My Bloody Valentine 3D

Cast: Betsy Rue, Megan Boone, Jaime King, Jensen Ackles, Tom Atkins, Kerr Smith, Marc Macaulay
Language: English
Director: Patrick Lussier
Producer: Michael Paseornek, John Dunning (II), Andre Link
Camera: Brian Pearson
Screenplay: Todd Farmer
Music: Michael Wandmacher
Distribution: Lionsgate
Year: 2009

A remake of the 1981 cult classic, My Bloody Valentine 3D is set in the mining town of Harmony, whose idyllic name belies its violent past. Years before the main story begins, a coal mining accident left its sole survivor, Harry Warden, in a coma. He woke up a year later -- and killed everyone he could find. Among the survivors of Harry's rampage were Tom Hanniger (Jensen Ackles), the son of the mine's owner, his girlfriend Sarah (Jaime King), and Tom's high school rival Axel Palmer (Kerr Smith). Harry is thought to have died in the mine while attempting to escape.

Later, Tom returns to Harmony after a decade-long absence. Now that his father has died, he's come home to sell the mine and be done with Harmony once and for all. Or so he thought until he's reunited with the girl he left behind. Sarah, however, is now married to Axel, who has become the local sheriff. Many of the townsfolk still blame Tom for causing the coal mining accident that led to Harry's rampage, and they hate him even more once he makes his intentions for the mine known.

Tom's return to Harmony seems to have brought more than bad memories with it. Grisly murders begin to occur, and it's soon apparent that pickaxe-wielding serial killer Harry Palmer, a.k.a. The Miner, is back for more. Axel's investigation, however, is clouded by his jealousy and rage over Sarah's reunion with her true love Tom. But is the Miner really back and is he working alone? Or is there a new killer terrorizing Harmony?

My Bloody Valentine is the only recent 3D release that makes consistently good use of its format (yes, arguably even more so than Beowulf). Director Patrick Lussier, who has also edited a number of horror films including the Scream series, clearly understood precisely what kind of film he was making: a theme park ride disguised as a whodunit. The tone and feel of MBV is not unlike Scream, with both films being self-aware enough to allow for a little levity even when things get genuinely tense and gruesome. How seriously can you take a movie when an actress does full frontal nudity throughout an entire suspense sequence?

Many of the kills would still be as effective even if watched in 2D, but the 3D format allows the viewer to feel every jaw-splitting, eye-popping, heart-yanking, gut-wrenching kill committed by the Miner. It ratchets up the tension and adds to the grisly spectacle of the whole affair. Since people go to slasher flicks to see characters dispatched in the most gory manner possible, 3D adds to the twisted voyeurism of the whole affair.

But unlike so many other slasher flicks, you actually become invested in the main characters and are kept guessing as to which one of them might be involved in the killings. Sure, it's no Agatha Christie-level mystery, but MBV offers enough twists, turns and red herrings to keep the answer from being immediately evident (although there is one visual tell partway through that sharp-eyed viewers will catch).

The three leads are all solid. Ackles and Smith manage to capture the ambiguity of their characters, with Smith being particularly effective as the wayward but not entirely unsympathetic sheriff. Thankfully, King's character is a bit more than a damsel in distress, and the film wisely takes a breather in act one to allow the audience to get to know and care about its protagonists before the killings resume. Also keep an eye on Megan Boone, who could become the next big screen hottie if she plays her cards right.

My Bloody Valentine 3D isn't the next Halloween (Carpenter's) or even Scream, but it knows what it wants to be and achieves that with just the right mix of chills and chuckles.

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