*** This comment may contain spoilers *** When My Bloody Valentine was released in 1981, the censor board cut it to pieces leaving us with a good horror film but not a great one. All of that has changed now that the producers have managed to get a hold of the 9 minutes of gore that was cut out of the film to retain an R rating. What started out as a very atmospheric yet pedestrian film, is now elevated to near perfection with the lost footage being added. My Bloody Valentine can be bought on DVD in Special Edition format and for the $15.00 you will pay, it is more than worth it.
I am going to assume that most people have seen the film, so I'll refrain from giving you a synopses of the film, but instead I'll tell you about some of the missing pieces to the film and why it makes it so much better.
The film opens with two people walking deep into a mine and then stopping to have sex. As the woman takes off her shirt, above her left breast is a tattoo of a heart. This drives the other miner mad and he pushes her up against the pick-axe stuck in the wall. The pick axe comes out of her chest and protrudes from the tattoo.
The next addition to the film is one of the most infamous cuts to the film and it gained a reputation for one of the goriest scenes ever cut from a film. And no one had seen it. It involved Mabel, at the laundromat, getting killed and then her corpse shows up in the dryer the next day as the police chief finds her. Her body has all it's skin burned off it and the eyes are bulging and she is blood red. The corpse is very, very real looking and it is a celebration of make-up and special effects. Just the addition of this scene is worth buying the DVD.
The next that I recall is when the bartender tries to set up some sort of booby trap to scare the kids. He has a miner's costume, complete with a pick axe, wired to one of the doors. As the door opens the costumer pops out to give a bit of a scare. As he opens the door one last time, the real Harry Warden pops out and rams his pick axe through his chin and out of his eyeball. This is another wondrous shot with amazing attention to detail. The scene looks authentic and for a film with such a parsimonious budget, they certainly got the most out of the special effects.
I'll mention two more. One is when two of the party goers are in the mine and are about the make love and then of course the guy runs off to get beers. This leaves the girl all alone and then she is attacked and rammed into one of the pipes in the shower. She is left suspended by the pipe and water is shooting out of her mouth. It is truly a marvellous scene.
We also get a very realistic nail gun to the head scene when the nails look they went into Hollis' head.
The only caveat to this is that when the old footage is inserted (edited) into the film, because is is so old and has presumably been sitting in a tin can somewhere for almost 30 years, the film is faded, but this doesn't take away from how effective the scenes are.
My Bloody Valentine, the theatrical cut is a creepy, stylish, claustrophobic feeling film with enough suspense and likable characters that it is a nice addition to the horror family. But there was always something missing. Well here we are 28 years later and that missing something has turned this film into one of the best horror films of the last 40 years. I highly recommend that if you like the film, get this edition on DVD. You won't be disappointed.
Theatrical Cut: 7/10 Special Edition: 9/10
I am going to assume that most people have seen the film, so I'll refrain from giving you a synopses of the film, but instead I'll tell you about some of the missing pieces to the film and why it makes it so much better.
The film opens with two people walking deep into a mine and then stopping to have sex. As the woman takes off her shirt, above her left breast is a tattoo of a heart. This drives the other miner mad and he pushes her up against the pick-axe stuck in the wall. The pick axe comes out of her chest and protrudes from the tattoo.
The next addition to the film is one of the most infamous cuts to the film and it gained a reputation for one of the goriest scenes ever cut from a film. And no one had seen it. It involved Mabel, at the laundromat, getting killed and then her corpse shows up in the dryer the next day as the police chief finds her. Her body has all it's skin burned off it and the eyes are bulging and she is blood red. The corpse is very, very real looking and it is a celebration of make-up and special effects. Just the addition of this scene is worth buying the DVD.
The next that I recall is when the bartender tries to set up some sort of booby trap to scare the kids. He has a miner's costume, complete with a pick axe, wired to one of the doors. As the door opens the costumer pops out to give a bit of a scare. As he opens the door one last time, the real Harry Warden pops out and rams his pick axe through his chin and out of his eyeball. This is another wondrous shot with amazing attention to detail. The scene looks authentic and for a film with such a parsimonious budget, they certainly got the most out of the special effects.
I'll mention two more. One is when two of the party goers are in the mine and are about the make love and then of course the guy runs off to get beers. This leaves the girl all alone and then she is attacked and rammed into one of the pipes in the shower. She is left suspended by the pipe and water is shooting out of her mouth. It is truly a marvellous scene.
We also get a very realistic nail gun to the head scene when the nails look they went into Hollis' head.
The only caveat to this is that when the old footage is inserted (edited) into the film, because is is so old and has presumably been sitting in a tin can somewhere for almost 30 years, the film is faded, but this doesn't take away from how effective the scenes are.
My Bloody Valentine, the theatrical cut is a creepy, stylish, claustrophobic feeling film with enough suspense and likable characters that it is a nice addition to the horror family. But there was always something missing. Well here we are 28 years later and that missing something has turned this film into one of the best horror films of the last 40 years. I highly recommend that if you like the film, get this edition on DVD. You won't be disappointed.
Theatrical Cut: 7/10 Special Edition: 9/10