Fridae

You gotta watch this, if only for the full-on 3D effect. Whether you like horror or not, you will awestruck by the illusion of pickaxes flying straight at you and fiery explosions threatening to scorch your skin. My Bloody Valentine 3-D makes the gore particularly visceral and in-your-face, and it's an experience you'll be talking about long after the credits role.

Thing is, even without the benefit of its fancy technology, My Bloody Valentine 3-D is still a decent horror flick with a smart script and talented direction by Patrick Lussier (Dracula 2000, White Noise 2). It got an M18 rating for its gratuitous gore and nudity - but that would only serve to elevate its status among horror fans.

The story begins 10 years ago in a mining town called Harmony, where a young miner named Tom accidentally caused a tunnel collapse that kills several miners and puts one man in a coma. When the man finally wakes up from his coma, he goes crazy and hacks up 22 people before the police shoot him down.

Years pass, Tom leaves town, and his old girlfriend (the lovely Jaime King) marries his best friend (Kerr Smith). When an older Tom (played by Jensen Ackles from TV series Supernatural) returns to the town to settle some family business, the madman reappears and starts mauling people again. Can Tom stop him?

Director Patrick Lussier is clearly a man who enjoys gore and violence; he bathes in them and imbibes them by the gallons. There are numerous scenes of skulls smashed by pickaxes, chests cut open, innards spilling out, bodies sliced in half - you get the picture in 3D, no less. Jessen Ackles is an average actor with a very hot bod, as are his co-stars Jamie King and Kerr Smith, so much can be forgiven

Do yourself a favor and catch it this weekend.