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.

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