Reviews (55)

Won't you be mine?
Even in the annals of slasherdom, this movie just isn't very good. Not that I expect slashers to be masterpieces, but there is much lacking here. One of the primary omissions is gore--the film was literally butchered by the MPAA. Not only does this disappoint fans of the genre, but in all honesty, it really fudges the continuity of the film and even manages to mar the ending.

The acting here is strictly amateur hour. The direction is standard, by the numbers slasher fare. The script includes some great unintentional howlers, including the classic line, "We were having a party...and Harry Warden started killing everyone". The town mayor supplies some funny moments as he and the bumbling sheriff try and figure out who is sending bloody valentines (human hearts actually, with [bad] "Roses are red" poems attached).

You'll probably guess the killer pretty early on but keep watching for the murders. Well, most of the cast gets offed as if you couldn't guess. There's also the required old guy who tries to warn the townspeople not to throw another Valentine's Day party. His death is actually pretty funny as he tries to rig an elaborate practical joke and gets axed.

Most of the murders are cut pretty badly so that there is a real absence of blood. There is a beheading toward the end that doesn't look like a beheading because most of the scene was cut--I had to read about it to figure out what the heck happened. Not only that, but the ending is edited so that we can't even see what actually happens to the killer very well. Again, had to read about it.

What we do get is a pretty cool getup for a slasher killer: a miner outfit complete with pickaxe and lighted helmet. There is one very good stalking sequence featuring coal miner suits dropping out of their rigs in the ceiling and scaring a young woman nearly to death before her (heavily edited) death, which is never really clear.

The plot is weak, the characters pretty dumb and the gore compromised by picky censors wanting to tone down horror films at the time in the wake of John Lennon's death and Reagan's near-assasination. Oh well.

I would be seriously surprised if any company actually bothered to put out an uncut deluxe DVD of this film since, quite honestly, it just isn't very good....

Still, for fans of the genre, you might tack on an extra star just because this is a 1981 slasher and you just have to see it because.

A bloody good time
After a Valentine's Day mine explosion caused by negligent supervisors eager to leave early for the town dance, sole survivor Harry Warden returned the following year for vengeance and left a bloody warning that the town of Valentine Bluffs better not hold a Valentine's day dance ever again...or else. Twenty years later, a new generation of locals (working class twentysomethings who all work in the mine) decide to have a dance on Valentine's Day, and guess who comes out of the woodwork? After the mayor gets a warning with Harry's M.O., he and the police chief order the fun-loving bunch to cancel the dance. They have a secret party at the mine instead, and with the warning unheeded, Valentine's Day suddenly becomes very unromantic.

This is my personal favorite of all the holiday-themed slasher films that trailed "Halloween" and "Friday the 13th". A few redundent characters, like the old man whose warnings fall on deaf ears, or the annoying prankster. There's some good acting and we actually have a love triangle; these movies usually don't bother with subplots or much character development. Having several terrified people trapped in a coal mine with a psychotic heavy-breathing miner is a novel touch. Too bad this didn't do much at the box office, an intended sequel was canceled. In 2001, director George Mihalka approached Paramount about doing a "20 years later" sequel, as well as an uncut DVD release, but they didn't give him the time of day.

My Bloody Valentine
My Bloody Valentine is an interesting film.It's a horror flick and some of the acting is actually good.The characters aren't too memorable.The dialogue is fairly nice.There isn't much gore though for an 80's movie.The plot is well calculated and thought out.Paul Kelman and Lori Hallier do a great job in My Bloody Valentine.The movie has horror, comedy, and some romance if you look close enough.This is definetly a ok horror movie for being different nevertheless.The ending is also a big suprise.Twenty years ago, a tragic accident in a mine on St. Valentines day took the lives of five miner's. The disaster occurred while supervisors left their posts to attend the town's annual Valentine's Day danceThe only survivor,Harry Warden, was confined to a mental institution after the ordeal. On the disaster's first anniversary, he returned to the town for bloody revenge. That was nineteen years ago, and memories have dimmed. Young lovers T.J. and Sarah and friend Axel are among the townspeople attending another Valentine's party.Then, a box of Valentine candy arrives, containing an ominous message and a blood- soaked heart.Before the night is over, terror will strike again and again and again....

Halloween and Friday the 13th spin off...
These horrific events began 20 years ago in the small mining town, Valentine's Bluff, when some miners got trapped in the mines and their rescue got delayed due to a Valentine's day party. The only survivor sought his revenge a year later by killing everyone who was celebrating Valentine's day. Now the curse is about to be brought back as the people of Valentine's Bluff are preparing for their first Valentine's day party in 20 years. My Bloody Valentine is a poor slasher film that seems to be a spin off from Halloween (1978) and Friday the 13th (1980), which offers an awkward cinematic experience.

Bloody Good Fun
Paramount pictures had been enjoying success with Friday The 13th, so why not strike while the iron is hot? My Bloody Valentine came out at the perfect time(though not to much financial success) in the slasher heyday. I saw it when I was 5, and thought it was very scary. Now I think it's just silly, but fun! Basically there's nothing new here if you've seen any slasher flicks before. It's just fun to see variations on the subject. This time it's a guy in a miner's outfit, which is actually one of the cooler looking psycho slasher getups. As far as plot goes-Horrible mining accident years back on Valentine's Day. Flash forward to 81 and the killer warns the town not to throw a Valentine bash or there will be hell to pay(even though he starts killing before Valentine's Day). The kids don't heed the warning, tra-la, tra-la. The killer hacks away at our partying kids, gets mixed up in industrial espionage and battles a team of bloodthirsty mutant whales. There's also a subplot of two guys fighting for the affections of our leading lady. Not scary, but fun in that slasher way. I watched this suffering a bad gas attack from a BBQ chicken pizza I had ate earlier for dinner, so it all had kind of a 3-D effect with the dark, stanky, damp mine scenes. As you'll read, the MPAA took a special interest in this film and cut down the gore. I have no idea why coz you wouldn't let your kid watch this anyway. But it's still enough to satisfy. It's no less gory than the later Friday the 13th films. Watch with someone you love. ... Read more

Reviews (13)

I've seen better...
This movie was nothing like I expected. I don't know exactly what I was expecting.... but whatever it was ... it wasn't what I got. The cover of the movie is quite deceptive. On the back of the movie when they say that pin is a harmless deaf mute ... I still kind of thought he was alive or something, but he is just a dummy. I felt bad for the 2 children in the movie ... anyone living under the conditions in their parents house would probably end up going insane or atleast having some severe emotional or psychological issues. So throughout the movie it was hard for me to not feel sorry for Leon (I love David Hewlett - CUBE is soooo much better though). It isn't Leon's fault that his mom was an obsessive compulsive cleaning freak and his dad was a weird and strict, uncaring person. So what if that leads him to believe that his fathers medical dummy is his friend? Pin was much nicer than his parents. So I can't really blame him. A child who has to live under those conditions is bound to have some kind of way to cope with all that is going on. Pin was there to help him. Perhaps there could have been better ways to help Leon than to convince him to kill people (although I cannot place the blame on poor Pin... he is just an innocent by-stander ... especially in the scene where the nurse does bad things to him!! Naughty naughty!) but the idea of Pin being real was all in Leon's head... I really wish someone had gotten him help... especially his sister who seemed very oblivious to what was going on and when she finally did figure out that Leon was mental ... she just went on with her little life and didn't bother to get him some treatment. All in all, I've seen better movies, of course. But I've also seen much worse.

do you have "the need"
oh boy. ok, so yeah this movie gets 4 stars...but not because it's good, but rather because it is so terrible and hilarious, that I can't stop watching it. there is a small but loyal cult following of this movie in and around Boston. the acting and writing are downright hysterical.

Psychological Horror. Well done.
The idea that a father would communicate with his children through an inanimate doll in order to educate them about sex is bizarre, and yet it works in this film. One wonders whether this was based on actual cases, because it seems so plausible. This horror film is so much more than a two-dimensional portrayal of psychosis. It tries to examine the process by which someone could go completely insane, and succeeds. It is entertaining in the way that Psycho is entertaining, while treating the subject of schizophrenia respectfully. The dvd is widescreen, and the film is definitely worth a look for horror fans. Recommended.

Why don't we have more horror like this.
Meet Pin, a harmless, mute and lifeless fantasy in little Leon's mind - a fantasy that initially took form when Leon's father imparted life lessons to him through the use of anatomical dummy. At first a source of amusement and comfort, Pin demonically evolves into the object of Leon's mad fixation. Soon, Leon and Pin quietly but thoroughly eliminate anyone who intrudes into their private world. One reason I loved The Ring is that is was scary and it went back to the intelligent horror films that actually scared it's audience. Pin does the same. While not as scary as The Ring it does pack atmosphere and suspense. It's a bit long but it's still good. This is one that must be viewed in the dark all by yourself. 5 stars for being scary.

just as good as the book!
I read this book years ago as a teen and then luckily saw the movie at a used video store and bought it. its about a brother and sister who for years have to deal with controlling obsessive parents. the father is a doctor with a lifesize mannequin called pin. when the kids grow up to teens the boy becomes obssessed with Pin. after their parents die he takes pin to the house much to the sisters dismay. and when people start getting on the brothers nerves pin takes care of them forever. the neat part is you never know whether its pin or someone else doing the killing till about halfway through the movie and when you do its still creepy. everyone did a great job in this movie. highly recommended! ... Read more

Amazon.com

Even by the degraded standards of early-'80s slasher films, The Incubus is pretty hard to sit through. A grumpy John Cassavetes plays a small-town doctor investigating a series of sex murders with a supernatural twist; the only other name actor is John Ireland, and everybody else is atrocious. Most of the genre's conventions are trotted out, albeit at a glacial pace: shower scene, young couple swimming at an isolated lake. The one quirky element, a suggestion of unhealthy intimacy between Cassavetes and his teenage daughter, might have creepy potential if it weren't so obviously a red herring. To his credit, Cassavetes passes through the entire film looking as though he would like to disappear into a corner. This low-budget Canadian offering is not to be confused with Incubus, the daffy William Shatner picture shot in the language of Esperanto, which is actually pretty fun. --Robert Horton ... Read more

Reviews (4)

Doesn't deserve it's bad reputation!
I just finished watching this movie on DVD and I simply don't understand why it has such so-so reviews. Cassavetes gives a fine performance(as usual), it's violent and gory, and the ending is nice and twisted. I miss horror films like this and wish more were made. Too many folks now have been spoonfed junk by the likes of Wes Craven and company for over the past 15 years, which has unfortunately caused some movie goers to expect flash, dumb characters, stupid stories and highly marketable villians. Of course I'm not saying that this film is high art or anything but it is highly creepy, has some nice camera work, good performances, and doesn't treat the audience like they were a four year old. If you haven't seen it then give it a look. You might like it.

A great date movie . . . . . .
Not really, unless you have some very strange dates. I first saw this movie on an afternoon horror/sci fi theater program on commercial television, and found it intriguing and also wondered what the movie actually was like without all the commercials and station breaks. After watching it, I am glad it is available on DVD. However, the movie has wooden acting, somewhat repetitious in the murders and the blood special effects are poor. The movie takes place in New England, but the car of the main character has Wisconsin license plates. A man shoots off his foot, but is thrown out the side of a building showing both feet intact. But, after all this is a B-movie and still enjoyable. There is obviously a red herring in the plot but you may or may not figure it out. I am not sorry I bought the DVD as it is a good example of movies of its type (for horror content and when made). I only wish it were a bit less costly. It is not a high budget movie and does not have Oscar quality acting, but then I didn't expect it to have anything different. A worthwhile addition for one who is collecting movies of its type. Certainly a cut above the rest for movies of its type made in the early 1980's.

No, this is not that good!!
I saw this many years ago. You may guess the story, and I bet you win. This is about beast-man who rapes girls and murder victim. It's part of satanic rites practice.
The best part may be when you guess, if this monster he or she..

Better than the Blair Witch Project !!!
This early 80's indy horror classic holds up surprisingly well. Sure its pretty low budget but John Hough's brilliant direction and creative camera use makes the most out of a so so screenplay.The Incubus isnt shown until the end of the film and the Make up on it is pretty Cool looking. John Cassavette's performance is pretty solid and darkly brooding easily over shadowing the lesser acting talents here. I dont want to give away the cool twist ending but,they should have shown Cassavette's ripping some sh_t up after the revelation of the Incubus!!! That would have rocked...;) ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Sexy Comedy with Gorgeous Babes
Great high school summer movie full of fun, beautiful sexy girls, nudity, crazy scenes, and bizarre sequences. ... Read more