My Bloody Valentine (1981)

Director:

George Mihalka

Writers:

Stephen A. Miller (story)
John Beaird (written by)

Release Date:

11 February 1981 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Horror | Thriller

Tagline:

Harry's out to steal your heart.

Plot:

A decades old folk tale surrounding a deranged murderer killing those who celebrate Valentine's Day, turns out to be true to legend when a group defies the killer's order and people start turning up dead.

Plot Keywords:

Valentine's Day | Party | Dance | Miner | Coal Miner

Cast

Paul Kelman	...	Jessie 'T.J.' Hanniger
Lori Hallier	...	Sarah
Neil Affleck	...	Axel Palmer
Keith Knight	...	Hollis
Alf Humphreys	...	Howard Landers
Cynthia Dale	...	Patty
Helene Udy	...	Sylvia
Rob Stein	...	John
Thomas Kovacs	...	Mike Stavinski (as Tom Kovacs)
Terry Waterland	...	Harriet
Carl Marotte	...	Dave
Jim Murchison	...	Tommy Whitcomb
Gina Dick	...	Gretchen
Peter Cowper	...	The Miner & Harry Warden
Don Francks	...	Chief Jake Newby
Patricia Hamilton	...	Mabel Osborne
Larry Reynolds	...	Mayor Hanniger
Jack Van Evera	...	Happy
Jeff Banks	...	Young Axel
Pat Hemingway	...	Woman
Graham Whitehead	...	Mac
Fred Watters	...	Supervisor 1
Jeff Fulton	...	Supervisor 2
Pat Walsh	...	Harvey Smight
Marguerite McNeil	...	Mrs. Raleigh
Sandy Leim	...	Ben
John MacDonald	...	Rescuer

Directed by
George Mihalka

Writing credits
Stephen A. Miller		(story concept) (as Stephen Miller)
John Beaird		(written by)

Produced by
John Dunning	....	producer
André Link	....	producer (as Andre Link)
Stephen A. Miller	....	producer (as Stephen Miller)
Lawrence Nesis	....	executive producer
Bob Presner	....	line producer

Original Music by
Paul Zaza

Cinematography by
Rodney Gibbons

Film Editing by
Gérald Vansier		(as Gerald Vansier)
Rit Wallis

Art Direction by
Veronica Hadfield		(as Penny Hadfield)

Costume Design by
Susan Hall

Makeup Department
Thomas R. Burman	....	special makeup effects designer
Ken Diaz	....	special makeup effects designer
Tom Hoerber	....	special makeup effects designer
Louise Mignault	....	makeup artist (as Louise Rundell)
Huguette Roy	....	hair stylist
Carolyn Van Gurp	....	assistant makeup artist

Production Management
John Desormeaux	....	unit manager
Danny Rossner	....	production manager
Rit Wallis	....	post-production supervisor

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
John Desormeaux	....	assistant director: second unit
Victoria Frodsham	....	assistant director: second unit
Julian Marks	....	first assistant director
Anne Murphy	....	second assistant director
Ray Sager	....	first assistant director
Ray Sager	....	second unit director
Richard Stanford	....	third assistant director

Art Department
Tina Boden	....	assistant art director
Ryal Cosgrove	....	assistant set props
Raymond Larose	....	assistant art director
Maurice Leblanc	....	set dresser
David Phillips	....	set props
Harold Thrasher	....	construction supervisor

Sound Department
Jeff Bushelman	....	sound effects
Joe Grimaldi	....	sound re-recordist
Bo Harwood	....	sound
Jean-Claude Matte	....	boom operator
Pat Somerset	....	sound effects
Gérald Vansier	....	dialogue editor
Jeremy Hoenack	....	sound effects editor (uncredited)

Stunts
Shelley Cook	....	stunt double
Peter Cowper	....	stunt performer
Dwayne McLean	....	stunt coordinator
Brent Meyer	....	stunt performer
Jayne Rutter	....	stunt performer
Sandy Webb	....	stunt performer

Camera and Electrical Department
Jean Courteau	....	best boy
Alex Dawes	....	generator operator
Jean-Maurice de Ernsted	....	grip
Louis de Ernsted	....	Steadicam operator
Marc de Ernsted	....	key grip
Jacques Girard	....	grip
Paul Hurteau	....	first assistant camera
Daniel Jobin	....	first assistant camera
Walter Klymkiw	....	gaffer
Chuck Lapp	....	grip
Piroska Mihalka	....	still photographer
Robin Miller	....	first assistant camera
Richard Montpetit	....	second assistant camera
Jean-Pierre Plouffe	....	second assistant camera
Antonio Vidosa	....	grip

Casting Department
Daniel Hausmann	....	casting consultant
Arden R. Ryshpan	....	casting consultant

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Carol Wood	....	wardrobe assistant

Editorial Department
Chantal Bowen	....	assistant editor
Jean LaFleur	....	supervising editor (as Jean Lafleur)
Thomas Metzger	....	color timer

Other crew
John Desormeaux	....	location manager
Lucie Drolet	....	production accountant
Joanne T. Harwood	....	continuity
Trudi Link	....	production accountant
Irene Litinsky	....	executive assistant to producer
Kathy Wolf	....	production secretary
Donna Young	....	assistant accountant

Production Companies

• Canadian Film Development Corporation (CFDC)
• Famous Players
• Paramount Pictures
• Secret Films

Distributors

• Paramount Pictures (1981) (USA) (theatrical)
• Finnkino (2003) (Finland) (DVD)
• Lions Gate Films Home Entertainment (2009) (USA) (DVD) (special edition)
• Paramount Home Video (2002) (USA) (DVD)
• Paramount Home Video (USA) (VHS)
• Paramount Home Video (USA) (laserdisc)

Also Known As:

The Secret (Canada: English title) (working title)

Runtime:

90 min | 93 min (director's cut)

Country:

Canada

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Iceland:16 | West Germany:16 | Singapore:PG (cut) | Germany:18 (DVD release) | Finland:K-18 (self applied) (2002) | New Zealand:R16 | France:-12 (re-rating) | UK:15 (video re-rating) (2003) | UK:18 (video rating) (1989) | UK:X (original rating) | Australia:R | France:-16 (original rating) | Norway:18 (video premiere) | USA:R

Filming Locations:

Sydney Mines, Nova Scotia, Canada

Company:

Canadian Film Development Corporation (CFDC)

Trivia:

One of the makeup designers once shipped a dummy corpse to the set in a coffin, which caused much alarm when it arrived at Canadian customs.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: When riding down in the railcars, Hollis drinks a beer. When he tips the can up, you can see holes from a church key type can opener on the bottom of the can.

Quotes:

Axel Palmer: [last lines]
Axel Palmer: [singing to himself] Sarah, be My Bloody Valentine...

Movie Connections:

References Theater of Blood (1973)

Soundtrack:

The Ballad of Harry Warden

Good early 80's slasher film

On Valentine's day many years ago, a miner went berserk and killed a lot of residents in a small town. Since then Valentine's Day has been ignored and not celebrated at all. Until now.

A bunch of kids eager to go partying decide to throw a Valentine's Day party and wipe out the town's tradition. One setback; a crazy dude in a miner suit starts killing people. Is it the same deranged miner from years ago or someone else?

Slasher films had their glory days in the early 80's, people simply couldn't get enough of them. By the time of this film's release, certain holidays or dates had been immortalized through horror films (Christmas in Black Christmas, Halloween, Friday the 13th to name the obvious), so why not make Valentine's Day another blood soaked day for horror fans? The film is largely successful too.

Early 80's slashers seem to creep up above later slasher entries, simply because of the era they were filmed in. The atmosphere captured in these films doesn't seem attainable in 90's slashers or thereafter. Don't really know why. Probably a bit more enthusiasm in creating these cheap flicks before they became so mainstream and age-group targeted.

Director Mihalka creates a decent amount of suspense, especially once the film enters the mine, where it becomes downright creepy as hell. Death scenes are pretty imaginative and there's also a surprise twist in the end. Unfortunately the film had the grave misfortune of being distributed by Paramount, the evil enemy to all slasher fans, and suffers badly from blatant cuts which were administered to secure an R-rating.

Despite that, My Bloody Valentine is very entertaining to fans of slasher films; the film has a creepy mood all the way, decent actors and some top notch set pieces that are sure to give you a jolt on occasion.