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| Harry Warden |
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| Sarah sees someone in the miner outfit...Harry? |
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| Bar owner and Crazy Ralph of MBV telling of Harry |
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| Patty, much like Hollis, runs into her killer |
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| Hollis met the bad end of a nailgun |
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| Axel thinks back |
Scream Factory included the Theatrical Edition of “My Bloody
Valentine” (1981), which I think I might just watch for fun on Valentine’s Day
at some point, considering afterward I may never do so again. Watching the
Unrated Edition Saturday afternoon, seeing it without the scissors that the
MPAA always demanded in the 80s, helped feel as if this was complete as I would
ever get to see it. While I plan to watch the special features throughout the
next week, including little passages on the blog with just some extra thoughts
on the film that might not be fresh as of now, I did want to include that the
particular death of a victim, whose head is buried into a water pipe protruding
as she’s lifted off her feet by the killer, really stands out among all the
memorable slasher kills of MBV for its cold-blooded viciousness. Yes, the
pickaxe is buried into a bunch of folks, but seeing that poor woman struggling
to fight him off as the killer presses her into the pipe, cutting on the water
valve afterward, you might see why the MPAA was so resistant towards this scene
of violence. But even before that, the miner suits dropping all around her
before the killer emerges, the terror is quite understandable. And later as her
boyfriend returns with beers, he finds her impaled, with water pouring from her
open mouth. He staggers in horror back to his friends, in the rec room, barely
able to speak. The performances are quite effective because they don’t seem so
staged. This guy in miner’s outfit and oxygen mask, helmet, and goggles
continues to leave these young adults dead and available for discovery. Then
the descent into the mine for the final act—while Newby is out trying to locate
the whereabouts of Warden and figure out where the killer is that is leaving
behind ripped out (and very bloody) hearts and little heart-shaped cards with
small diabolical poems informing him of further carnage—where “Harry” is taking
out a select group deciding to follow Hollis and his girlfriend, Patty (Cynthia
Dale), into the mine for a late night trip. TJ and Axel go into the mine to try
and save them…or was one of them actually “Harry”? The added context of a child
seeing Harry murder his father and that trauma initiating a monster to replace
the previous killer isn’t something new to the slasher genre, either. You can
see that in “Dexter”, especially, or any number of serial killer features and
television after MBV. But seeing the killer cut away his arm with a knife,
fleeing into a wreckage of mine not deemed safe, claiming to return with Harry
to get them all, is so damned powerful. It is that voice, too. That maniacal
release of laughter and this sinister voice behind a madness that doesn’t seem
quieted. There was no sequel to the film, so that was never followed up on. And
perhaps that is part of the magic of that ending to the film…it was left open
for us to ponder. We certainly saw what he was capable of so the killer still
free from law enforcement left an unsettling thought.
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