My Bloody Valentine - Tom Hanniger Deconstruction

Tom Hanniger, portrayed by Jensen Ackles, is the main villain/antagonist in the 2009 slasher horror film ‘My Bloody Valentine’ which is directed and edited by Patrick Lussier. Set in 2008, eleven years after the ‘Valentine’s Day Massacre’ committed by Harry Warden, the previous owner of the mines, gruesome murders start happening again and Tom Hanniger believes it is Warden although he is long dead. The result at the end of the film is that the murders were committed by Hanniger who was hallucinating and believed it was the man who nearly killed him all those years ago, Harry. 

Tom’s character goes after those who ditched him when he was almost murdered as well as anyone who happens to get in his way. Hanniger is suffering from mental illness and had developed a split personality between himself and Harry Warden, resulting in another murder rampage that mirror’s the events at the mines in 1997.

 

Tom is presented as a normal man who doesn’t appear to be in the wrong which can frighten audiences as it is a realistic idea as anyone could be suffering from what he is and you wouldn’t know. In the 2000s people were a lot more aware of mental illness and its effect whereas in the 1980s when the original film was made it wouldn’t because of the lack of awareness. Tom’s personality when he believes he is Harry Warden can be scary and extremely intimidating because he is dressed up in a full miner uniform and it is hard to tell who is inside due to the heavy duty protective wear. The outfit allows no expression or emotion to be shown from the killer which makes it even scarier as it almost dehumanises the killer making him seem more monstrous.