One of the nice things about being a horror fan is that there’s a movie for pretty much every holiday and occasion. HALLOWEEN is a given; so is Christmas, with its glut of Santa-themed slashers (my personal favorite is SILENT NIGHT, DEADLY NIGHT, though CHRISTMAS EVIL is a classic, too). Beyond that, there’s NEW YEAR’S EVIL, MOTHER’S DAY, and THANKSKILLING (or BLOOD FREAK, if you prefer your monster-turkey movies of earlier vintage), as well as GRADUATION DAY, PROM NIGHT, and HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME. St. Patrick’s Day has LEPRECHAUN; the Fourth of July has UNCLE SAM; even Easter has NIGHT OF THE LEPUS.

Then there’s Valentine’s Day. If ever a holiday cried out out for counter-programming, it’s the flowers-and-chocolates bonanza, and it is ably represented in the gorehound canon by the Canuxploitation classic MY BLOODY VALENTINE. Released in 1981– one year after the slasher craze was kicked off in earnest by FRIDAY THE 13TH– the plot is a delightfully nasty spin on the Jason story: miner Harry Warden is trapped in a cave-in while his cohorts attend a Valentine’s dance. Warden frees himself, murders his friends, and warns the town never to hold a Valentine’s Day celebration again before being put into a coma by local law enforcement. Twenty years later, the townspeople decide it’s safe to celebrate again, but… do I even need to finish that sentence? Pickaxes are wielded, human hearts are served in candy boxes, and things generally proceed about as poorly as any Valentine’s Day since 1929. It’s the perfect alternative Valentine’s date movie – and if you don’t have a date, it might be even better.

(SIDE NOTE: In case you were wondering, yes, this is the movie that inspired the legendary shoegaze band of the same name. Don’t expect anything approaching the dreamy aesthetic of Kevin Shields’ guitar, however; the name is a holdover from the band’s little-known early incarnation as a psychobilly outfit under original frontman David Conway. The only thing that could be described as “swirling” in this film are the rivers of blood.)

MY BLOODY VALENTINE (1981) dir. George Mihalka [90 minutes]
Friday, 2/7 & Saturday, 2/8, 11:59 PM
Coolidge Corner Theater (290 Harvard St, Brookline, MA 02446)
$10.25