Reviewed by Stuart O'Connor
Stars Jensen Ackles, Jaime King, Kerr Smith, Betsy Rue,
Edi Gathegi, Tom Atkins, Kevin Tighe, Megan Boone,
Karen Baum, Marc Macaulay, Todd Farmer
Written by Todd Farmer & Zane Smith
Certification UK 18 | US R
Runtime 101 minutes
Directed by Patrick Lussier
3D is back, and with a vengeance. What was a bit of a gimmick in the 1950s and again in the 1980s is being revived in a big way by most of the major studios — thanks in part to the 3D technology now being much cheaper, and also because Hollywood is pretty well bankrupt of original ideas.
The 50s 3D push kicked off with horror — the terrific Vincent Price flick House of Wax, which was recently remade (badly) in 2D with the 1D Paris Hilton. And horror is a part of the revival, too. A few months ago we had the awful Scar 3D, and now here comes My Bloody Valentine 3D — a pretty decent remake of a 1981 Canadian splatter film.
It's standard fare for a slasher film. The plot is about a crazy miner who killed a bunch of people with a pickaxe. Now, 10 years later, the miner — who was supposedly killed by the then sherrif and his posse — has started killing again. Or is it a copycat? You'll work it out pretty quickly if you're paying attention. It's all familiar stuff to fans of the genre. But, for a change, the 3D actually enhances the film instead of just being a gimmick. There's plenty of old-school blood and gore, all made that much more realisitic thanks to the decent 3D effects. Well, decent enough — there were a few scenes in which I noticed some ghosting in the background, but that may have been down to projection rather than a problem with the film itself. Though in my experience, CGI animation works much better in 3D (see Fly Me To The Moon, or the upcoming Bolt) than live action.
My Bloody Valentine is a more than decent stab at the slasher genre, and a more than passable entry in the growing slate of new 3D ventures coming at us this year.