Hello wonderful, awesome people of Kindertrauma!
I'm Matt. Like many people here, I grew up on scary movie video rentals, along with USA's Up All Night and Saturday Nightmares, and have a special place in my heart for those films to this day. In the hopes that my other 728 favorite horror films will forgive me for not picking them, 1981's underrated slasher classic My Bloody Valentine deserves some love. It never reached the mass audience or popularity that the movies of my pals Jason, Freddy, Michael, and Leatherface did, but it's a terrific, fun, creepy film that's worth your time. Why should we believe you, internet stranger? you may ask. Well, I rocked hats and vests every day in high school like my teen hero Debbie Gibson. If that doesn't prove that I'm trustworthy, nothing does. Major plot and characters spoilers ahead!
1: The setting. The movie takes place in a small-town mining community. Director George Mihalka does an excellent job of showing the geography of the town. Everyone knows everybody. The people who live there have lived there forever.
But the real star is the dark, spooky, claustrophobic mine where the horror takes place. It's gloomy, sparsely lit, and easy to get lost in. The walls feel as if they could close in on you at any second. You never know who it is coming down the tracks at any moment, hidden amongst the shadows. You're trapped beneath the earth above you, with no cell phone or fancy electronics to call for help. (Ah, the 80s, when scary movies were much scarier because no characters had to pointedly say that there is no cell phone reception where they are.)
In the film's creepiest scene, Harry Warden methodically smashes the mine's only sources of light, far enough away from our protagonists so as not to be seen, but close enough for them to hear the shattering glass and realize something is off. The only person scarier to be stuck in a mine with would be Jon Gosselin or the Jersey Shore kids (shudder).
2: Harry Warden. Like a way crazier, scarier, more violent version of Scooby-Doo, Where are You!'s Miner 49er, Harry Warden is a rage-filled, intimidating psychopathic killer dressed in mining gear, complete with a gas mask and pick-axe. Harry warned the townspeople not to hold another Valentine's Day dance after what happened last time, but apparently everyone in Valentine Bluffs just loves Valentine's Day so much that they had to have one.
It's not that Harry hates disco music or Moosehead Beer. (It was filmed in Canada after all.) Twenty years ago, on the night of the Valentine's dance, there was a methane gas explosion in the mines that trapped several miners beneath the ground. By the time the rescue squad came to save the miners, only Harry was left – and he survived by eating his coworkers then killed the supervisors who were responsible for the accident.
It's easy to see why he went crazy. I was stuck in an elevator for 45 minutes once and I started sizing up who I would eat first if no help came. I get you, Harry, even though you're terrifying and I hope we never meet.
3: The characters (and actors). The characters feel like friends who have known each other forever. They're likable and relatable. They care about each other even before the blood starts flowing and have to save themselves.
The performances all feel genuine and authentic. Sarah, T.J., Axel, Hollis, Howard, Patty, John, Sylvia, Mike, Harriet, queen laundress Mabel, the whole gang – I love them all. They're real people with their own backstories, quirks, and feelings. Hollis looks like he'd be a great hugger. T.J. unironically sports an amazing bandana and makes it look good, something today's manly men should try more often.
In a move that 90210's Kelly Taylor would make famous years later, Sarah chooses herself over her love triangle with T.J. and Axel. Kelly owes a debt to Sarah's second-wave feminism. Sarah isn't afraid to fight back either; in the grand tradition of slasher movie final girls, she isn't going to put up with Harry's deadly shenanigans. Kelly had a scary psycho that she had to confront as well, the waify loony Tara. Is there some cosmic link between Kelly Taylor and Sarah Mercer? You heard it here first.
Side note: Years ago, I contacted Paul Kelman (T.J.) and Thomas Kovacs (Mike) on Facebook, and they could not have been nicer or more willing to discuss the movie.
4: The nine minutes of cut gore. This movie's gorier scenes had been excised prior to release by the Puritans over at the MPAA. Thanks to the modern era of restoration and appreciation for this movie, nine minutes of grisly footage was added back into the film. The practical special effects for this film are nothing short of amazing and a testament to the hard work by the make-up effects artists, who made FX magic for little money before movie bloodshed was created by computers.
The death set-pieces are scary and inventive. The murders are graphic, unsettling, and nothing is played for laughs. I've seen Showgirls and Howard the Duck multiple times; I know terror.
5: The end credits song. "The Ballad of Harry Warden" is a sad, spine-chilling folk song that plays over the ending credits of the movie. Harry Warden has his own song! How many movie villains get their own ditty? Bughuul doesn't have one. Neither does The Babadook. Nor Ted Cruz. Paul Zaza's score and the song he wrote for Harry are memorable and haunting. The song caps off the movie perfectly.
Are you still with me? There are many more things I could say about this fantastic flick. Kindertrauma, I visit your site daily and always look forward to whatever magical words you will write about so many of my favorite movies. Thank you for reading!
Thanks Matty F! I’m a big fan of MY BLOODY VALENTINE too! It’s easily up there with the best slashers! It does a great job of juggling many characters and making them all relatable and real. And you’re right, there’s nothing like that real mine setting, it’s so wonderfully claustrophobic. I still feel like it’s a blessed miracle we finally got to see the edited out gore! I wish that was possible for all horror movies that got unfairly censored. I have a feeling that if MBV had only been released in its intended form it could have been as big as the Friday the 13th series. Glad it has gotten tons of loyal fans over the years anyway.
Btw: I was at a horror convention bar and Neil Affleck (Axel) sat right next to me! He was super nice and he told me he got into animation and worked on The Simpsons!
Awesome things to love about an amazingly fun film. Watched many times, and always enjoy it.
I remember hearing the radio spot for this when it came out. Going by the extras on assorted dvd's and Blu-Rays, there apparently were radio spots for all kinds of horror movies in the 70's and 80's, but this is the only one I remember hearing. It was pretty chilling for a radio spot!
MBV just came to Amazon Prime like a week ago. Can anyone confirm if it's the cut or uncut version?
Great write-up! The scene where the killer smashes the lights with a pick-axe is my favorite scene in the movie. It's very effective, especially if you watch the movie in a theater (or a darkened room).
Regarding the setting, MBV takes its time to flesh out the characters and their environment – twenty-somethings who are already working blue collar jobs in the mine, jobs they'll probably have until they retire (if they get that far). TJ not being able to make it elsewhere and having to come back to Valentine Bluffs underscores this. And the story of Harry Warden demonstrates that the workers are expendable to management. It's something that really sets the movie apart from most slasher films from the era, with their teens in high school.
I'm convinced that Paul Zaza scored (or co-scored) every Canadian horror movie made between the late 70s and 1990 (he also scored A Christmas Story, another Canadian production). The author of a great book on Canadian horror, They Came From Within, even jokes about this.
Unk! Thank you so much for including my write-up on your site. I’m so happy you and the other commenters see how awesome and underrated MBV is; I totally agree that it needed the extra scenes to get attention back in the early-80s glut of slasher movies. It’s really one of the very best. I love that you met Axel! He’s awesome and I saw on a special feature interview that he kept the miner’s mask. Harry Warden deserved his own franchise.
Robsterclaws, the amazon prime version is cut. The additional scenes are on the special edition Blu-Ray from Scream Factory and well worth the purchase.
Smalldarkcloud, I agree wholeheartedly about the characters. There’s a melancholy in the movie about how these people will live (and die) in the same small town; T.J. tried to make a new life but ended up back in town. The characters have an interesting depth to them missing in a lot of slasher movies, and it makes me care so much more about them. He even gives a speech about how “nothing stays the same†after he argues with Axel and is talking with Hollis.
Sincerest thanks again for posting my insane ramblings and to anyone who read it.
Thanks Matty!
Should I get the Scream Factory edition? Are the cut scenes really much better incorporated than the Paramount Special Edition? I kind of hate buying the same movies over again and I love the earlier addition and have been able to use my imagination to see what was meant to be but if SF version is much better I will gladly upgrade! Is it worth it? (I’m not a stickler and often watch moves on VHS w no issue)?
SDC- I LOVE that They Came From Within book! So good!
Robstercraws,
Love radio spots! My older brother would always have his radio on and they used to terrify me!
Caffeinated joe,
MBV gets better every year imo!
I love My Bloody Valentine; I just watched it again the day before you posted this. My favorite scene is when- and I don't know if this was done intentionally or not, but it is super hilarious to me- Mayor Hanniger gets the heart shaped box with the heart in it and delivers the cheesiest line ever "It can't be happening again, it can't be happening again…" the scene cuts to outside of Chief Newby's truck as he is making a U-turn and a dog comes out of nowhere barking and running after the truck as it speeds off. I like to think that wasn't planned and was a "happy accident" because it is simultaneously hilarious and "heart warming" (laboured pun intended) to me that is in the movie.
Just wanted to add tht the remake was ok.
Unk — I definitely think the Scream Factory Blu is worth it. It is the best the film has ever looked to my (admittedly untrained) eye. Even the missing scenes added back in to the film look better than the Paramount version (not by leaps and bounds but it’s certainly the most cleaned-up version I’ve seen). Plus I love the special features.
Ghastly1 — yes, I agree that the “dog chasing the car†scene was most likely unplanned but really just fit the scene. And while some of the lines are definitely cheesy in their own way, it makes the movie that much more lovable to me and the actors really sell it.
I caught a screening of the film last year on Valentine's Day. The gore (workprint shots, but better than nothing) was impressive, as was the atmosphere. Definitely underrated.