My Bloody Valentine: Movie Review (2009)
1/25/2009 Posted by Admin
My Bloody Valentine
Directed by Patrick Lussier, written by Todd Farmer and Zane Smith, 101 minutes, rated R.A remake of the 1981 original, with the gimmick being that it was shot in 3-D.
While the story itself is a mixed-bag at best, you have to give it up for the technology, which uses the 3-D platform to such a successful extent, it takes a mediocre movie and turns it into a reasonably fun, camp contender.
Without diverting much from the original, director Patrick Lussier takes us back to Harmony (the irony!), a mining town in which a massacre happened 10 years earlier on Valentine’s Day. Then, 22 people were murdered. Now, it’s all happening again, with a host of suspects offered up as to who might be the pickaxe-wielding maniac behind the gas mask.Is it Tom (Jensen Ackles), who escaped the original massacre and now is back in town for business--and apparently to wax cute with his former flame, Sarah (Jaime King)? Or could it be Sarah’s husband Axel (Kerr Smith), who is the town sheriff, Tom’s former best friend--and now his enemy?
Whoever it is (and audiences likely will figure out who it is in spite of the film’s trick ending), the good news is that Lussier manages to offer a genuine genre throwback. All of the staples are here. The movie sports over-the-top gore, go-go girls on the nudie run, flashes of tension, and a key ingredient for any slasher film--some of the most appealingly bad acting since Bush and Cheney were forced to grin their way through Obama’s inauguration.
Grade: B-
View the trailer here:
January 26, 2009 at 10:48 AM
I disagree with the comment about the bad acting. I thought the script was bland, the dialogue even worse. Yet the actors chose (or undoubtedly directed) to play it straight rather than give us camp irony and knowing winks. I'm not sure it would have made much difference either way, but again, the acting wasn't bad, the script was lame, featuring a villain that never says anything, and camera shots composed with 3D close-ups of the actors nostrils, etc. OTOH the 3D effect was a real thrill ride.
January 26, 2009 at 4:21 PM
The star of the show were the effects. It began and ended there for me.
And you're right. I think the nude woman in the stripper heels running around while trying not to be murdered gave a fine performance....
Christopher
January 26, 2009 at 7:44 PM
I think the actors made the show even though nothing else was that great.
January 27, 2009 at 9:07 AM
Compared to modern day slashers, I'd say this is about as good as the original was to early 80's slashers.
January 29, 2009 at 9:30 AM
I thought the 3D gimmick was what made this movie fun. As a 2D it would be a rental at best, as 3D it was a fun experience. I thought the ending left a lot unanswered. I always want to know the "why" in these movies.
Also, Megan Boone is the cutest girl I have seen in a movie in a while.
August 9, 2009 at 7:08 PM
I found similar information about 3D Ready technology and movies on www.3D-News.net (not my website)
This may help people looking for information on the topic.