My Bloody Valentine

My Bloody Valentine (1981)

Timing: 1:30 (90 min)

6.444/10
541

6.127/10
5099

6.3/10
28000

All about film

Video 5

Photo 92

Actors and characters

Release date

1981-02-11

Country

Canada

Production

Paramount, Canadian Film Development Corporation (CFDC), Famous Players, Famous Players, Secret Films

Genre

Horror, Thriller, Mystery

Budget

$2 300 000

Revenue

$5 672 031

Website

Director

George Mihalka

Actors

Paul Kelman, Lori Hallier, Neil Affleck, Keith Knight, Cynthia Dale, Alf Humphreys, Helene Udy, Carl Marotte, Don Francks, Rob Stein
All actors and roles (10)

Scenario

John Beaird

Producer

John Dunning, André Link, Stephen A. Miller, Lawrence Nesis

Operator

Rodney Gibbons

Composer

Paul Zaza

Artist

Audition

Editing

Rit Wallis, Gérald Vansier
All team (32)

• The film was shot in underground workings extending to a depth of up to 300 meters. Due to the risk of methane explosion, only special lighting equipment could be used there.
• According to the makeup artist, one of his 'creations' was so realistic that it made director George Mihalk vomit when he saw it.
• Producers André Link and John Dunning said the idea for the film came to them when they started, out of curiosity, looking for a holiday that hadn't yet been the subject of a slasher film during the slasher boom of the early 1980s. They ultimately settled on Valentine's Day. They came up with the title immediately, but fearing leaks, gave the film the working title 'The Secret'.
• Quentin Tarantino declared 'My Bloody Valentine' his favorite slasher film.
• Composer Paul Zaza added the folk ballad that plays during the end credits at the very last moment.
• In 2001, George Mihalka approached Paramount Pictures with a proposal for a sequel, but the proposal was rejected due to the modest box office success of the first film.
• The film was shot in the small mining town of Sydney Mines in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia. During filming, a process of closing numerous mines and workings surrounding the town was underway due to the economic difficulties of the coal industry and the efforts of environmental activists. A museum was subsequently opened in the mine where filming took place.
• One of the visual effects specialists sent a prop corpse in a coffin to the set. The 'package' was international and caused a great stir at the Canadian border.
• During filming, the economic situation in the province of Nova Scotia was quite precarious, due to the problems of the Canadian company Sydney Steel Corporation. Under attack from environmentalists, the company couldn't decide whether to close its plants or not. One way or another, someone decided that filming a horror movie would attract crowds of tourists to Nova Scotia, but those hopes were not to be realized.
• Almost all the houses shown in the film were once built by coal companies for miners. By 2015, only a few of them were still standing.
• The American Motion Picture Association demanded the removal of over 5 minutes of footage from the film – mainly because it was released shortly after the murder of John Lennon (1940-1980), and public reaction to films saturated with violence was negative.
• The Irish rock band My Bloody Valentine, founders of the shoegaze style (one of the genres of alternative rock), took their name from George A. Romero's film.
• During the end credits, a ballad plays with the line "...and those who survived know that the mystery lives on." This is a reference to the film's working title – "The Mystery."
• According to Neil Affleck, who starred in the film, even the actors had no idea who the killer was. The filmmakers insisted on this, as they enjoyed the atmosphere of mystery on set. Affleck himself realized the killer was his character because, after being cast, he was called to the special effects department to be fitted for a prosthetic arm, which the killer loses at the end of the film.
• According to the makeup artist, one of his creations turned out so realistic that it made director George Mihalka vomit upon seeing it.
• Producers André Link and John Dunning recounted that the idea for the film came to them when they started, out of curiosity, looking for a holiday that hadn’t been the subject of a slasher film during the slasher boom of the early 1980s. Eventually, they both settled on Valentine's Day. They came up with the film's title immediately, but fearing leaks, gave the film the working title “The Secret.”
• Quentin Tarantino declared “My Bloody Valentine” his favorite slasher film.
• One of the visual effects specialists sent a prop corpse in a coffin, which he had made for the filming, to the set. The 'package' was international and caused quite a stir at the Canadian border.
• During the end credits, a ballad plays featuring the line “…and those who survived know that the secret lives on.” This is a reference to the film’s working title – “The Secret.”