Legendary filmmaker behind the cult slasher “My Bloody Valentine” at Splat!FilmFest
The 1980s were the golden age of slashers: horror films in which a masked maniac kills the characters one by one, armed with a cleaver, machete, knife or pretty much any other tool that can be used to butcher someone. It is estimated that around 2,000 films of this kind have been made since the 1970s, but only a few have made their mark on cinema history. One of them is George Mihalka’s Canadian “My Bloody Valentine”, which celebrates its 45th anniversary this year and has continued to scare successive generations of viewers since its release in 1981. During its 12th edition, Splat!FilmFest will celebrate this achievement in genre cinema. At our invitation, George Mihalka, the Canadian filmmaker who secured a permanent place in horror history with “My Bloody Valentine”, is coming to Poland.
“My Bloody Valentine” tells the story of the small mining town of Valentine Bluffs somewhere in Canada, a place that was terrorized years earlier by a deranged, bloodthirsty maniac. Two decades later, the young people of Valentine Bluffs want to celebrate Valentine’s Day, have fun, fall in love and have sex. But someone does not want them to have a good time. The killer returns, more brutal than ever. Who will survive, and who will be hacked to pieces, crushed, stabbed or gutted? “My Bloody Valentine” stands out from other slashers of the 1980s with its claustrophobic atmosphere, created by filming in the narrow tunnels and shafts of a mine, as well as its classic whodunit structure. One of the characters is the killer. But which one? Discover his identity all over again.
“My Bloody Valentine” was originally going to be titled “The Secret”, but the success of “Halloween” and “Black Christmas” led the producers to capitalize on the season for slashers associated with calendar holidays. George Mihalka later recalled that shooting hundreds of metres underground was challenging, not only because of the location but also because of the difficulties with lighting. The mine tunnels posed a risk of methane explosions, so the production could not use too many lights. In the end, these challenges became part of the legend of “My Bloody Valentine”, a film that, almost half a century later, still manages to unsettle audiences.
The Splat!FilmFest screening of “My Bloody Valentine” will be followed by a conversation with George Mihalka, who will talk about the making of his cult classic. Mihalka is considered a versatile filmmaker, with 50 film and television productions to his name, including “The Blue Man” and “Bullet to Beijing”, starring Sir Michael Caine. He has received lifetime achievement awards from the Directors Guild of Canada and the Quebec directors’ association ARRQ, and in 2025 he received the Canadian Trailblazer Award at the Fantasia International Film Festival. He will be joined in Warsaw by his wife, Susan Curran, a film producer with 30 years of experience in the industry. She will also take part in the post-screening conversation about “My Bloody Valentine”.
The 12th edition of Splat!FilmFest will also feature nearly 100 films, the vast majority of them new releases from the world of genre cinema, previously presented at some of the most prestigious festivals around the world. For more than a decade, Splat!FilmFest has steadily built a reputation as one of the notable genre film festivals on the international scene. Alongside George Mihalka, Julie Corman, wife and longtime collaborator of the legendary Roger Corman, will also come to Warsaw for Splat!FilmFest. More than 40 outstanding guests in total will meet with audiences during the festival.