Rating: 3.5/5
Hoop-Tober | 4/31 | Decades 4/10 | 80s
Welcome to Valentine Bluffs, a mining town in the heart of Canada. A group of miners gets off their shift and races down to the diner, where their beaus are preparing for the first Valentine’s Day Dance the town has held in 20 years. The mayor, who reinstated the dance, receives an anonymous box of chocolates—inside is a human heart.
It's happening again. It can't be happening again.
What’s happening again? The fulfillment of a promise made 20 years ago — that if the town held another Valentine’s Day Dance, a crazed miner would kill again. The mayor assumes the same killer, but perhaps it’s someone in their midst? The easy solution? Don’t have the party. But the miners aren’t going to let the mayor spoil their fun.
Unlike the burgeoning slashers of the time, this film is not focused on a group of teens killed one by one but on a small town with history and the humans just trying to make their meager existence a little better. That said, the movie reeks of melodrama, especially with TJ and Sarah’s relationship.
This film has some gruesome kills! I think I watched the restored version because the goriest shots looked unpolished compared to the rest of the film. The miner in a gas mask looks perfect and is creepy as hell.
If you don’t like slashers, this will feel like another holiday-themed kill fest. Otherwise, this film has a tremendous atmosphere. The scene with Sylvia in the back of the truck is legitimately great filmmaking.