Il giorno di San Valentino

This early 80's horror flick is one of the best of the slasher genre. It has a great setting in a small Canadian mining town - which has it's streets and buildings drenched with red and pink valentine decorations - which is a surreal contrast to the cold and sombre setting that foreshadows the real pumpers that eventually pop up in crimson heart shaped candy boxes.

The scenes filmed in an actual mine - where the protagonists are trapped with the killer lurking around with a sharpened pickaxe - are expertly filmed with plenty of style and a menacing atmosphere. The acting is decent and although some of the characters act like jerks they are likable and human enough for the viewer to care about them. They are all working class stiffs and just want a good time and relief from the reality of their everyday situation. You want them to have their valentine party that has been denied them for obvious reasons.

Notorious for being one of the most censored films by the MPAA at the time of release to avoid an 'X' rating, it is now available in an uncut form on Lionsgate DVD. The death scenes are much more detailed and graphic, but either version is worth watching for the flourish that the director and his cast and crew have imbued into this little horror gem.

Valentine's Day is coming around and the young people of the small mining town of Valentine's BLuffs are organising a party. A few decades earlier an explosion at the mine trapped six miners underground. One, Harry Warden, survived, though in a deranged state. Warden is sent to a mental hospital but escapes and murders those he deems responsible for the mine accident. Now people are being brutally murdered again, and the townsfolk suspect that it is the work of Harry Warden.

Better than your average slasher-horror, not that this says much. Reasonable set up, and a decent amount of intrigue. Does fall back on many horror clichés, and the performances are so-so. Plot is ultimately fairly formulaic, but has its moments.

'My Bloody Valentine.' A slasher. There's not an awful lot more to say. If you've grown up over recent years and are generally interested in the genre, you'll find that this little offering from 1981 is pretty tame in comparison to what's released today. However, back when 'video nasties' were just taking off, this was pretty strong stuff! A small-time mining town in America has a legend (don't they all?) – this one tells of a miner who went berserk years ago on Valentine's day and killed a bunch of people. Now, several years later – guess what – it looks like he's back.

Normally, this is where I say that the cast is made up of oversexed, annoyingly attractive teenagers. But not this time. Here we have oversexed, annoying UGLY teenagers. Don't ask me why (and I promise you that I'm no oil painting!) but this must be the ugliest group of leading actors every assembled to be chopped up by a nut-job with a gas mask and pick axe. I guess we can blame it on the eighties. Or the lack of budget needed to bring bigger (and more physically attractive) stars on board.

Yes, one by one our facially-challenged heroes are chopped up in various hideous ways. Nothing too new there, apart from the fact that the death scenes seem a little more violent for the time than your average Friday 13th film. Notice I don't say 'gruesome' – only violent. I mentioned the budget earlier and it seems like they didn't really have enough money for expert make-up and prosthetics needed for the gore. I suppose it's the way it's filmed that makes it so violent. There seems like there's a real sense of nastiness in the deaths.

Not that you'll care much about those getting sliced and diced. They really are pretty irritating. If Jar-Jar Binks was a little less computer-generated and a little more eighties then those are the people getting murdered here.

Perhaps one thing that the film does have going for it is that you don't actually know who's under the gas mask. In that was it's more akin to the 'Scream' franchise in as much as like a who-done-it.

There's not much new here (especially nearly forty years later!), but if you're into the slasher genre in general and like to see where this type of film found its roots, then give this a try. The gore isn't really there and the violence – although strong for the time – has also diminished, the mystery element may make it worth an hour and a half of your time.

Twenty years ago, Harry Warden went nuts and slaughtered a bunch of people on Valentine's Day. The mining town he hailed from canceled subsequent V-Day dances, but when they try setting one up again, Warden seemingly returns with his pickax, ready to hack the local kids up and leave his mark. Things can only go bad from here.

Director George Mihalka brings us another holiday-themed slasher, riding the success of "Black Christmas", "Halloween" and "Friday the 13th"... and paving the way for "April Fools Day". But George is a nice guy and I don't want to say he's just one among the crowd. There were hundreds of 80s slashers, but only a few stand out today. "Bloody Valentine" is, of course, one of them.

Even in its original, neutered glory (anywhere from three to nine minutes were cut) the film stands as a good film. Without any really notable actors or actresses (okay, so Neil Affleck had a brief role in "Scanners"), and being Mihalka's one big mark, the film carries itself on story, acting and blood. The blood, while lacking a times, comes gushing through in others. And like any good slasher, the killer's identity is not revealed until the end... leaving us guessing until the last twist of the knife (or ax).

Slasher fans need to pick up the Lions Gate special edition. While the double-disc with "April Fools Day" is cheap and still worth watching, you don't really know this film until you've seen it uncut. The gore, oh my, the gore! It's actually a shame that it took so long for a company to come along and save this film because it was even better than we once assumed... Mihalka could have been one of the 80s greats (and, in my mind, he still is).

If you've been a horror fan and avoided this one, please see it. Sure, it's mostly mindless fun -- kids drinking and making out, getting hacked up -- but I can watch variations of this formula dozens, scores or hundreds of times. There's something fun about a simple stalking film that you can't always get from other films that try too hard to be clever. And I like thinking films, but a night with buddies and booze... you need a slasher. And this is the one you should pick.

Notorious for being the slasher film most tortured by the censors upon release, MY BLOODY VALENTINE has become something of a cult classic with legions of adoring fans. The only available version of this movie is missing over 9 minutes of gore, but thankfully producer John Dunning has located all of the absent footage and a battle rages on with copyright owners Paramount for a fully restored release. The movie itself nestles nicely with ROSEMARY'S KILLER as the two best non-franchise splatter flicks of 1981.

From the outset, we're introduced to the small mining town of Valentine Bluffs, which hides beneath its fun loving exterior a best-forgotten secret. Twenty years ago the supervisors at the mine were so eager to get to the annual Valentine dance that they didn't bother to check the levels of the methane gas. There was a massive explosion and five workers were trapped underneath the rubble and debris. The only survivor was one Harry Warden, who never mentally recovered from the accident. Exactly a year later he returned and brutally killed the two who were responsible for the tragic mishap. He cut out their hearts, stuck them in candy boxes and sent them to the authorities. Fortunately he was caught before he carried out any more killings and was put into Eastfield Asylum for the insane. Now in 1981 the happy go lucky residents of the usually tranquil town are preparing themselves for the first Valentine dance to be held since that fateful night two decades ago. Memories of Warden's murders have passed and a group of fun loving kids are thinking about nothing else but the anticipated party. However the night before the event the town mayor receives a blooded heart in a candy box with a poetic warning. It seems Harry has returned…

MY BLOODY VALENTINE is certainly a fine example of eighties splatter at it's best. Although the acting isn't remarkable, I found that the three leads were competent enough and the script gave us enough time to get to know them. There's an interesting sub-plot that builds between T.J. (Kelman), Axel (Affleck) and Sarah (Hallier). Apparently T.J. was with Sarah before he went away for a while without telling anyone where he was going. Now he's returned and his buddy Axel is with his old flame. Cue the flying sparks! The rest of the wacky cast members are so cheery and carefree that you just know something dreadful is going to happen to them! There's a practical joker (who surprisingly isn't the fat guy), a couple of overly randy teens and even a hammy old guy who tells the kids that they're doomed just like Ralph over at Camp Crystal Lake!

Credit has to be given for the effort from all involved. The movie began filming in September 1980, but the set designer took the time to make sure that everything was decked out in hearts and banners and they made things look like it actually was Valentine's Day. Mihalka makes good use of the spooky mine as a setting and most of the murders are imaginative and well thought out. In one scene a victim is trapped in a room where miner's uniforms are dropping from rails and surrounding her. In panic she tries to find a way out of the claustrophobic and threatening setting (all courtesy of the killer), before bumping into a costume that actually has the murderer in it! If that isn't bad enough, he kills her in a most gruesome fashion! His disguise is arguably one of the best of the eighties and the gas mask sure helps make the traditional ‘heavy breathing' - sound much scarier. There are also one or two jumps that'll probably get you if you haven't seen this before and it's all accompanied with a satisfactory score from Paul Zaza.

The plot is actually pretty smart for a slasher film. I wont go into too much detail because I can't say anything without spoiling it all for you, but watch how they manage to keep you guessing toward the end. It's also worth noting that James Mangold borrowed that classic body (or in his case, head) in a tumble dryer scene for his part-slasher, IDENTITY in 2003. In 2001 George Mihalka went to Paramount with a script for MY BLOODY VALENTINE 2 but they turned him down because the original didn't do brilliantly at the box office. Just proves how annoying they really are doesn't it! They've already said that they'd have no interest in seeing the director's cut of this movie released, even though fans around the world are begging for it. Recently the company asked people to give them ten films that we want to see unleashed and apparently one of those ten was MY BLOODY VALENTINE UNCUT; so we'll just have to wait and see if they come round to our way of thinking. Just imagine if they gave us the full works: The first four FRIDAY THE 13THs and this movie all uncut on special edition discs with commentaries where available and all the trimmings. If Raimi can do it for EVIL DEAD then someone can do it for us! Come on Paramount, lighten up and get on the case!

All in all this is a great little horror movie. It's smartly directed with a likeable cast and a really tense finale. The only problem lies with the shameful editing in the kill scenes where 9 minutes was savagely removed. I'm beginning to think that old Harry Warden should take a trip to the Paramount office, pickaxe in hand, to get revenge on these brutal spoilsports. Still, a few niggles aside, this is a decent little movie from Canada that deserves to be remembered, as one of the best of it's kind. And that's a sure fire compliment!