Canadian Horror Marathon: My Bloody Valentine (1981)



Valentine’s Day is a time of peace and love.  It’s the time when couples show their affection for one another through gifts, dates, and other non-appropriate things for me to discuss, if you know what I mean.  In terms of my Canadian Horror marathon, Valentine’s Day can also be very bloody.

My Bloody Valentine is a 1981 Canadian slasher movie about a group of miners being killed by a miner during their Valentine’s Day festivities.  When I say that the movie is Canadian, I mean that it is Canadian.  It is one of the most Canadian movies I’ve ever seen that has not been made by Paul Gross.  (For those that don’t know, Paul Gross is like a national treasure here.)

First, I would like to point out the accents.  My Bloody Valentine has some stereotypical Canadian accents in it, most notably from the character of Axel.  I swear he even said “aboot” at one point.  That is where I should have noticed how Canadian this movie was.  But there’s more.

The characters get off of work at the beginning of the movie and head straight to the bar.  When they get to the bar they order some beer.  It’s not just any kind of beer, though.  The characters order some Moosehead.  For those unfamiliar with Moosehead, it is a brand of beer from Canada.  In fact, Moosehead is the oldest Canadian independent brew.  Once again, that’s not all.  There is another thing that makes this movie Canadian.

Esso.  That’s right, Esso makes My Bloody Valentine even more Canadian.  Esso is an American company, but was mostly replaced in the early 70s my Mobil.  Both are named used for ExxonMobil to sell gas.  Esso is still the brand name used in Canada.  This may not definitely make the movie Canadian, but there is a much better chance.

Oh, and it was filmed in Nova Scotia.  That’s in Canada.

My Bloody Valentine is as Canadian as I’ve ever seen a movie, and I’m proud to have it represent my country.  It’s a fun little slasher flick that knows when to make things serious and when not to.  I wish there were more movies like this.

Up next in the Canadian Horror Marathon is the 2007 movie Fido.  I felt the need to get out of the early 80s after two movies from that time.  I’ll get back to the 80s later, but right now it’s time for something newer.  And that’s all I have to say about that.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

First Time Watches: March 2019

Image
I’ve been writing these first-time watch posts for a long time. They are a chronicle, month by month, of the movies that are new to me. They could be theatrical releases or they could be older movies that I’m finally getting around to. Either way, they’re fresh to my eyes, never having gone through them before. With that comes pleasant surprise, a great experience, disappointment, or frustration. There could be many more emotions as well. These posts share my emotions from having watched the movies with whoever decides to read them. I fell behind on these posts a long time ago and have been trying to work my way through them to eventually catch up. This post will cover March 2019 and the movies I saw for the first time over the course of that month. Any rewatches will not be a part of this post. If they aren’t first time watches, they don’t count. March was a month full of all kinds of movies. There were good and bad, like usual, and a variety of genres, also like usual. Th...
Read more

Is "Real Steel" Like "Over the Top"?

When I was going through my weekly movie binge a couple weeks ago, I stumbled upon two movies that I had never seen before that tackled a very similar story.   It was an odd thing to have happen because I didn’t know of any similarities between the two movies.   The first was Real Steel, a movie about a man who participates in robot boxing while bonding with the son that he had left years before.   The second was Over the Top, a movie about a man who participates in arm wrestling while bonding with the son that he had left years before.   Similar?   I think so. Let’s begin with Real Steel.   I watched this one because, why the hell not?   I quite enjoyed the movie and by the end I was rooting for Hugh Jackman’s character to help his robot, Atom, to a victory.   The thing to point out about Real Steel is how good the visual effects were.   I wasn’t expecting too much going in, but I thought they masterfully crafted each robot in a way that...
Read more

Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Season 2, Episode 8: The Power Stealer

Image
Last time we sat down with the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers , Tommy was going through some serious stuff.   His powers were running low because Lord Zedd was targeting him.   He felt hopeless.   His friends were comforting him.   There was also a Robo Goat trying to take a powerful sword and use it against the Earth.   There were fights all over the place and an emotional hook that was unmatched in any episode that wasn’t in a multi-part arc. This episode, there might be follow-up to the Tommy storyline.   It would be nice to see more of the struggle with his powers.   Right now, that’s the one throughline that has been playing out.   II hope this episode continues to have some sort of meaning to the overall story, instead of being a self-contained and meaningless.   The show needs to grow and evolve, with a storyline that builds to something significant.   Having episodes that keep the story at a standstill is boring.   ...
Read more