CGMagazine has compiled a wee list of horror flicks for couples who like a bloody Valentine’s Day celebration.
Every holiday needs a horror gimmick, and Valentine’s Day is no exception. With the recent release of Heart Eyes, it is a good time to look back on some classic horror/slasher films that will make for an entertaining movie date night on February 14th this year. Not everyone cares for the lovey-dovey rom-com moments; sometimes, people want to see a good horror film. For those who remain single around this time of the year, this is a perfect reminder that being cuffed for the season can be dangerous. Killers love to mess with couples; it is just a slasher staple at this point.
There are not a lot of Valentine’s Day horror films, but I remember them clearly growing up. The most iconic ones on TV reruns were My Bloody Valentine, Lovers Lane and Valentine. But the horror slasher genre always transcends holidays; no time of the year is safe from a good slasher. Heart Eyes has immortalized itself as a Valentine’s Day slasher among the few, but this one may be my new favourite.
This February 14th, celebrate the gore and the violence. If the Hallmark heart-shaped box of chocolates is making you sick, maybe you need to change the pace. Between killer Cupids and killers in costumes, what could be better than popping some popcorn, grabbing some snacks, and watching some horror flicks?
1. Lovers Lane
This was an ironic experience for me because I probably saw Scary Movie and Scary Movie 2 before seeing Anna Faris in this. It did not occur to me that she could act in a serious slasher film aside from the parodies. I probably would have never watched this movie if I did not catch it on TV reruns multiple times a year. While the hook could have been used more creatively with the kills, the twist at the end is worth every cent to see this movie.
The plot involves a killer nicknamed “The Hook” who follows a group of teenagers who are terrorized by an escaped mental patient in and around Lovers Lane. The connection to the romantic holiday is that The Hook murdered a couple on Valentine’s Day and continues his rampage when he escapes jail.
2. Valentine
This one is on the nose with the Valentine’s Day theme and tied with Lovers Lane for being closely related to the plot of Heart Eyes. Valentine takes it a step further, with the killer wearing a Cupid mask while chasing after the main cast. The story is spurred on when a high school outcast asks four of the popular girls to dance at the St. Valentine’s Day dance but ends up getting sent to a mental institution for unwanted sexual advances.
The cast is even more noteworthy with Denise Richards, David Boreanaz, Katherine Heigl and Marley Shelton. Everyone plays their part to fit the satirical take on the slasher genre but still maintains the 2000s campiness before Scream was a thing.
3. Jennifer’s Body
This one may not be centred around Valentine’s Day specifically, but it fits more with the horror genre that could have been Valentine’s Day-coded. Jennifer’s Body was a film that pushed the horror genre into a new landscape and to new audiences. A lot of queer female audiences were excited to see this horror depiction on screen, where there was not much substance or progressiveness for queer representation for this era of movies. It was also a film that became synonymous with the over-sexualization tropes surrounding Megan Fox.
The film revolves around a newly possessed high school cheerleader who turns into a succubus who specializes in killing her male classmates. The overall balance of gory and fun is what makes Jennifer’s Body great, and this is why Heart Eyes excels, too. Whether the story is creative enough does not even matter when a flesh-eating creature is soaking up the screen.
4. Holidays
Holidays is a box full of chocolates for the horror genre. This anthology film covers a wide berth of some of the most iconic holidays and adds a nice horror element to each short film within it. The Valentine’s Day one is probably tied with the Christmas-themed story and Halloween one, not only because the latter two had Kevin Smith and Seth Green in it. But it helped. Despite the Valentine’s Day short being one of the lesser creative stories, Madeleine Coghlan played the character Maxine perfectly.
It can be a mixed bag of stories, with nine filmmakers all trying to bring something fresh to the horror genre. But each short has a certain quality that grips your attention. This was like V/H/S but for the various holidays.
5. My Bloody Valentine
Finally, one of the movies that cemented itself in my mind growing up in the nineties and early 2000s: My Bloody Valentine. It was always on reruns, and I only recently found out it is a Canadian-made film set in Canada. This is a classic case where the first film that came out in 1981 was way better than the 2009 American remake. Where Heart Eyes was able to bridge all the gaps of a funny and bloody rom-com slasher film, this one nailed the vibes of bloody and entertaining.
The plot tells of a group of young adults who decide to throw a Valentine’s Day party, only to incur the vengeful wrath of a maniac in mining gear who begins a killing spree. My Bloody Valentine was the Canadian response to Friday the 13th and Halloween; the 1980s thrived on peak slasher cinema. This movie was so violent and gory that, at the time, it had nine minutes cut by the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA). Not all of the unreleased footage has been released on the DVD and Blu-ray editions to this day!
