Welcome to FRIGHT CLUB! The horror movie battle ring where YOU vote for the winner.
I'm your host Zack Cherry, and in this week's match MY BLOODY VALENTINE will be taking on VALENTINE,
to find out which is the better February 14th themed slasher.
Celebrating their 40th and 20th anniversaries this year, both films put their own dark spin on the holiday of hearts and candy,
with MY BLOODY VALENTINE leaning hard into the straight slasher formula following the popularity of HALLOWEEN,
and the subsequent trend of horrorizing calendar specific events.
VALENTINE on the other hand, following the popularity of SCREAM,
captures a distinct multi-toned vibe which signaled to many genre enthusiasts a postmodern slasher burnout,
noting diminishing returns in both quality and box-office demand with every endeavor.
And while both films feel mostly derivative of the works that came before them,
they've attained pop cultural relevancy with their contributions to horror’s gallery of rogues.
Leaving a lasting legacy which has cultivated each film a posthumous cult devotion.
Before we go any further, do me a favor and toss this video a thumbs up,
and let me know in the comments down below which movie you think is best.
If you're new to FRIGHT CLUB and wanna know how you can cast your vote in the next match,
go ahead and hit that subscribe button, and make sure to turn on ALL bell notifications,
so you can receive weekly channel updates and alerts.
Which movie did you guys choo-choo-choose?
Let's find out and get to the fright.
MY BLOODY VALENTINE flashes back years ago to a traumatic incident
that drives someone to murder in a fit of revenge with ominous Valentine like poems accompanying each kill.
After a few examples of blurred boundaries and toxic masculinity,
a blonde girl who's been jerked around one too many times, faces off with her assailant at a party,
until the mask lifts off in a surprising reveal, leaving the audience to wonder if she's really safe after all.
VALENTINE flashes back years ago to a traumatic incident
that drives someone to murder in a fit of revenge with ominous Valentine like poems accompanying each kill.
After a few examples of blurred boundaries and toxic masculinity,
a blonde girl who's been jerked around one too many times, faces off with her assailant at a party,
until the mask lifts off in a surprising reveal, leaving the audience to wonder if she's really safe after all.
Oh wait, did I just read that line twice?
If these movies sound pretty much identical to one another, it's probably because they do share a lot of the same story beats.
But other than that, they couldn't be more different from one another.
For instance, MBV establishes the old myth of a killer who still lurks in the place that initially inspired his bloodlust,
unleashing vengeance on all those who dare to tread in his domain.
It was a well-worn premise by the time of its release,
but distinguishes itself by the fact that it's set in a Canadian mining town
where the day-to-day interactions of the ordinary town folk occupy half of the film's runtime.
Most of the town doesn't even realize there is any danger, until they start finding corpses scattered all about.
After which, the killer’s pursuit takes over the movie entirely.
This leads to a pretty effective unmasking at the end, especially since we're never really led to consider
the maniac’s identity could belong to anyone but the infamous town legend, Harry Warden.
VALENTINE, however, doesn't even try to conceal its mystery element
as it plants one suspect after the other for the victims to speculate over,
sustaining the action well enough through its beginning and middle sections,
even when they detour into plot threads that don't seem to go anywhere.
Most of these storylines do sort of collide though, only to break apart once again
when a power outage clears out the party’s venue for the climactic showdown,
leaving us on what's supposedly a chilling open-ended conclusion
which finally seals this movie status as the serviceable, mindless fluff that it is.
Full disclosure right off the bat, my feelings toward both of these movies are very tepid to say the least
so it's going to be more difficult than usual for myself to choose between them.
Having said that, I like films about revenge.
VALENTINE is no KILL BILL but it does involve people having to answer for the sins of their past,
which could make for a pretty enjoyable way to kill 90 minutes.
When compared to a story where the events feel more so random, as they do in MY BLOODY VALENTINE,
I'm gonna prefer the revenge tale.
So for that reason, I'm giving this round to VALENTINE.
MBV’s characters are as run-of-the-mill as they come
if you disregard the unique dialect that pops up on screen every now and then,
lending a regional flavor the can set apart most of the partygoers from your usual slasher victims,
even if we can't identify many of them by name.
But that lack of development could work to this movie's advantage
since nothing's really lost when the relatively bland Mayor Hanniger and Chief Newby,
introduced as the only figures who know what they're up against,
basically pass the movie off to the equally bland young lovers,
who just happen to be the ones to finally go toe-to-toe with The Miner.
However, The Miner himself is perhaps one of the most effective characters of the film,
positioned as a memorable and formidable foe
against the backdrop of occasionally sympathetic, if easily forgettable townspeople.
Oddly enough, the opposite is often true with VALENTINE,
with victims who are easy to identify and probably the most memorable aspect of the movie,
even if they're not the most likable or warm-hearted, particularly to each other.
Truth be told, all the men are basically sex-crazed perverts,
and all the women, at one point or another, are catty, judgmental and relationship obsessed
to such a degree that you have to wonder why there weren't even more deaths in this movie,
especially with so many despicable side characters set up as red herrings or minor antagonists to our major characters.
The Cupid Killer in relation to The Miner is also not imposing at all,
fading into the background of most of his own scenes where any other slasher silhouette would do,
Sadly making this baby-faced figure in black the dullest character of the movie.
So on one hand, we have characters who are boring, and on the other hand we have characters who are awful.
It really is a toss-up here because this could have gone either way.
The fact that I prefer The Miner as a killer, notwithstanding, I think that VALENTINE has the better characters,
for the simple reason that they're inherently connected to the plot.
Where as MBV’s characters are just incidental to it.
MY BLOODY VALENTINE harkens back to that simple 1980s look typical of low-budget horror flicks at the time,
with a small-town approachability in the environments,
and the store-bought wardrobe that charms and contrast well with the film's darker tendencies.
This is due in no small part to the exterior scenes being shot in an actual closed down location
over 2,000 feet below surface level.
Providing a standout setting of practical elevators and tunnels to do all the heavy lifting
as far as the scope and the sense of risk.
What adds to that high level of production are the impressively deliberate motions of the camera,
a workable score that embraces the earnest spirit of the movie,
and the folky tunes that underscore the comings and goings of regular blue-collar people,
infusing each moment with a distinct country feel.
In fact, both of these movies evoke a specific Valentine's Day quality in their own way,
but VALENTINE takes a step back from kitsch with its own sleek aesthetic
generating a look common to movies that bridged the gap between the 90s and the 2000s
with everyday backgrounds heavy in bright colors and creamy pastels
that contrast with the cooler, metallic sheen of the kill scenes.
The atmosphere can be characterized by, either its own sub-genre of the waning postmodern slasher craze,
or a WB nighttime soap opera quality, since this pretty young cast
looks like they shot this movie with wardrobe and sets borrowed from shows like ANGEL or ROSWELL.
There are bold design choices present here and there,
but between the generic music constantly telegraphing how scared we’re supposed to be
and the often two dimensional feel of the cinematography,
this movies value stands on a level just above direct-to-video, but below full-fledged feature.
VALENTINE, while not offering the bare minimum, is pretty basic with its production.
It does a serviceable job, but MY BLOODY VALENTINE was filmed in an actual mine!
That in itself is a very impressive feat because it makes this experience feel more authentic and leaves a lasting impression.
So as far as this round goes MBV has the superior production quality.
MBV was a box office disappointment for Paramount Studios in its initial North American release,
but went on to build its audience gradually through evolving home video formats decade after decade.
Amassing a loyal following, and finally securing a substantial cult status that's lasted to this day.
One could argue that this movie took almost no risks with its subject matter,
setting the kind of movie we've all seen before on a holiday
just because it hadn't already been taken by other horror filmmakers yet,
but even though this film doesn't try anything new per se,
it's familiar framework still embraces rather than challenges our horror sensibilities,
and carries on that kind of traditional formula that got most of us into the genre in the first place.
In comparison, VALENTINE had a profitable theatrical release grossing over three times its budget at the worldwide box office.
However, it was criticized for being too reminiscent of 1980s slashers,
which is funny when you consider all the different directions the movie veers off to.
In fact, VALENTINE may actually try way too much and somehow not enough at the same time,
with scenes that read as standard stock horror set back to back with light-hearted rom-com fair.
It's all set to the tone of a TV movie of the week thriller, sprinkled with a little after-hours melodrama,
with an end result that's ambitious for sure, but never fully succeeding in anything that it attempts.
VALENTINE has a very trashy, salacious quality about it.
It's basically the MELROSE PLACE of horror movies, which I absolutely love, don't get me wrong.
However, I always try to be as objective as possible when making these decisions.
VALENTINE does kind of fail at everything it tries to be.
Is it a murder mystery? Is it a slasher? Is it a love story?
Jack of all trades, master of none.
MY BLOODY VALENTINE at least knows what it is.
It's giving us a relatively new setting to tell a derivative story,
and in that regard it succeeds at what it tries to be, even if it doesn't have to work as hard.
For those reasons, I'm giving this one to MBV, which ties things up going into our final round.
This is by far the category where both of these movies excel, even if they both were cut down significantly.
And in the case of MY BLOODY VALENTINE, this was to comply with MPAA restrictions
with some of the movies most gruesome visuals ending up on the cutting room floor.
Luckily, most of these extended shots have been restored in Blu-ray and DVD releases over the past few years,
preserving the often shocking practical effects for audiences to experience in the way they were originally intended.
These kills can largely be categorized as fake blood/real fun, with drawn-out reactions to The Miner’s handiwork
and to the gore’s outlandish, but intricate design.
All set to tantalize and thrill us, as we behold these unsuspecting town folk
who just happened to be in the wrong place the wrong time.
There's not as much reaction to viscera in the kills of VALENTINE though,
with the movies first fatalities being pretty basic and brief
as the results of the film being trimmed down even after it had already received an R rating.
Most likely out of reaction to the sensitivity of a post Columbine world.
Most every kill is preceded by a prolonged setup, usually with a character cautiously navigating some corridors
or otherwise unfriendly territory before the inevitable slice or chop,
saving the most intense set pieces for the third act.
However, one might start to wonder why this killer spent the whole movie only going after the girls who rejected him,
rather than the vicious male bullies who stripped and kicked his ass on the dance floor, back in the sixth grade.
Missing even more opportunities to add to the pile of bodies.
This is probably the hardest round, because they both deserve the recognition here,
and they both were unfairly the victims of censorship.
I am of course basing this comparison off of the uncut version of MY BLOODY VALENTINE,
which is available on the Scream Factory Blu-ray release.
That version does have most of its gore intact, and that'll be a huge deciding factor.
Because even though both films are very versatile with their methods,
there were just too many potential victims in VALENTINE that got away.
I will say for the record, I do enjoy VALENTINE more, but MBV just scored better with me,
taking this match 3 to 2.
Of course, none of that means anything anyway, because ultimately you have the final say, so let's see how you voted.
4,764 people voted between MY BLOODY VALENTINE and VALENTINE,
and with 80% of the vote, the majority of you thought that MY BLOODY VALENTINE was the better movie, and I get it.
Next week, it's all about the wrath of the wealthy, when YOU’RE NEXT takes on READY OR NOT.
Go cast your vote.
I wanna thank my Patreon supporter Blake Maddox.
If you enjoyed this FRIGHT CLUB match, you can check out more of them right now by clicking on this playlist.
Until next Friday, I've been Zack Cherry,
and I'll be right back.