You know I never think about Prom Night (made in/around the same year, 1980, but MBV was released in ‘81) when watching My Bloody Valentine at this time of year (I decided to watch this on the eve of Valentine’s so I wouldn’t miss it this year) but it did come to mind as the film played out. The talk of an infamous killer, supposedly in a mental institution, perhaps an escapee who might be in the midst of a number of young adults (and others that might be unfortunately in his way) with murder awaiting them certainly recalls Prom Night, as well as, law enforcement waiting on word regarding whether or not a killer from the past might be somewhere nearby. Also included is a love triangle between Kelman, Hallier, and Affleck, similar to Prom Night’s Jamie Lee Curtis melodrama, nudging her to disco boogie in order to secure her man’s attention to the uttermost. Hallier clearly loves Kelman but is unsure how to relate this to Affleck who stayed in their mining town while Kelman unsuccessfully left only to return. Hallier gets fed up with their fighting and bickering. That Affleck’s ironically named Axel (emphasis on axe, as in pickaxe) ultimately is the Harry Warden stand-in, traumatized when the notorious miner-turned-psycho (after a mine collapse caused him to remain trapped and forced to eat from the dead in order to survive) pick-axed his pops, makes for a fun revelation, I always thought. And the closing song at the end just was the cherry on top. I’m glad this got its 2009 release (damn, ten years ago, now!), a proud part of my DVD library, provided in part due to the remake’s theatrical release (remakes put in theaters to capitalize on an old slasher’s cult following are good for something). The gore restored (there is some scuttlebutt that not all the footage was located and restored) is welcome, but I always felt the film was strengthened by its working class miner characters and small town, relatable and realistic. They aren’t the usual pretty youth (although Hallier is a beauty) fit for the grinder, but just ordinary folks who shower off the soot and hit the bar for some booze, laughs, the juke, and pool before heading home to awaken once again to the dregs of digging for coal. Lots of bloody hearts in candy boxes dripping all over the place as poor Chief Newby must catch his killer. The ending does leave an open opportunity for a sequel. Perhaps if it had been a serious success, Paramount might have greenlit (then cut to hell and back) a sequel. If anything, this Canadian slasher doesn’t pretend to be an American town, which is something I appreciate…because why not just be a town in Canada that has a killer?!
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