Harry Warden's back, and this time he's going to make you remember his name!
In the remake of My Bloody Valentine, Disaster strikes the small town of Harmony when Tom Hanniger (Jensen Ackles), The son of the owner of the local Hanniger Mine, forgets to bleed the lines one day, leading to a catastrophic cave in. The lone survivor, Harry Warden, goes mad and kills his fellow miners to stay alive. After being rescued, Warden goes into a coma. A year later, on Valentine's day, he awakens and goes on a killing spree.
Harry eventually winds back up at the mine where Tom, Axel (Kerr Smith), Tom's gf Sarah (Jaime King), and a bunch of local kids are having a party. When Harry shows up, Tom's friends abandon him to fight Harry on his own. Luckily, the sheriff (Tom Atkins) and local police arrive before Harry can deliver the killing blow and chase Harry deep into the mine. A traumatized Tom leaves town, returning 10 years later (ironically, near Valentine's day) to sell off his father's old mine only to find Sarah has moved on, marrying Axel (who has become the new sheriff) and now has a kid with him. Worse, Harry Warden reappears and starts his killing spree again.
Jensen Ackles makes for a great leading man, He is likable, cool, and his backstory just flat out ROCKS! Jaime King also makes for a bad-ass leading lady. She can hold her own in a fight (except in one scene where she is given a gun and instead of using it, chooses to just stand there and watch while our villain and another character duke it out. What up with that?), and is also very likable. Surprisingly, you could argue that she is the real lead of the film, which is a nice switch from the original. Chris Carnel plays our lead villain when he is in is full miner get-up, and is very intimidating (it's all about the posture!). His costume is striking, cool, and memorable.
As for our supporting cast, we get the always bad-ass Tom Atkins as James Burke, the ex-sheriff of Harmony who hides some secrets of his own. This is one of Atkins' meatier roles as of late, and he very much so impresses. It's always good to see a horror icon back on screen. Betsy Rue plays Irene, a local woman sleeping with a trucker (played by the film's co-screenwriter Todd Farmer. The ladies get an ass shot from him). She isn't in the film long, but is memorable for her doing her whole extended scene totally nude (NICE!). Megan Boone plays Megan, a kind and friendly woman (close friends with Sarah) whom Axel has been having an affair with and has inadvertently impregnated. Megan isn't given a whole lot to do, but she is still fine here. Kevin Tighe plays Ben Foley, a tired and retired member of the local police. He is close friends with James Burke, and shares a dark secret with him. His last scene is fantastic and memorable (as is his last line in the film).
My Bloody Valentine is directed by Patrick Lussier, and he does a fine job. The film has a distinctive visual style (thanks to cinematographer Brian Pearson), and looks consistently crisp, clean, and sharp. This is a remake, so there are nods aplenty to the original (There is a recreation of the coat hanger room scene, the laundry kill reveal, and the opening massacre at the mine is reminiscent of the ending to the original. The makers of this film clearly have a love for the original classic.). Luckily, this is one remake that isn't content to just copy-and-paste from it's predecessor. Oh no, this flick is quite different from the one that came before (One minor example is changing the town's name. Honestly, I much prefer the name of Valentine Bluffs, which is catchy and more memorable).
One of the best parts of this remake (and one of the best changes made) is the opening segment. In the original, we start out in present day and eventually segue into a flashback that explains the backstory for the flick. Here, we jump right into things, with the first 15 minutes being the original massacre of Harry Warden. This is a very smart move as it opens the remake with a memorable, pulse-pounding bang!
Another change made is, whereas in the original where the plot is fairly simple and straightforward, here we get an over-abundance of plot and quite a few twists, turns and reveals along the way. During the first hour, we get a lot of plot thrown at us and it honestly feels like too much. This makes the romantic triangle between Sarah, Tom (another change I felt was unneeded. Why change TJ into Tom?), and Axel significantly weaker. The original had an innovative approach to the romantic plot, here it's pretty much played straight-forward (but still fairly tense). There is a bit of melodrama here. Some parts feel a little soap opera-y, and not in a good way.
One thing this remake has that the theatrical cut of the original did not (Still need to seek out the uncut version of the original, btw) is lots of gnarly, delicious kills. There is some noticeable (and distracting) CGI, but there's a good deal of practical effects used. The kills here are quite memorable, and quite a few scenes are refreshingly tense (like the supermarket scene, which is a stand-out!). Thankfully, the big reveal/twist here actually makes more sense than it did in the original and the big finale and ending are pretty cool.
My Bloody Valentine was a 3D release, and is notable for being the first R rated film to be projected in RealD 3D. This is where the noticeable CGI comes into play. It's pretty obvious this flick was made to be seen in 3D, as there are many, many shots where things penetrate the screen or point out at the audience (Tree branches, a shotgun, pick axes, blood, spit, and more!). It's pretty distracting most of the time, and only detracts from what is an otherwise very cool flick. I haven't seen the 3D version in a while, and I'm not sure how watching the film with the red-and-blue glasses would mesh with the cool visual aesthetic of the film. The 3-D version seems to still be available on DVD and Blu-ray (pretty sure for the 3D Blu-ray you need a 3D TV...so that sucks), so it might be worth a watch that way. If I do manage to see the 3D version again, you can be sure I'll update this review with my thoughts.
In the end, the remake of My Bloody Valentine is superior to the theatrical cut of the original classic. The kills are better, the characters are more fleshed out, the visual aesthetic is cool, and most of the changes they made were for the better. It's very cool, very memorable, and has more than enough to satisfy most horror hounds. It makes for a fun watch around Valentine's Day, or any day of the year. This is one remake worth losing your heart over!
3.5 STARS