My Bloody Valentine (1981) - The Scream Factory Collector's Edition Cut *

So obviously I’ve been sort of organizing my new Top 10 80’s slasher list in my head, and I’m almost sure, not quite 100% yet but close, that “My Bloody Valentine” (1981) is at either #1 or #2. “The Burning” (1981) and “Friday the 13^th Part IV: The Final Chapter” (1984) are right there so I’m still mulling it over. I watched “My Bloody Valentine” just moments ago, the new pristine Scream Factory / Shout Factory release, the best transfer I ever expect to see of the film. It was a beautiful print of the film. I really wish, though, I could see this on the big screen, in a theater with other fans of the film. And there are many who liked this a lot—including me—when it was mercilessly cut to pass for R at theaters and released to DVD by Paramount for years after. I never purchased the cut version on DVD, fortunately able to rent it for years at Blockbuster when brick and mortar rental stores were still out there. The cut version is what I had so that is what became a tradition near, on, or around Valentine’s Day until 2009 when the remake came out, bringing (thankfully) new attention to the Canadian slasher from 1980. All of a sudden, renewed interest in the film, besides the IMDb horror board’s touting it as a legit slasher deserved of as much attention as possible, was there and finally a serious release, complete with “footage from the vault” included where all the gore once was. And eventually MBV fans had the chance to see it as it was initially intended, a legitimate cut of the film, even if the footage’s age is noticeable. For fans like me, we would happily take what we could get.

The reason for me, as it was for other slasher fans (and of Canadian horror in the 70s and 80s), that MBV just stood out was the cast, the killer’s wardrobe, the setting, back story, and haunting folk song at the end credits.

Now, I get why slasher tropes that seemed to follow films of this period might annoy (or did annoy) those critical of the genre. But fans like me look for them and enjoy them regardless. Like the (now) tired “is the killer an escaped lunatic from the asylum” red herring. I just watched “Prom Night” (1980) last Friday night and, sure enough, this carrot was dangled at viewers as a possible killer of the teenagers. And, of course, Michael Myers, the most obvious example. And in MBV, Harry Warden, notorious in Valentine Bluffs for his murders that rocked the township (and led to what warped the killer in the film, ultimately), was sent to the mental institution, but he warned, before his departure, Valentine Bluffs never to celebrate Valentine’s Day again. The coal mine explosion that pinned Harry with certain dead miners, trapped to feed on them due to the time spent in there by himself and starving, left an indelible mark on Valentine Bluffs. And those who “betrayed” them by not tending to the safeguards and protection protocols, Harry made sure they paid the price…with a pickaxe to their chest, their hearts removed as a result. So despite being sent away, Valentine Bluffs was shaken for years, only in “present time” deciding to put the past behind them, embracing Valentine’s Day again. But the memory of Harry Warden hadn’t been left behind…once the holiday was embraced again, murders similar to what Warden left when he was on his spree have restarted. Both the mayor of Valentine Bluffs (and owner of the Hanniger Mine) and the sheriff (“special guest star”, Don Francks, although he’s in the film as much as anyone else) begin to worry that Warden might have returned, even though he was supposed to be put away for good. So they contact the institution, and the administrator there doesn’t have the documents available to tell them where he is…this is the bait, as “Prom Night” also offered with the escaped mental patient who took off with a nurse, leaving her to be discovered by the police (the film had the police detective with a son selected by the killer as marked for death). And much like “Prom Night”, MBV eventually provides details that the patient is either caught or dead.