The remake of the semi-classic 1981 ‘My Bloody Valentine’ uses state-of-the-art 3D camera tricks to exploit all the gore and nudity horror aficionados will expect and then some. It doesn’t push the genre but it’s bloody good fun regardless.
Frequent Wes Craven collaborator Patrick Lussier helms his first theatrical release since ‘Dracula 2000’ (and years of straight-to-video fare like ‘White Noise 2’) and all that experience in schlock pays off here with a succinct, deft handling of the material and the tech know-how to make this 3D pic a heck a lot more interesting than, ahem, ‘Friday the 13th 3D’.
Scripters Todd Farmer and Zane Smith borrow the broad outlines of Stephen Miller and John Beaird’s original pic to present a fun horror structure centered around a small-town mining accident. This is detailed in the opening credits montage that finds the camera swooping in and around newspaper headlines (in 3D!) letting us know that five were left dead and one left in a coma.
We pick up a year later where the survivor, Harry Warden (Rich Walters), wakes up on Valentine’s Day none too pleased about his current situation. Dressed in his miner’s uniform and gas mask, he tears through the mine, now a teen party spot, killing 22 people before being presumably killed by the local cops.
We now move ahead ten more years (and which explains why those teenagers in the prologue looked about thirty) and catch up with some of those surviving teenage partygoers. Tom (Jensen Ackles, TVs ‘Supernatural’), the heir to the mining company, and who caused the original accident, returns home to sell the company much to the chagrin of the villagers who still blame him for the murders.
Most annoyed by his return, though, is the local sheriff Axel (Kerr Smith) who is now married to Sarah (Jamie King) who was once involved with Tom and who is clearly still harboring feelings for him. Of course, since Tom’s return coincides with another killing spree involving an axe-wielding miner, either Harry Warden is back to seek revenge or there’s a copycat on the loose!...in 3D!
So, yep, the mine is a fairly cool location but the story beats won’t win any awards. What does work, even in the less impressive anaglyph presentation, is the 3D gimmickry which the filmmakers are not shy about embracing at every moment. All sorts of grue - eyeballs, jaws - come flying at you along with any number of eye-piercing axe swings.
Yes, the verdict is still out on whether 3D is a valid complement to film (I’m guessing Cameron’s ‘Avatar’ will settle that once and for all), but this type of picture is perfect for 3D as let’s face it, the genre itself is somewhat of a gimmick.
Lionsgate has provided a 1080p AVC 1.85:1 encode with both 2D and 3D versions presented via seamless branching. The obvious recommendation is the 3D despite the anaglyph red/blue process ridding the pic of most color. It’s a fairly dark film, though, so I don’t see it a huge detriment. I certainly can’t wait for full-color 3D to come to Blu-ray however – hopefully, Cameron will insist on this technology to be available by the time ‘Avatar’ comes home?
A DTS-HD Master Aud is provided and does a great surrounding you in the action. The special features include an audio commentary from director Patrick Lussier and co-screenwriter/actor Todd Farmer, a short featurette ‘Deep Inside My Bloody Valentine’, a five-minute ‘Sex, Blood & Screams’ which specifically looks at the kills, a dozen ‘Deleted Scenes’, a ‘Gag Reel’, the ‘Theatrical Trailer’ and the now requisite Digital Copy of the film. Lion’s Gate BD exclusives include ‘MoLog’, a cool blog entry-like user experience and ‘Lionsgate Live’, their version of BD-Live.
‘My Bloody Valentine’ is just a good old-fashioned horror pic clearly not scared to embrace it’s retro origins with over-the-top gore and one of the most sustained sequences of female full-frontal nudity that I can think of in a theatrical release. The 3D is fun and well-presented in Blu-ray despite being anaglyph so this comes recommended for horror fans.
My Bloody Valentine 3D [Blu-ray] is now available at Amazon . Visit the DVD database for more information.
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