Saturday 17 January 2009

My Bloody Valentine 3D

One more D than 2!

The last 3D movie I saw was, I think, Captain Eo. That was cool. It starred Michael Jackson who danced and sang with a cast of lovable muppet-type characters. I also vaugely recall R2D2 and possibly Yoda being involved, but there's a good chance I'm just combining a bunch of my early sci-fi experiences into one all-encompassing memory.

Anyway, My Bloody Valentine 3D kicks off a new round of gimmicky cinema. And what a way to start! (I'm not sure if that is meant to sound sarcastic.)

An explosion at the Hanniger Mine traps a group of miners underground. In order to save his own life, one of the trapped, Harry Warden, kills his workmates with his pickaxe. After his rescue, Harry is taken to hospital in a coma. He wakes up and kills the crap out of everyone on his ward before returning to the mine. A group of twenty-somethings are having a Valentine's party at the mine, but their good time is disrupted by Harry's arrival. Harry kills some more and is eventually shot and chased down.

Ten years after the killings, the survivors are getting on with life. Then Ted Hanniger, son of the deceased mine owner, arrives in town after a decade of absence. Round that same time people start dying again, and it seems that Harry Warden is back too. What follows is a gory murder spree punctuated by moments of profound stupidity.

The first My Bloody Valentine was Canadian and made in 2D in 1981. A victim of its own success, 9 minutes were cut out of the original movie because it was too violent. The 3D remake is extremely violent, the camera doesn't shy away from full-on impalement, and the murder set pieces are brutal, suggesting horrible and torturous deaths. But what the first movie lost in blood and guts, it made up for it in story. The original killer strikes without prejudice, killing with impunity. The remade killer has an agenda, one that actually makes little sense in the end. Furthermore, the straightforward plot of the 80s version is twisted and mutated into a convoluted and, at times, tedious series of events. Also, it's full of holes.

It's been a while since I watched a movie in the theatres. I truly believe there are some films that need a big screen, and this is one of them. In spite of the bad movie that underlies the fancy effects, the gore and the violence are really well done. And welcome. In a time when most new Hollywood horror releases are PG13, something like My Bloody Valentine 3D, though it relies heavily on its gimmick and is kind of terrible, is still an R.

I've come a long way from my Captain Eo days, but maybe not as far as I like to think. Complain though I might about the state of mainstream horror, I'll admit I really wanted to see MBV because of the 3D. However, that being said, I'm glad I went to a matinee and didn't pay full price.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Harry Warden is so cool I just love his miner gasmask pickaxe and outfit. Harry`s so cute and I love as my favourite character from my bloody valentine, Harry`s the lead character of My Bloodier Valentine, Harry is the best of all, he is better than Tom Hanniger. Harry Warden is very cute and amazing. He is 1st in the cast of my bloody valentine 3d. Harry was incredible in that film I give credit as I am his horror fan.

Anonymous said...

I'm someone who has lived a life seemingly in the background, I must say this final indignity I have suffered almost too much to endure. You see, I have been sickly and weak since the day I was born and doomed to go through my life weakling. I seemed to have always suffered from one illness or another and could never play with the other children as I so desperately wanted to. Mother always made such a big fuss over me, also, making the situation worse as the other boys teased me mercilessly after they saw it. I was browsing  the internet searching on how I could be transformed into a powerful person when I came across the email of a man named Lord Mark. who was a VAMPIRE so I told him that I has always dreamed of becoming a  VAMPIRES, All i did was just to follow the procedure that i was been told, and i bet you that procedure I took change my entire life to something i ever desire, freedom, sickness free, pains free, fame, influence, connections and even more that i can. Thanks to Lord Mark. Do you want a life full of interesting things? Do you want to have power and influence over others? To be charming and desirable? To have wealth, health, and longevity? contact the vampires creed today via email: Vampirelord7878@gmail.com