My Bloody Valentine 3D (2009)

A remake that surprises in more positive ways than not, 'My Bloody Valentine 3D' is one of the better examples of doing a remake right (though it's still a completely unnecessary practice overall). This film stars Jensen Ackles (Supernatural) as Tom Hanniger a young man returning back to his small mining hometown after a traumatic murder spree that occurred many years ago. He returns home with a not-so-warm welcome from his ex girlfriend (Jaime King) and his former best buddy (Kerr Smith) who have become estranged with Tom since his vanishing those many years ago and on top of that, the bodies begin piling up once again and Harry Warden has returned to finish what he started.

Right away, many horror fans will throw the film by the wayside due to the fact that it was released in 3D, an extremely stupid gimmick that even almost a decade later will still not go away no matter how good or bad they do however with 'Valentine' it manages to be at least a fun experience. This is old school 1950's and early 1980's 3D, with the killer throwing his weapon at the camera at every possible moment he can do so and lots of blood and grue hitting the lens as well. It's nice to see the 3D bring a retro feel to the modern horror genre, but overall it's still not needed as the film as a whole is rather entertaining on its own and in its regular 2D format.

It's also quite impressive how brutal and overly violent the film is and this was released a month before the 2009 remake of 'Friday the 13th' a series notorious for its many over the top violent death scenes. 'My Bloody Valentine 3D' blows that remake out of the water and does anything but play it safe as we not only get some of the most brutal death scenes I've seen in a theatrical release in a while, but an almost 20 minute sequence of a full frontal nude woman being chased around by Harry Warden. This is stuff you never see in modern horror and it's awesome.

Where the film falls is almost inherent in its DNA being a remake. The film attempts to change around some aspects such as the relationships of the various characters and even with the killer and they also try to change the twist of the original for another original twist which is commendable and even set up a sequel that unfortunately never happened (Lionsgate what the heck? SAW VII but not MBV 2?) but like when I saw 'Star Trek: Into Darkness' these don't make an original film and its still just a rehash of what came before and that will leave you feeling rather empty once you've left the theater.

Just changing one character's motivations around or swapping one killer for the other doesn't make the film different and it's really lazy (and it's not like writer Todd Farmer is lazy. I mean he wrote the amazing 'Jason X'.) However, I still recommend 'My Bloody Valentine 3D' as a 'so bad its good' film. It's one of my go to party films to watch with a bunch of buddies and a few cold ones and junk food. If you like yourself some slasher flicks, this is one of the best modern ones you should pick up.

GRADE: (C+)