There does seem at first to be something clever and subversive about setting a slasher film on Valentine’s Day…until you remember that Valentine’s Day is a Hallmark holiday and My Bloody Valentine bungles the execution of what could have been an interesting mystery.
Having only seen the uncut version, it’s clear those death scenes are what the filmmakers were focusing their efforts on, but it still doesn’t amount to a good movie.
I think the film is more clearly an imitation of Halloween than Black Christmas. The killer wears a mask and wields a distinctive sharp implement, is alleged to be an escaped mental patient, and of course has an actual identity whether in the town’s imagination or (at the end) in reality. The fact that he’s stalking people around town rather than limiting his activities to one building also makes it more like Halloween than Black Christmas.
I suppose if the film had revealed earlier that Harry Warden was dead then the audience would see right away that Axel wasn’t really dead. They were presumably banking on the audience accepting his “death” at face value on the assumption Harry Warden was still around to keep killing.
Having only seen the uncut version, it’s clear those death scenes are what the filmmakers were focusing their efforts on, but it still doesn’t amount to a good movie.
I think the film is more clearly an imitation of Halloween than Black Christmas. The killer wears a mask and wields a distinctive sharp implement, is alleged to be an escaped mental patient, and of course has an actual identity whether in the town’s imagination or (at the end) in reality. The fact that he’s stalking people around town rather than limiting his activities to one building also makes it more like Halloween than Black Christmas.
I suppose if the film had revealed earlier that Harry Warden was dead then the audience would see right away that Axel wasn’t really dead. They were presumably banking on the audience accepting his “death” at face value on the assumption Harry Warden was still around to keep killing.