My Bloody Valentine (1981) Horror Movie Review

by Anthony Burke
(USA)

***Reader Submitted Review***

From My Bloody Valentine: “Daddy’s gone away, Harry Warden made you pay”. That might quite possibly be the most haunting jingle in a horror movie. It is every bit as sinister as “One Two, Freddy’s coming for you…”

Release: 1981
Directed by: George Mihalka

Starring:
Paul Kelman as Jessie 'T.J.' Hanniger
Lori Hallier as Sarah
Neil Affleck as Axel Palmer
Peter Cowper as The Miner & Harry Warden
Don Francks as Chief Jake Newby
Patricia Hamilton as Mabel Osborne
Larry Reynolds as Mayor Hanniger

Harry Warden was trapped in a mine shaft because the supervisors of that shaft wanted to get to the Valentine dance, hence not checking the mine… and BOOM. After spending a year in a nut hut, Harry returned for revenge. Harry then spent the rest of his life in a nut hut, or did he? The murders became legendary, and that Valentine’s Day never happened. Now, 20 years after that fateful day, the body count rises again.

The drama part of My Bloody Valentine is tangled - TJ was dating Sarah but moved to Cali. In moves Axel to get with Sarah. TJ can’t make it out there, so he returns, only to find Sarah with Axel. Of course he wants her back, and TJ’s dad, the mayor, gets him a job in the mines, and so the pissing match begins. And the winner is, well let’s just say that it is not Neil.

Mabel tries to plan a dance which sets off a vigilante miner. The ensuing deaths cause the dance to be cancelled, but is that good enough? No, evil has been awakened. Death after slashing death transpires, and in the end miners who are partying in the mines become targets. Then the killer tries for Sarah and TJ, welcoming them to his own world of the mines, but he did not count on the two fighting back.

This is, in my opinion, one of the greatest movies of all time. Slashing, body parts being cut out (hearts), plot twists, and a half naked chick getting killed as the film starts because of a heart tattoo, what is not to love.

On a side note, George Mihalka presented a sequel idea to the film studio but due to My Bloody Valentine’s lackluster box-office numbers the idea was shot down. I say, make it. That was the 80s, this is now.