| Feb. 5th, 2009 @ 05:54 pm My Bloody Valentine (2009) |
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Current Mood:  awake
Current Music: Godzilla vs. Hedora
Hollywood has been accused for years of being out of ideas, and the horror genre is certainly no exception. Almost without exception lately, the only way you're getting a horror film into the theaters is if you're a sequel or a remake. In the last few months, we've seen remakes of Korean films (Mirrors and The Uninvited) and the latest in the Saw franchise. And upcoming, among others, are remakes/reboots of Friday The 13th, Last House On The Left(which, of course, was itself a remake of a Bergman film), Hellraiser, and Piranha(which has already been remade once). Seemingly, no one wants to make an original horror film anymore, at least not to get to the theaters anyway.
I could say I wonder why they chose to remake My Bloody Valentine, but it's not surprising, given some of the other stuff they've remade, that they'd eventually get to it. The original film is a mid-level 80's slasher, with some entertaining deaths, primarily known for its miner-suited killer, but it's obscure enough that the average moviegoer who is the target audience probably hasn't seen it.
Right out of the gate, it must be said: This movie wouldn't be anywhere near as cool or interesting if it weren't for the fairly spectacular 3-D effects. Right from the Lionsgate logo, the 3-D is an integral part of the experience, as we watch a series of newspaper articles that come to life, filling us in on the backstory. An accident in a Pennsylvania mine leads to the murder of 6 miners by Harry Warden, who killed the others to conserve his air. Warden spends a year in a coma, and when he comes out, he goes on a murderous (and spectacularly gory) rampage, killing 22 people before being shot by police as he faces down his intended target, Tom Hanniger, the son of the mine's owner, who may be responsible for the mine accident.
Ten years later, Tom returns to a very hostile reception from the townsfolk, who resent the fact that he is selling the mine. He attempts to reunite with his former girlfriend, now married to his former friend, who is now the sheriff and who is none too thrilled to see Tom. Unfortunately for Tom, his return coincides with the apparent return from the dead of Harry Warden, who begins to slaughter the people around Tom, making him look extremely suspicious. Will Tom stop the murders and clear his name while coming to terms with the people he left behind and the ten-year gap in his life, or is he the person going around in a miner's suit killing his former friends?
I have to say that I enjoyed this movie way more than I expected to, and that probably owes as much to the spectacular Real-D 3D effects as anything else. Harry Warden's pickaxe seems to constantly be jumping off the screen, and there are some exceptional 3-D gore effects. But the 3-D is about depth as much as it is about throwing stuff at you, and an early sequence surveying the after-effects of Harry's hospital rampage is that much more effective when you see all of the carnage that he has caused. The plot is fairly straightforward, but the killer is not completely obvious, and you'll be guessing right up until the final 10 minutes or so. The cast is decent, if not spectacular, and it's always nice to see Tom Atkins getting work.
Overall, I'd recommend this, but see it in the theater in 3-D if you can. I have a feeling it won't play the same on DVD. |
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capnredbeard's journal
okay
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