Stars:
Paul Kelman, Lori Hallier, and Neil Affleck
Writer:
John Beard
Director:
George Mihalka
Feature
length: 90 minutes
Languages:
English and French Language Monaural Sound
Subtitles:
English Captions and Closed Captions
Packaging:
Amaray Keep Case
Chapter
Stops: 15
Sound:
Monaural Sound
Year
of Theatrical Release: 1981/DVD Release: 2002
Theatrical
Distributor: Paramount Pictures
Home
Video Distributor: Paramount Home Entertainment
MPAA
Rating: R
Reviewer:
Mark A. Rivera
Twenty
years ago a group of miners were trapped under the rocks while the people of the
town above celebrated with their annual Valentine’s Day dance. It took six
days to dig them out with one survivor who went completely insane. A year later
that survivor returned with a murderous vengeance. After that the town stopped
celebrating Valentine’s Day until after 19 years when a group of young miners
and their girlfriends decide to ignore superstition and throw a party complete
with a guided tour of the mine and the very tunnels where the horror first
started. Soon the killer returns with a Valentine of his own, a box of candies
with a human heart.
“My
Bloody Valentine” is one of those horror films that came out in the wake of
the success of “Friday The Thirteenth” that I remember seeing pictures of
the special effects blood and carnage in “Fangoria” magazine. While the film
did not spawn a franchise like “Friday The Thirteenth” did, it is a pretty
good and creepy horror film with the killer appearing almost like a pseudo
“Darth Vader” complete with the black breathing mask and breath sounds.
Paramount Home Entertainment’s DVD edition of “My Bloody Valentine” is a
surprisingly great looking treat with an amazingly clear anamorphic widescreen
(1.85:1) aspect ratio and great detail. I think this is the first time “My
Bloody Valentine” has ever been offered on home video with a widescreen
transfer and I am just impressed out how great this film looks considering it is
a low budget horror picture from 1981 and not even one that developed a
following of sequels. The DVD also features a clear and extremely full sounding
Two-Channel English Monaural Soundtrack. A French Language Two-Channel Monaural
Soundtrack and English Captions and Closed Captions are encoded on to the DVD as
options.
Sadly
there are no extra features to speak of. Not even a trailer. I think I vaguely
remember the creepy TV spots that played when I was a kid. In this case though I
think the transfer and sound makeup for it. The menus are standard interactive
still frame that are easy to navigate and well rendered. “My Bloody
Valentine” will debut on DVD-Video on Tuesday, September 3, 2002 from
Paramount Home Entertainment.
©
Copyright 2002 By Mark A. Rivera
All Rights Reserved.