A curse hangs over Valentine Bluffs. A bartender tells a young visitor the tale of the 20-year shadow of a freak accident that trapped five local miners and led to a gruesome chain of events.
Cannibalism allowed one man to survive, and on Valentine’s Day a year later, the survivor returned and reaped his revenge on the men who caused the accident, leaving their hearts in heart-shaped boxes.
My Bloody Valentine, George Mihalka’s 1981 slasher film, was a major breakthrough in Canadian filmmaking as well as the history of the slashers. The film embraced its Nova Scotia roots, and was a visceral introduction to Canadian culture for many Americans, with its strong sense of place, Canadian actors and crew. In the coming decade, other films like The Grey Fox and Dead Ringers would be seen as major hits within North America. 45 Februarys later, My Bloody Valentine, with its mix of “exotic” location and working-class story, remains an above-average slasher.
Paramount Studios was trying to piggyback off the success of their 1980 slasher Friday the 13th, which helped Mihalka turn a $2.3 million budget into a $5.67 million box office success. Though minor, the hit film only helped build momentum for the slasher genre, after the 1970s hits Black Christmas, Texas Chainsaw Massacre and Halloween and fueled the Halloween, Friday the 13th, Slumber Party Massacre and Nightmare on Elm Street franchises
The unique premise of a Valentine’s day tragedy, combined with incredible gore (even despite MPAA attempts to tame it) keeps the film discussed by fans. Kills like bad guy The Miner slamming a pickaxe through the bartender’s mouth and out his left eye would have left families fainting if the more explicit version were allowed in its theatrical release. Other envelope-pushing moments include The Miner slamming Sylvia’s skull into a shower rod as bloody water shoots out of the spout connected to her head, and late in the film, Mabel slips her burnt face out of the dryer in a chilling visual that made the theatrical release.
What was also unique to most slashers of the time was its complex love triangle, the choice to examine romantic struggles, instead of just teenage sex or the opportunity for a dual kill.
When Axel is revealed at the end, the stakes have been raised because the audience has watched him become only more deranged as the story goes on. Sarah appears to still care for him, as she grabs at the hand he severs, but Axel retreats back in the mine as he delivers the eponymous line “Sarah, be my bloody valentine.”
Notorious and pioneering within the slasher genre. My Bloody Valentine would end up allowing for plenty of other Canadian films to reach the U.S. For all the horror fanatics celebrating their Valentines day, no matter who you celebrate it with or without, My Bloody Valentine is a hell of a date night.
