Quite good, as slashers go
The heir of a mine (Jensen Ackles) in a remote town in Pennsylvania returns ten years after a Valentine’s Day massacre that took the lives of 22 people. When a psycho slayer dressed as a miner with a pickaxe also shows up the sheriff (Kerr Smith) naturally suspects the heir, who happens to be the ex-beau of his wife (Jaime King).
"My Bloody Valentine" (2009) is a remake of the 1981 slasher but is different enough to view as a sort-of sequel. It includes most of the vital elements for an effective flick of this genre.
The basic formula was well established by "Halloween" (1978) and the first two "Friday the 13th" flicks (1980-1981): A crazy masked killer and a group of youths in a specific environment, whether a town, camp, forest, college, resort, building, etc. In this case it's a mining town, shot in Kittanning and Bethel, PA, and points nearby along the Allegheny River. So the film gets a big plus for filming somewhere other than friggin’ British Columbia! (Not that there's anything wrong with BC, of course, but enough is enough).
Beautiful women is a must for these types of films and "My Bloody Valentine" delivers superbly with Jaime King (Sarah), Megan Boone (Megan) and Betsy Rue (Irene), the latter in an extended nude scene, which I think is unnecessary, but some will obviously appreciate it.
Most importantly, the story is engrossing and keeps you guessing as to the identity of the killer till the very end. Compared to the original movie, it’s more compelling and all-around more entertaining.
The film runs 1 hour, 41 minutes.
GRADE: B+
