescue party composed of best friends T.J. and Axel go after the others and Sarah, who both men love.
The Miner has indeed followed them into the mine, killing most of the group, and forcing T.J., Axel, Sarah and Patty to try to escape. Axel appears to be killed and Patty is murdered as well leaving only T.J. and Sarah. On the surface the Mayor and Sheriff find out that Harry Warden died 5 years ago and are preparing to lead a group of men into the mines. In the mine, the Miner attacks T.J. and Sarah on a moving rail line and the fight eventually is forced into an abandoned shaft where the integrity of the ceiling is in doubt. Sarah manages to remove the mask
Gas mask
A gas mask is a mask put on over the face to protect the wearer from inhaling airborne pollutants and toxic gases. The mask forms a sealed cover over the nose and mouth, but may also cover the eyes and other vulnerable soft tissues of the face. Some gas masks are also respirators, though the word...
of the Miner to reveal the killer is in fact not Warden, but Axel.
A flashback reveals that he witnessed the murder of his father, one of the foremen, by Harry Warden when he was a boy.
The ceiling then collapses, burying Axel alive. Only his arm is visible, but as rescue efforts are taken it is soon discovered that Axel has cut off his own arm to escape. Through the hole in the wall, T.J., Sarah and the police watch as the deranged and delusional Axel tells T.J. that he will be waiting in Hell
Hell
In many religious traditions, a hell is a place of suffering and punishment in the afterlife. Religions with a linear divine history often depict hells as endless. Religions with a cyclic history often depict a hell as an intermediary period between incarnations...
for him. Axel runs deeper into the mine calling out to Harry Warden, telling him that he is coming. He warns them that he and Harry will be coming back and asks Sarah to be his "Bloody Valentine". The film ends as Axel runs deeper into the mine singing "daddy gone away harry warden made you pay" to himself. The screen fades to black and the audience can hear the sound of Harry Warden laughing, but he stops as the credits roll.
Cast
- Paul Kelman as Tom 'T.J.' Hanniger Jr.
- Lori Hallier as Sarah
- Neil AffleckNeil AffleckNeil Affleck is an actor, animator and director. Currently directing the children's cartoon, Miss Spider's Sunny Patch Friends on Nick Jr., he has worked on The Simpsons and Family Guy in the past....
as Axel Palmer - Cynthia DaleCynthia DaleCynthia Dale is a Canadian television actress and stage performer. With a long and accomplished history as a dramatic actor, she is best known for her role as lawyer Olivia Novak in the 1987-94 television drama Street Legal....
as Patty - Don FrancksDon FrancksDonald Harvey Francks or Iron Buffalo is a Canadian actor, vocalist and jazz musician.- Life and work :Francks was born in Vancouver, British Columbia. He is a drummer, poet, native nations champion, motorcyclist, author and peace activist...
as Chief Jake Newby - Keith KnightKeith Knight (actor)Keith Knight was a Canadian actor. He made his screen debut as Larry 'Fink' Finkelstein in the 1979 comedy Meatballs, voiced the White Rabbit in The Care Bears Adventure in Wonderland, and voiced Pigface in the BBC drama Ace Lightning. He was also known for voicing Lowly Worm in The Busy World of...
as Hollis - Alf Humphreys as Howard Landers
- Jim Murchison as Tommy
- Helene Udy as Sylvia
- Rob Stein as John
- Terry Waterland as Harriet
- Carl Marotte as Dave
- Jack Van Evera as Happy
- Peter Cowper as The Miner & Harry Warden
Production
Director George Mihalka, based upon the strength of his earlier movie Pick-Up Summer, was approached by Cinepix Productions, headed by André Link and John Dunning with a two movie contract. Mihalka was asked to direct a horror/slasher story, presented to Dunning by Stephen Miller in mid-1980, and, after Mihalka agreed to direct, John Beaird was bought in to write the screenplay.The film was originally entitled "The Secret", however, the producers decided to change it to "My Bloody Valentine", so to overtly reference the holiday trend with which the slasher genre was becoming increasingly popular, through films such as Black Christmas, Halloween, and Friday the 13th.
Shooting on My Bloody Valentine began in September 1980, taking place around the Princess Colliery Mine in Sydney Mines, Nova Scotia, which had closed in 1975. Two mines were considered for the setting, the other in Glace Bay, Nova Scotia
Glace Bay, Nova Scotia
Glace Bay is a community in the eastern part of the Cape Breton Regional Municipality in Nova Scotia, Canada. It forms part of the general area referred to as Industrial Cape Breton....
. The production company decided on the Sydney Mines location due to "the exterior [being] a dreary, cold and dusty area [with] no other buildings around it so it looked like it was totally in the middle of nowhere."
Upon arrival at the town for principal photography, the crew found that the townspeople, unbeknownst to them, had redecorated the mine so to make it more presentable, thus destroying the dark atmosphere that had convinced the production company to base the film there. The cast therefore spent a few days staying in Sydney Mines, encouraged by the director to get a feel for the small-town location.
Mihalka has said since making the movie that the most difficult element of My Bloody Valentine was filming in the mines. Located 2,700 feet underground, filming in the mine was a lengthy process, as, due to limited space in the elevators, it would take an hour to assemble the cast and crew underground. Also, due to the methane levels, lighting had to be carefully planned as the amount of bulbs that could be safely utilised was limited.
Lori Hallier, Paul Kelman and Neil Affleck were cast in the lead roles, and Paul Zaza, who had scored Prom Night the previous year, provided the soundtrack. Thom Kovacs, Helene Udy, Carl Marotte and Rob Stein had all appeared in Mihalka's earlier Pinball Summer.
Censorship
Much has been made of the censorship issues around My Bloody Valentine. For the MPAA to award the movie with an R-rating, cuts were requested to every death sequence in the movie. Even after cutting the movie to match the requirements made by the MPAA, the film was returned with an X-rating and more cuts were demanded. Stills of the trimmed footage were published in FangoriaFangoria
Fangoria is an American magazine devoted to horror and exploitation films, which has a number of associated brands:* Fangoria Comics* Fangoria Films* Fangoria RadioFangoria may also refer to:* Fangoria , a Spanish electro pop band...
magazine whilst the movie was still in production, even though the sequences were excised in the theatrical version; it was only on January 13, 2009 that the film was finally released for the first time ever with the cut footage reinstated.
There are two reasons that are frequently attributed to the extreme cutting of the film. It has been suggested that Paramount Pictures was keen to remove the offending footage due to the backlash they had received from releasing Friday the 13th the previous year - as a side note, Paramount's Friday the 13th Part 2
Friday the 13th Part 2
Friday the 13th Part II is a 1981 slasher film directed by Steve Miner, who also directed its sequel, Friday the 13th Part III and several other popular horror films. A sequel to Friday the 13th , it is the second film in the Friday the 13th film series. It was a moderate box-office hit, opening on...
, which premiered a couple of months after My Bloody Valentine, also suffered extensive cutting, which has never been released.
The second reason, that Mihalka attributes, is that the movie was cut due to the murder of John Lennon in December 1980, stating that there was a major backlash against movie violence in wake of his death.
The 2009 DVD reinstates around two and a half minutes of footage back into the movie, which contradicts an earlier claim by director Mihalka that the film had been trimmed by 8–9 minutes. It has been argued that the so-called uncut DVD still has some sequences missing, particularly the double-impalement of Mike and Harriet which the director recalls filming. It is thought that the remaining footage appears to be composed of expository scenes, such as dialogue and other non-violence related material. This is given credence by the fact that Mihalka gave his seal of approval to this release, and a written introduction by him precedes the beginning of the special edition DVD, stating that this version was the way that the film was meant to be seen.
The pay-cable service ON-TV
ON-TV
ON-TV, also known as National Subscription Television, was a subscription television service launched in 1977 by Oak Industries, Norman Lear's Chartwell Enterprises and Jerry Perenchio. Oak was a manufacturer of satellite and pay-TV decoders and equipment...
is believed to have shown the entire uncut version in 1982, the only time it was seen publicly until 2009.
Critical reception
The movie grossed $6,000,000 at the US box office upon its theatrical release on February 11, 1981. The movie has a large cult following, and fans of the horror genre now consider it a classic. Critically, My Bloody Valentine received mixed reviews. On Rotten TomatoesRotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...
it stands with a 33% critics' rating with an average rating of 4.4/10. The film holds a 51 out of 100 on Metacritic
Metacritic
Metacritic.com is a website that collates reviews of music albums, games, movies, TV shows and DVDs. For each product, a numerical score from each review is obtained and the total is averaged. An excerpt of each review is provided along with a hyperlink to the source. Three colour codes of Green,...
, indicating "Mixed or average reviews".
In a March 30, 2007 issue of Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly is an American magazine, published by the Time division of Time Warner, that covers film, television, music, broadway theatre, books and popular culture...
, the film was ranked 17 in a list of guilty pleasures, listed among such films as Dawn of the Dead and Escape from New York
Escape from New York
Escape from New York is a 1981 American science fiction action film directed and scored by John Carpenter. He co-wrote the screenplay with Nick Castle. The film is set in the near future in a crime-ridden United States that has converted Manhattan Island in New York City into a maximum security...
, and called "the most criminally underappreciated of the slasher
Slasher
Slasher may refer to:* Slasher film, a subgenre of the horror film* Slasher , a scrub-clearing implement* Slasher , a 2004 documentary film* John Reis, an American musician, known by the pseudonym Slasher...
genre." Popular filmmaker Quentin Tarantino
Quentin Tarantino
Quentin Jerome Tarantino is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, cinematographer and actor. In the early 1990s, he began his career as an independent filmmaker with films employing nonlinear storylines and the aestheticization of violence...
calls it his all-time favorite slasher film.
Home media releases
My Bloody Valentine was released to both videotapeVideotape
A videotape is a recording of images and sounds on to magnetic tape as opposed to film stock or random access digital media. Videotapes are also used for storing scientific or medical data, such as the data produced by an electrocardiogram...
and laserdisc
Laserdisc
LaserDisc was a home video format and the first commercial optical disc storage medium. Initially licensed, sold, and marketed as MCA DiscoVision in North America in 1978, the technology was previously referred to interally as Optical Videodisc System, Reflective Optical Videodisc, Laser Optical...
in the 1980s. In the United Kingdom, the original pre-certificate video release contained an extra four seconds in the sequence where the killer escapes by cutting off his arm; however, the 1989 release was identical to the R-rated version. Rumours were rife that the film had been issued uncut in the East Asian market, most notably Japan, however director Mihalka denies the possibility of this.
With the advent of DVD, My Bloody Valentine has been released three times. The original disc is a bare-bones release without any additional features. This same disc was re-issued as a DVD double bill with April Fool's Day in March 2008. Both discs were supplied by Paramount. The third and most recent DVD release was issued on January 13, 2009, the same week as the remake was released in theatres. This version integrates the cut footage back into the film and features two featurettes and optional introductory sequences to the previously missing murder sequences. Two featurettes are also included. Director Mihalka, cast members Lori Hallier, Neil Affleck, Helene Udy and Carl Marotte, composer Paul Zaza and make-up artists Thomas Burman and Ken Diaz are all involved.
Pop culture
Irish shoegaze band My Bloody Valentine gets its name from the film. The pop-punk band Good CharlotteGood Charlotte
Good Charlotte is an American rock band from Waldorf, Maryland that formed in 1996. Since 1998, the band's constant members have been lead vocalist Joel Madden, lead guitarist and back-up vocalist Benji Madden, bass guitarist Paul Thomas and rhythm guitarist and keyboardist Billy Martin...
has a song of the same title.