My Bloody Valentine: A Tale of Two Hearts

During the late 70s and through the 80s, a series of movies came out that defined my love for horror.  Many of these films surrounded and were themed around holidays or Special Occasions.  Halloween, Friday the 13^th, April Fool’s Day, Silent Night, Deadly Night, Mother’s Day, Black Christmas, Terror Train and Prom Night.  Along with these was the Canadian made My Bloody Valentine which came out in 1981. With the passage of time and the heavy nostalgic element of that era, most of these films have had remakes over the years.  With Valentine’s Day just a few days away, this article will look at the original My Bloody Valentine and the 2009 remake and how the two compare in my opinion.

The plot of both movies is similar although diverge on certain elements.  Both take place in towns where the primary source of jobs is the local mine and on Valentine’s Day.  Years before, a collapse in the mine causes the death of several miners and a year later the sole survivor, (Harry Warden) goes on a murderous rampage.  Flash Forward to present day (1981 for the original and 2009 for the remake) and Tom Hanniger (Paul Kelman / Jensen Ackles) returns to the town to the dismay of many, most notably Axel Palmer (Neil Affleck / Kerr Smith) who is now involved with Sarah (Lori hallier / Jaime King) who was Tom’s love interest before he disappeared for ten years.  Soon after his arrival, the small town starts experiencing horrific murders and everyone assumes that Harry Warden has returned. Or has he?  The rest of the movie is a series of people getting murdered and the sheriffs attempting to stop the murders, each culminating in a show down in the mines.

Some of the vital differences between the two movies is the amount of time and involvement of the main characters.  In the original, the mining accident happened 20 years before, and the main characters were really not related to those events, although they were adversely affected by it.  In the remake, it has only been 10 years and Tom’s character was directly responsible for the mines cave in.  Many of his friends were killed by the following rampage of Harry Warden and he himself was nearly a victim, spurning his exodus from the town.  The town itself was also a major change, in the original, the town is Valentine Bluff, a Canadian mining town who once reveled in the holiday sharing its name, and it was the famous Valentine’s Day Dance that led to the mines collapse, as two supervisors left their post at the mine early to go to the dance forgetting to check the methane levels, which caused an explosion trapping five miners.  After Harry’s rampage, for twenty years the town cancelled all celebrations surrounding Valentine’s Day and it is the reinstatement of the Valentine’s Day Dance that spurs the new murders.  In the remake, the town is named Harmony and Valentine’s Day barely plays a part besides being the day that all this is taking place on.

The relationships in both movies are also a bit different.  In the original, Tom is the son of the mayor and becomes a miner when he returns to town. And while his ex and Axel are involved, they are not married.  In the remake, Tom returns when his father, the owner of Hanniger Mine passes away, and he wishes to sell the mine which would cause hardship for the town who depend on the mine for survival.  Axel and Sarah are married with a child, but Axel, the new Sheriff, is unfaithful and not a great husband.  The final difference I will point out is the general vibe of the films.  The 1981 version had a much more lighthearted feeling.  The characters were generally happy go lucky miners who wanted to party, as opposed to the 2009 remake where everyone is very serious, and no one seems happy with their current lives.

I have to say, I do prefer the original to the remake. This is an example of where sometimes better acting and a better script doesn’t necessarily equal a better movie, at least in my opinion.  The original film was a very low budget production costing $2.3 million and for the most part the actors were not well known. The 2009 remake cost 14 million, was in 3D and starred some very popular television actors of the time, most notably Jensen Ackles who was one of the main characters in the hit series Supernatural. I will say, that watching it today, some of the 3D special effects looked a bit fake and out of place, but for its time, it was state of the art.  It also relied a bit too much on shock value gore.  Many of the visual effects are over the top gross and I know there is an audience for that, but I am not a fan!  The original did have some gore and there was 9 minutes cut from that film because the studio believed it to be too much.  I wish the remake had that much sense.

The script for the 1981 film is a bit clunky in places with some of the exposition feeling forced and much of the dialogue not feeling genuine, this is in part due to the script, but also to the talent of the actors playing the parts.  The remake’s script flows much better and the dialogue is handled more professionally so the film’s rhythm is actually pretty good.  But my problem with the remake is that it took itself too seriously.  The 1981 production knew what it was, a low budget slasher film that was there for pure horror enjoyment.  The 2009 film thought to elevate itself to a psychological drama with a ton of gore, and it just doesn’t work.  It isn’t a bad movie and there are some wonderful elements to it, but it has no hope, happiness or joy, which in my opinion means it has no heart.