#3. My Bloody Valentine [2009]

Directed by : Patrick Lussier Written by : Original story: Stephen Miller Screenplay: Zane Smith, Todd Farmer Music by : Michael Wandmacher Cinematography : Brian Pearson Release date : January 16, 2009 USA/CANADA[100m] Starring : Jensen Ackles, Jaime King, Kerr Smith, Tom Atkins

My Bloody Valentine 3D is a 2009 remake of the 1981 Canadian slasher film of the same name. The film was directed and edited by Patrick Lussier, and stars Jensen Ackles and Jaime King. The film had a 3-D theatrical release; It was released on January 16, 2009 by Lionsgate to generally mixed and positive reviews. My Bloody Valentine is the first R-rated film to be projected in Real D technology, as seen in films such as Journey to the Center of the Earth. The film will also be available in 2D for theaters that are not equipped to process new digital 3D technology.

Synopsis
My Bloody Valentine 3D begins with not one, but two flashbacks. A decade ago in the small coal mining town of Harmony, the mine owner's son, Tom Hanniger (Jensen Ackles), forgot to "bleed the lines" (whatever that means), leading to a Valentine's Day cave-in that trapped six men underground. One of the men, Harry Warden, decided to kill the others to conserve air and was eventually pulled out -- but in a coma. A year later -- on Valentine's Day -- Warden awoke from his coma, peeved about what he'd been through and surprisingly atrophy-less. He proceeded to murder more than a dozen people in the hospital before dressing up in his miner's gear -- jumpsuit, helmet, gas mask, pickaxe -- and returning to the mine to kill a bunch of kids using it for a party. He was about to take out his frustrations on Tom but gets shot and presumably killed.

Ten years later, Tom returns to Harmony -- on Valentine's Day! -- after leaving behind the "unpleasantness" of his youth. He's in town to sign paperwork to sell the mine following his father's death, but no sooner does he arrive than the killings start anew. The prime targets are the people who ran in his crew, including his ex-girlfriend, Sarah (Jaime King), who's now married to his former rival, Axel (Kerr Smith), now the town sheriff. Has Harry Warden returned from the grave? Was he even dead in the first place? And why does my movie ticket cost 14 bucks?



My Bloody Valentine 3D is marketed with the gimmicky 3-D element as the main draw, but the content surprisingly speaks volumes on its own. A remake of a 1981 Canadian film from the "Golden Age" of slashers, it's a fun, freewheeling throwback to that era's lowbrow sleaze. My Bloody Valentine 3D actually trumps the original for pure entertainment value, delivering the kind of over-the-top sex and violence that made slashers so popular -- and so reviled -- in the early '80s.

The film was shot in Pennsylvania, taking advantage of the state's tax incentives for film productions. Filming began on May 11, 2008 in Armstrong County along the Route 28 corridor, in locations including Sprankle's Market in Kittanning, the Ford City police station, and the exterior of the Logansport Mine in Bethel. Kittanning served as main street in the film's fictional town of Harmony. The production spent 13 days filming scenes in the Tour-Ed Mines in Tarentum, a mine that has been out of production since the 1960s and now operates as a museum. A house on Hulton Road in Oakmont, north of Pittsburgh, was also used as a location.

The film was shot entirely digitally, using the new HD 4K format, which records 4,000 pixel images at 24 frames per second, compared to standard HD's 2,000 pixels. The filmmakers used the Red One from Red Digital Cinema Camera Company, and the SI-2K Digital Cinema Camera by Silicon Imaging as digital cameras. Max Penner, the film’s stereographer, found these lighter and smaller cameras easier to use.

The 3-D element is handled remarkably well, coming off not as a mere gimmick, but as something that actually adds value to the film. Our startled jumps are exponentially bigger, and the level of fun is exponentially higher as blood and body parts from the inventive kills come flying at the screen. And it's all quite natural; there's no force-feeding of scenes in which the actors poke objects at the audience for no good reason. One has to wonder, in fact, if the movie would even be half as enjoyable in 2-D (probably).

I doubt that there are many huge fans of the relatively obscure original (as remakes go), so there shouldn't be too many voices rising in unison to complain about the liberties taken with the plot. Most of the adaptations work well enough, except the whole theme of Valentine's Day -- a big part of the original -- is downplayed significantly, and the tie-in of the events to the holiday (Everything just happens to occur on February 14?) is pretty weak. That said, it's a testament to how enjoyable the movie is that you overlook such silliness.Jensen Ackles, of Supernatural fame, makes the jump to the big screen with ease, although his character is required to play it so close to the vest that the likeable charm of Dean Winchester is rarely displayed. Kerr Smith (Final Destination) and Jaime King (Tripper) are solid as well, but genre veteran Tom Atkins (The Fog, Halloween III, Creepshow, Night of the Creeps) steals the show in just a few scenes as the retired sheriff called back into action to take down the murderer.

I don't know how many more horror outings Atkins has in him, but if this is the last (please Night of the Creeps 2...), he's gone out with a bang. (On a side note: Betsy Rue will no doubt have her own fan club after starring in a five-minute full-frontal nude scene.)

Director Patrick Lussier, who's been relegated to the direct-to-video realm since 2000's Dracula 2000 (his last effort being the excellent White Noise 2), makes a striking comeback in a format that has to be somewhat restrictive. He handles it in stride, though, deftly shooting the oft-spectacular death scenes and taking full advantage of the 3-D technology without allowing it to become intrusive.

The film has received generally mixed, but also positive reviews from critics. As of March 21, 2009, it holds a "rotten" 59% rating from critics on review aggregate website Rotten Tomatoes, based on 68 reviews, with the consensus being "This gory, senses-assaulting slasher film is an unpretentious, effective mix of old-school horror stylings and modern 3D technology." It once held a "fresh" rating of 60%, but it had dropped suddenly. Uzma from Insight News By contrast, Metacritic lists it with a 51 out of 100, which indicates "mixed or average reviews", based on 11 reviews.

Official Website : http://www.mybloodyvalentinein3d.com