Valentine (2001)

User Rating:

4.3/10   

Director:

Jamie Blanks

Writers (WGA):

Tom Savage (novel)
Donna Powers (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

2 February 2001 (USA)

Genre:

Horror | Thriller

Tagline:

Love Hurts.

Plot:

Four Friends start to receive morbid valentine day cards. Someone out there is stalking them....someone they all spurned when they were younger. And Valentines Day 2001 is the Day she/he gets their revenge.

Plot Keywords:

Valentine | Valentine's Day | Dance | Revenge | 1980s

Awards:

1 win

Cast

Denise Richards	...	Paige Prescott
David Boreanaz	...	Adam Carr
Marley Shelton	...	Kate Davies
Jessica Capshaw	...	Dorothy Wheeler
Jessica Cauffiel	...	Lily Voight
Katherine Heigl	...	Shelley Fisher
Hedy Burress	...	Ruthie Walker
Fulvio Cecere	...	Detective Leon Vaughn
Daniel Cosgrove	...	Campbell Morris
Johnny Whitworth	...	Max Raimi
Woody Jeffreys	...	Brian
Adam Harrington	...	Jason Marquette
Claude Duhamel	...	Gary Taylor
Wyatt Page	...	Evan Wheeler
Benita Ha	...	Kim Wheeler

Also Known As:

Love Hurts (USA) (working title)
Valentine's Day (USA) (working title)

MPAA:

Rated R for strong horror violence, some sexuality and language.

Runtime:

96 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital | SDDS

Certification:

Iceland:16 | Canada:13+ (Quebec) | Canada:14 (Nova Scotia) | Canada:14A (Alberta/British Columbia/Manitoba) (Canadian Home Video rating) | South Korea:18 | Canada:AA (Ontario) | USA:R (certificate #37936) | Argentina:16 | Australia:MA | Chile:14 | Finland:K-15 | France:-12 | Germany:16 | Hong Kong:IIB | Ireland:18 | Netherlands:16 | Portugal:M/16 | Singapore:NC-16 | Singapore:PG (cut) | Spain:13 | Sweden:15 | Switzerland:16 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:16 (canton of Vaud) | UK:15

Filming Locations:

Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

Company:

Warner Bros. Pictures

Trivia:

Richard Kelly was originally offered the chance to direct, but turned the offer down.

Goofs:

Continuity: When the Kate gives Adam the note on the back of her dry cleaning ticket she writes it very sloppily, but then towards the end of the movie when she finds Detective Vaugh's head in the pond with the same note next to it, it's written very neatly.

Quotes:

Kate Davies: He's no angel, but he's not a killer.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Let the Church Say, Amen (2004)

Soundtrack:

Fall Again

Not too original - but a step in the right direction.

Ok. I'll say it right now - I'm NOT a fan of 1990's horror. Scream, I Know What You Did, etc... they can do without me. I'm a fan of 80's slashers, though - and the Italian horror films of Fulci and Argento.

While Valentine does share much with it's 1990's brothren (hot young cast, pulsating soundtrack), it also has much to share with 80's slasher flicks, and the films of Argento (please, fans of the maestro do not crucify me yet).

First an explanation of the 80's comparison, it should be a fairly obvious comparison. A young boy is tormented and rejected by his schoolmates, and comes back later to seek revenge. If that wasn't typical enough of the 80's, he also dispatches of victims in a way that reminds me of Prom Night. It's a very nice - you know who it is, but you don't - type of feel. As for comparing Valentine with Dario Argento's films - just look at the style of the killer, and then view "Tenebre." The black gloves, the relentless stalking, and even the death scenes (at times) could be seen as "style over substance."

All in all, Valentine is a fun, but sometimes slow moving, horror flick that is just a cut above the average horror films of late. It might not be such a big improvement, but it's definitely an effort.