Horror Movie Review: My Bloody Valentine 3D – Remake (2009)

My Bloody Valentine 3D is a remake of the 1981 film of the same name (except the 3D part). A slasher horror that utilises many standard horrors clichés but manages to still be a mostly entertaining flick.

The opening credits play out over newspaper reports about a cave-in. It trapped 6 miners on Valentine’s Day in 1997 inoise the Hanninger Mine. One miner, Harry Warden killed the other miners with a pickaxe to conserve air. This meant he was the only survivor when rescue came.

Warden ended up in a coma & a year later, on Valentines Day, he wakes up. He then goes on a murderous rampage killing & mutilating the hospital staff. Warden heads towards the abandoned part of the mine where a group of teens are partying hard (kind of) while being pursued by Sheriff Burke (Tom Atkins).

The partying kids include Axel (Kerr Smith) & his girlfriend, Irene (Betsy Rue) as well as Sarah (Jamie King) & her boyfriend, Tom (Jensen Ackles). Tom is the son of the owner of the mine & took a lot of the blame for the cave in. He had forgotten to vent the methane lines which caused the cave-in.

Naturally he is reluctant to go back into the mine. So goes to get some beer from the car while Sarah goes in to meet Axel & Irene. Inside though she finds bodies & is attacked by Harry Warden. She manages to get away from him, meets up with the others & they escape to the car. Tom meanwhile arrives & is attacked by Warden so Axel decides to leave him.

Before Warden can deliver the killing blow though, Sheriff Burke arrives & shoots Warden. The killer escapes into the mine leaving Tom shell-shocked by what just happened.

The movie then jumps 10 years ahead & Tom has returned to the town. He disappeared shortly after the events that occurred in the mine. His father has died & he has inherited the mine so plans to sell it now.

Life has carried on in the sleepy town with Axel (who is now the town’s sheriff) & Sarah having married. Axel is less then pleased to see Tom back in the town as are many of the older townsfolk who still harbour a grudge towards him.

After getting in several confrontations, the now retired Burke tells him that he should finish his business then get out of town.

Elsewhere Irene, having had sex with a trucker, gets into a confrontation after the man filmed it (some full frontal lengthy nudity here).

She pulls a gun on him which he laughs off before opening his truck door & getting a pickaxe in his head.

It seems as though Harry Warden is back, 10 years later to finish what he started exactly when Tom arrives back in town. Coincidence?

Axel doesn’t think so & Tom naturally falls under suspicion but when he, himself is attacked it’s clear that something far more sinister is going on. Just who is the killer & why is he finishing the killings that Warden started 10 years prior?

My Bloody Valentine 3D tells a decent story that manages to keep its ‘twist’ ending hidden well. Sure, it might seem obvious at first but it throws enough possibilities out there to keep you guessing. That is until the finale where things get a bit sloppy, mainly because of the height/weight of the killer miner.

The actors do a decent job, aging them 10 years is surprisingly well done. Axel & Sarah (Kerr Smith & Jamie King) are the standout of the bunch as their failing marriage is a major part of the movie.

Special mention has to be given to the always amazing Tom Atkins too, he doesn’t have much to work with but he does a great job of it. In fact the only one who doesn’t exactly light up the screen is Jensen Ackles, he’s a bit bland & boring, a character we’ve seen a few to many times in horror.

Where My Bloody Valentine 3D really excels though is with its gore. This is a very bloody, violent movie & the effects look fantastic. It’s over the top but in a realistic fashion that will leave you feeling a bit sick if this isn’t your sort of thing.

The only times it let’s itself down is when it utilises CGI for 3D effects. I didn’t watch it in 3D but it really doesn’t make any difference as those moments are few & far between. To make matters worse they are mostly about things coming towards you at speed. They look terrible & add nothing to the overall film.

As remakes go this is an impressive effort. It’s ending drags on a bit too long & it really should have wrapped up way sooner then it does. The insane level of gore, good acting & interesting story make it well worth a watch though.