A small town
called Valentine Bluffs when a man and a woman
are together in a coal mine.
While the woman tried to make out with the guy he
grabs her and impales her on his pickaxe, killing
her.
The villagers are excited about their first
Valentine's day dance in twenty years but the
mayor opens a chocolate box with a threatening
note and a human heart stuffed inside of it.
A local bartender at their local bar called The
Cage warns people that their town is cursed on
Valentine's day as he tells that the last dance
there twenty years ago when seven miners were
working underground.
Two supervisors had already finished their work,
but anxious to go the party, they left before the
other five were safely out. They also failed to
check the methane gas levels.
Because of this oversight, a lantern that one of
the five men was holding caused a huge explosion
and the miners were buried alive.
For six weeks, rescuers tried to find survivors,
but they could only reach one, Harry Warden. They
found him eating the severed arm of one of his
co-workers.
Harry went insane after the accident and spent
the next year in a mental hospital. After he was
released, he killed the two supervisors with a
pickax and cut out their hearts.
He then stuffed them into heart-shaped candy
boxes and left them at that year's Valentine's
dance with a warning that the town should never
again hold a party on the 14th of February.
The story goes that every year on that day, he
comes back to town to kill anyone who does not
heed his threat.
The people laugh at his story and carry on with
the party and then the murders start with the
victims being slayed by a pick axe through the
heart then the killer puts their hearts in
chocolate boxes with more deadly notes.
A group of coal miners decide to have a Valentine
party even if the local town is against it and
some of them decide to hang out inside the coal
mine where one by one they are getting slayed by
the killer.
A great slasher film in the same
vein as Halloween and
Friday the 13th in which this killer
wears a miner mask and a miner uniform since
those outfits look very creepy itself.
Alot of the scenes are very similar and became a
cult classic like other horror flicks such as Sleepaway
Camp, Last House on the Left
and Demons.
Very effective and creepy. Plus there's a scene
taking place on Friday the 13th with two officers
trying to find clues by contacting others about
Harry Warden which gives the date a perfect touch
since it's almost like a tribute to the movie
that started off the Jason Voorhees slashers.
There's many great takes surrounding the film
mainly outside which is in Nova Scotia since the
environment there looked very beautiful along
with mostly Canadian actors instead of the
Hollywood one's taking over everything.
Plus there's the nice old fashioned two men
acting territorial over a beautiful young lady
like tow wild animals which is a nice drawing
card to the horror film scene wondering who could
be the killer out of the two if one of them
really were killing these people. To top it off,
the mining tunnel area looked very nice and dark
which is a perfect place for a killer wandering
around. We also have a crazy supersistious old
man telling the tale of the killer Harry Warden
which was also another bonus since slasher films
have these types.
A sequel will be planned after all these years
but sadly is was scrapped due to the 2009 remake.
During the end of this film it totally left a
door open for one which is so painful since you
want this film to continue. But there were two
reasons as to why it never arose.
Reason One: This flick was done in Canada back in
81 and very few Canadian horror film's
(Especially slashers) succeeded to have a sequel.
Reason Two: The film didn't do well at the box
office so Paramount rejected the sequel when it
was written in 2001 so this writer was out of
luck.
Reason Three: This film wasn't too mainstream
even if it was made by a big company Paramount
but again, doesn't necessarily makes it big.
Think of another Canadian slasher film Black
Christmas. There was a door open for one
since there was some explaining to do and the
killer never got caught nor did anyone know who
this killer was but viewers didn't seem to take
notice of Canadian horror flicks having sequels.
Times have changed since then but the remakes
were becoming overrated as that seems to be the
moneymakers nowadays.
The film is well adored by slasher fans. Worth
checking out as it shows a mysterious killer in
the film.
For a b-film like this, the acting
is not too bad if you enjoyed the same kind of
acting like in Sleepaway Camp, Texas
Chainsaw Massacre or the first Friday
the 13th flick.
Most of the actors remain virtual unknowns like
in those slasher films I mentioned as alot of big
name actors usually avoid low budget films.
Paul
Kelman is probably the best actor in this
film as he brings alot of character to the big
screen as a nice guy in the film and trying to
mend things up with what he has done in the past.
Plus knew how to show some dark mean expressions
too and acting a little stubborn to top it off
making his part as a possible one who's killing
these people at the party.
Lori Hallier who plays his girlfriend is
another fine cast member in this film showing a
true character to her personality. She has a nice
beautiful look plus shows nice emotions to her
role with a soft attitude too.
Neil Affleck is great with
his role playing a bad ass in the film making his
role mysterious too. He really knew how to act
cocky and demanding towards others. He also has
that pretty boy next door look. But at the same
time he can look very rough too when he is
challenging. He moved on to direct the adult
animated series of the Simpsons and
Family Guy.
I had to mention burly supporting character actor
the late Keith Knight whom was overly
impressive in his role and really standing out
compared to most of the cast as a nice guy and
bringing on a great charm in every scene in the
film by acting loud and energetic too showing a
terrific sense of humor too here and there. It
was so sad that he passed on in 2007. Bless his
soul.
Alf Humpfreys brings some humor to the film
too as a prankster since many of these characters
are common for a slasher film as he has the right
goofy looks and really getting into his role
without a disappointment. He comes across as
cheesy at times though.
Cynthia Dale certainly knew how to act very
outgoing and full of life getting ready for the
party and also was great by actring terrified and
intense when the killings start to happen losing
control of herself. She knew how to bring all of
this together and was a perfect one to be in a
horror flick.
Jack Van Evera had a supporting role as well
in this film as a superstitious old bartender in
which he overdoes a bit of his aggressions when
he warns the part goers of what's going to
happen. Yet it seems to blend in with the story
since the plot was a bit cheesy and I had to
mention him. He was another great key to the
story.
Many gory scenes.
Peoples hearts are stuffed in candy boxes.
A pick axe is stabbed in peoples chests and face.
A person is eating a cut off arm.
An old lady is found dead in a dryer at a
Laundromat.
A woman is impaled on a shower head.
A head is cut off with the body falling.
The killers arm is torn off.
The directing is well done and
almost meets up to John Carpenter's
directing in Halloween. The
director is George Milhalka who did the
same for the two TV series The Hitchhiker
and DaVinci's Inquest as
well as MTV's Undressed.
He shows a great beginning with Peter
Cowper as Harry Warden and a lustful woman
played by Pat Hemingway during their
lustful moment befiore he kills her with a pick
axe. There's a perfect close up shot on her mouth
opening wide with her paranoid looking eyes too
which looked well shot and impressive for an
opening to a good slasher flick.
We also have great shots of the cast playing the
coal miners acting silly and excited about the
Valentine party whether they're taking showers
cleaning themselves after a day of work or
jumping into their cars to go to their place to
prepare stuff. There's also a great moment with
Alf Humpreys pulling a prank towards
supporting actors Don Francks and Patricia
Hamilton when they are about to enter a door
to the upcoming party with him coming out acting
like he's slaughtered with great freaked
reactions on them and then he laughs like a geeky
teenager fooling them. The direction on this
looked cheesy but well done for a low budgeter
making it necessary for the story.
There's a good shot on Francks in a
police vehicle after he spots a human heart in a
candy box just not believing what he's seeing.
It's a little too overly directed though.
There's a nice camera shot looking up on
supporting actress Patricia Hamilton
reading a valentine card in a laundromat looking
happy and then changing her expressions after she
reads what it says. The timing looked great and
spooky too as well as a good shot on her trying
to back away from the killer.
There's some good shots on Francks when
he enters the laundromat spotting upside down
hearts displays with him removing them and then a
close to jumping shot on a dryer opening with a
great close up0 shot on a dead corpse popping
out.
There's a great scene invovling supporting actor Jack
Van Evera as a bartender when he tells the
locals at the bar about the dangers in
Valentine's bluff as that's what we need for a
good slasher film as we've seen Crazy Ralph do it
in Friday the 13th. He shows
an intimidating serious attitude about it which
looked slightly too cheesy though. There's are
good flashback scene's involving a mine exploding
with a good close up shot on Cowper
screaming insanely with his wide eyes after he is
dug up from rocks being removed after the
explosion as well as shots on him in his mining
suit doing away his victims and a good shot on a
candy box set on a table at a party with blood
dripping down from it.
There's another good scene with him planning a
prank with a dummy in a shack holding a pick axe
as he tries it out and then the killer comes out
of the shack and kills him which looks creepy and
great for a slasher film.
There's a perfect dialogue scene between Paul Kelman and
Lori Hallier as the two of them try to mend
their relationship again. Both of them show nice
emotions. Which took place outside near an
oceanside leaving the film a nice touch to it.
There's great shots on the mysterious killer
doing away his victims too.
We also have an effective scene at the party
between Kelman and Neil Affleck when
they duke it out as it looked very real with
their anger towards one another with Keith
Knight breaking it up and getting aggressive
with the two of them and really being physical
about it which looked very realistic.
There's a good shot on Helen Udy down
near the mining area with a shot on her hearing
something then looking around and then the killer
attacking her with a great shot on her screaming
when he grabs her and about to impale her which
looked suspenseful.
There's great moments with Humphreys, Knight,
Hallier and Cynthia Dale
hanging around the mining tunnels with Knight and
Humphreys goofing around and trying to scare
them.
There's a good camera shot looking up on
supporting actor Carl Marotte boiling
some hotdogs with the killer trying to push his
head into the pot as well as a good back shot on
the killer doing this.
There's great reactions with bit part actress Terry
Waterland and Thomas Kovacs
freaking out and crying storming in at the party
telling them some people were killed which causes
an excitement along with Affleck crying
out that Harry Warden is back which showed some
descent timing.
There's a great shot on Knight with a
shocked expression on his face when the killer is
about to kill him with a nail gun and great shots
on him being shot by it. There's a perfect
intensity with Dale after she spots him
dead being scared stiff while both Hallier
and Kelman trying to help them get to
safety and escaping with great shots in the
tunnel passageway along with the killer trying to
go after them.
There's also good shots on all of them climing up
a ladder with shots on them climbing up as well
as a shot looking down on them doing this.
There's alot of great sturggling moments with Kelman
and Hallier trying to dodge away from
the killer on the mining vehicle with good
suspenseful shots on all of this.
There's also good shots on Don Francks
with bit part actors as his gang running in the
mining tunnel with flashlights trying to come to
the rescue.
All in all Milhalka made the shots on the coal mine
looked great as it looked like a creepy place for
the killer to be doing away his victims.
The music is composed by Paul
Zaza who has composed for tons of other
motion pictures and TV shows and he totally gives
the film that slasher type feel to it like you
see in A Nightmare On Elm Street
or Halloween. There's nice banjo
playing dusring a moment when the employees run
outside to get into their cars to go to their
area and prepare for their party which sounded
perfectly well done. Also, there's great low
flute playing when one of the police chiefs is in
the laundromat before a tragedy is discovered
there. There's also some good punding sounds in
the dark mine with anyone trying to survive from
the killer along with some brief soft chiming
sounds.
There is also music by some country artists that
were unlisted for some reason.
[Mayor
Hanniger & Chief Newby are driving back to
City Hall in Newby's police Suburban. The Chief
gestures to the heart-shaped candy box that
arrived at the police building earlier, addressed
to the Mayor]
Chief Jake Newby: Aren't you goint to open
that?
Mayor Hanniger: Yeah.
Chief Jake Newby: Better read the card
first.
[Mayor Hanniger opens the card on the front of
the box]
Mayor Hanniger: [reading from the card]
From the heart comes a warning, filled with
bloody good - cheer, remember what happened as
the 14th draws - near!
[Hanniger opens the box to find a blood-soaked
heart inside. The chief looks over and is
horrified by what he sees]
Chief Jake Newby: It can't be!
Jessie
'T.J.' Hanniger: We'll have a party in the
mine!
Howard Landers: Yeah. Beware of Harry
Warden! OOOOOOOHHHHH!
Hollis: SHUT THE FUCK UP!
Happy: Beware of what you make fun of, you
little asshole!
Howard Landers: Who?
Happy: YOU!
Chief
Jake Newby: [the chief is getting into his
car when Tommy's car comes up behind him,
swerving wildly. It stops and Tommy gets out]
[yelling]
Chief Jake Newby: Goddammit, Tommy
Whitcomb what the hell's the matter with you?
Where's your brains? I...
Tommy Whitcomb: Chief, listen to me. You
have to go to the mine! We were having a party
and Harry Warden started killing everybody!
Axel
Palmer: [singing to himself] Sarah, be
My Bloody Valentine...
|
