[With the film going into wide release tomorrow, this seems an appropriate time to pull Rodney's early review of My Bloody Valentine 3D back to the top of the page.]
My Blood Valentine 3-D is an unusually gory slasher film that probably wouldn't warrant a lot of attention in ordinary circumstances. However, My Bloody Valentine 3-D has some special ingredients in its slasher recipe. These ingredients include brains, guts, jaws, blood and various pointy objects popping out of the screen via some very advanced 3-D technology. The 3-D in this otherwise middle of the road film is so well-done and applied in such an over the top fashion as to singularly elevate the film into a solid piece of event entertainment.
My Bloody Valentine 3-D sits somewhere between a reboot and remake. A massacre by the coal mine killer, who is decked out in black coal mining gear and breathing mask, takes place and the local police kill him. Do they really kill him, though? Yes, it is one of those types of stories. The writing is good enough to carry the film between the numerous killings but the resolution of various plot threads is goofy. The acting is component with Tom Atkins rounding out a relatively young cast (most films aimed at this market lack any serious adults). What really matters in a film of this type, however, is two things: 1) the quality of the killer and 2) morbus sive aliud genus mortis (cause of death). The killer is an iconic figure, which is probably why this film was made in the first place. With the killer in place, My Blood Valentine 3-D then delivers the viscera by laying down numerous 3-D set pieces that range between the gimmicky and jaw dropping. The killer's pick axe always seem to find its way to the front of the visual field, usually with a body part at the end of it. Most of the 3-D flows from the narrative (at least as far it relates to killing ) but even the gimmicky bits are a jolt.
A number of 3-D horror films are prepping up for theatrical release. Bohemians and naifs may disapprove of this trend but My Bloody Valentine 3-D indicates that adding a third-dimension to the slasher flatland may pay off for viewers ready for something different.