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 | Mining

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:

In an interview with TerrorTrap.com director George Mihalka said that the shooting location at Sydney Mines, Nova Scotia was chosen because of its rustic atmospheric appearance. However when the locals found out that a movie was to be shot there they decided to spend $50,000 to have the mine painted and cleaned! This, of course, diminished the reason that the production wanted the location to begin with. Mihalka said that $75,000 of the films budget was then used to return the mine to its original state for shooting.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Jessie and Axel are arguing over Sarah beside the car, Jessie points at Axel with his left hand in the long shot, but with his right in the close-up.

Quotes:

[Mayor Hanniger & Chief Newby are driving back to City Hall in Newby's police Suburban. The Chief gestures to the heart-shaped candy box that arrived at the police building earlier, addressed to the Mayor]
Chief Jake Newby: Aren't you goint to open that?
Mayor Hanniger: Yeah.
Chief Jake Newby: Better read the card first.
[Mayor Hanniger opens the card on the front of the box]
Mayor Hanniger: [reading from the card] From the heart comes a warning, filled with bloody good - cheer, remember what happened as the 14th draws - near!
[Hanniger opens the box to find a blood-soaked heart inside. The chief looks over and is horrified by what he sees]
[...]

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Penny Dreadful (2005)

Soundtrack:

The Ballad of Harry Warden

We'll probably never be-able to see how the movie should have been...

Notorious for being the slasher film most tortured by the censors upon release, MY BLOODY VALENTINE has become something of a cult classic with legions of adoring fans. The only available version of this movie is missing over 9 minutes of gore, but thankfully producer John Dunning has located all of the absent footage and a battle rages on with copyright owners Paramount for a fully restored release. The movie itself nestles nicely with ROSEMARY'S KILLER as the two best non-franchise splatter flicks of 1981.

From the outset, we're introduced to the small mining town of Valentine Bluffs, which hides beneath its fun loving exterior a best-forgotten secret. Twenty years ago the supervisors at the mine were so eager to get to the annual Valentine dance that they didn't bother to check the levels of the methane gas. There was a massive explosion and five workers were trapped underneath the rubble and debris. The only survivor was one Harry Warden, who never mentally recovered from the accident. Exactly a year later he returned and brutally killed the two who were responsible for the tragic mishap. He cut out their hearts, stuck them in candy boxes and sent them to the authorities. Fortunately he was caught before he carried out any more killings and was put into Eastfield Asylum for the insane. Now in 1981 the happy go lucky residents of the usually tranquil town are preparing themselves for the first Valentine dance to be held since that fateful night two decades ago. Memories of Warden's murders have passed and a group of fun loving kids are thinking about nothing else but the anticipated party. However the night before the event the town mayor receives a blooded heart in a candy box with a poetic warning. It seems Harry has returned…

MY BLOODY VALENTINE is certainly a fine example of eighties splatter at it's best. Although the acting isn't remarkable, I found that the three leads were competent enough and the script gave us enough time to get to know them. There's an interesting sub-plot that builds between T.J. (Kelman), Axel (Affleck) and Sarah (Hallier). Apparently T.J. was with Sarah before he went away for a while without telling anyone where he was going. Now he's returned and his buddy Axel is with his old flame. Cue the flying sparks! The rest of the wacky cast members are so cheery and carefree that you just know something dreadful is going to happen to them! There's a practical joker (who surprisingly isn't the fat guy), a couple of overly randy teens and even a hammy old guy who tells the kids that they're doomed just like Ralph over at Camp Crystal Lake!

Credit has to be given for the effort from all involved. The movie began filming in September 1980, but the set designer took the time to make sure that everything was decked out in hearts and banners and they made things look like it actually was Valentine's Day. Mihalka makes good use of the spooky mine as a setting and most of the murders are imaginative and well thought out. In one scene a victim is trapped in a room where miner's uniforms are dropping from rails and surrounding her. In panic she tries to find a way out of the claustrophobic and threatening setting (all courtesy of the killer), before bumping into a costume that actually has the murderer in it! If that isn't bad enough, he kills her in a most gruesome fashion! His disguise is arguably one of the best of the eighties and the gas mask sure helps make the traditional ‘heavy breathing' - sound much scarier. There are also one or two jumps that'll probably get you if you haven't seen this before and it's all accompanied with a satisfactory score from Paul Zaza.

The plot is actually pretty smart for a slasher film. I wont go into too much detail because I can't say anything without spoiling it all for you, but watch how they manage to keep you guessing toward the end. It's also worth noting that James Mangold borrowed that classic body (or in his case, head) in a tumble dryer scene for his part-slasher, IDENTITY in 2003. In 2001 George Mihalka went to Paramount with a script for MY BLOODY VALENTINE 2 but they turned him down because the original didn't do brilliantly at the box office. Just proves how annoying they really are doesn't it! They've already said that they'd have no interest in seeing the director's cut of this movie released, even though fans around the world are begging for it. Recently the company asked people to give them ten films that we want to see unleashed and apparently one of those ten was MY BLOODY VALENTINE UNCUT; so we'll just have to wait and see if they come round to our way of thinking. Just imagine if they gave us the full works: The first four FRIDAY THE 13THs and this movie all uncut on special edition discs with commentaries where available and all the trimmings. If Raimi can do it for EVIL DEAD then someone can do it for us! Come on Paramount, lighten up and get on the case!

All in all this is a great little horror movie. It's smartly directed with a likeable cast and a really tense finale. The only problem lies with the shameful editing in the kill scenes where 9 minutes was savagely removed. I'm beginning to think that old Harry Warden should take a trip to the Paramount office, pickaxe in hand, to get revenge on these brutal spoilsports. Still, a few niggles aside, this is a decent little movie from Canada that deserves to be remembered, as one of the best of it's kind. And that's a sure fire compliment!