My Bloody Valentine (1981/Lionsgate DVD)
Picture:
C+ Sound: C Extras: B+ Feature: B
Just like
Freddy, Michael Myers, or Jason Voorhees himself, it seems the slasher flick
just won’t stay dead. The film industry
is creeping its way back into a neo-slasher renaissance that started with
Platinum Dunes’ remake of The Texas
Chainsaw Massacre in 2003 and has since been picking up speed. So far,
other classics like Halloween and Black Christmas have been revamped for
the new millennium with Friday the 13th,
Nightmare on Elm Street, Hellraiser, and a sequel to the new
Halloween on their way. While some
people object to the remakes, no one can deny that the originals have benefited
from renewed attention and appreciation. This is precisely why Lionsgate, in
conjunction with the theatrical release of the 3-D redux, has given us this
spiffy new DVD re-release of the original My
Bloody Valentine from 1981.
Originally
released in 1981 at the height of what some may call the golden age of the
slasher, My Bloody Valentine was one
of many holiday-themed gore flicks. While it didn’t spawn any sequels like so many
of its contemporaries, the movie has an enduring quality that stands up
favorably even too much of the horror being produced today. What’s really special about this movie though
is that there’s no one thing that it does exceptionally well. Instead, it takes all the inherent pleasures
of a slasher flick – silent, masked killer, drunken over-sexed teens,
increasingly new and creative deaths – and just does them well. The result is a well-balanced movie that knows
what the viewer wants out of a slasher, and delivers it.
The
picture quality on the disc is surprisingly good for a 28-year-old movie that
was largely ignored until just recently. While the 1.78:1 aspect ratio picture is
perhaps not as crisp as it could be, the remastered color looks absolutely
great. The bright, vibrant reds stand
out against a wash of blues and grays, emphasizing the incongruity of the
bloody violence against the backdrop of blue-collar, small-town living. The audio, in either Dolby Digital 5.1
Surround or the original mono, has not stood up quite so well. While it’s to be expected of movies from the
early eighties, there is just a touch of softness to the audio, especially the
dialogue.
There are
only three extra features on the disc, but they’re very good. The first is a featurette that discusses the
making of the film, where it fits into the slasher tradition, and of course
finishes with a plug for the remake. There
are also deleted scenes that you can watch separately in the special features
menu, or reintegrated into the movie as an uncut version. My vote definitely goes for the uncut version
because really, each of the deleted scenes is just the most gory, fantastic
shot from each kill in the movie. After
watching the uncut version of the film, then you can go and watch the scenes on
their own in order to really appreciate the mastery of practical effects that
was at work in this film. And finally,
the last special feature is a timeline that details the progression of the
slasher movie from its early influences to the new wave of remakes that are
coming out now. In total, the special
features on this disc really ground both the original My Bloody Valentine and the current trend of remakes with a sense
of history of the genre.
I think
that it is this notion of history, progression, and revamping without replacing
that will keep the slasher film going for many years to come. So when you head out to the theaters to see
the new My Bloody Valentine, or any
other remake, keep in mind that each film should be judged on its own
individual merit. And most of all make
sure that you revisit the original so that you can spread the good word of
mayhem, violence, and death.
- Matthew Carrick
