"Masters of Horror" Valerie on the Stairs (2006)

User Rating:

5.7/10   

Director:

Mick Garris

Writers:

Mick Garris (creator)
Mick Garris (teleplay)

TV Series:

"Masters of Horror" (2005)

Original Air Date:

21 October 2006 (Season 2, Episode 8)

Genre:

Horror

Plot:

Taken from a Clive Barker original screen story, tells the tale of a novelist who discovers there are fates worse than literary anonymity in this sexually-charged tale of terror.

Plot Keywords:

Novelist | Demon Rape | Lesbian Kiss | Aspiring Writer | Rejection

Cast

Christopher Lloyd	...	Everett Neely
Tyron Leitso	...	Rob Hanisey
Suki Kaiser	...	Patricia Dunbar
Nicola Lipman	...	Nancy Bloom
Jonathan Watton	...	Bruce Sweetland
Clare Grant	...	Valerie
Tony Todd	...	The Beast
Christine Barrie	...	Anna
Juan Carlos Velis	...	Dude

Runtime:

60 min | Germany:57 min

Country:

USA | Canada

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Certification:

USA:TV-MA | Australia:MA (2007) | Italy:VM14 | Germany:16

Company:

Starz Productions

Trivia:

The number on the door of Rob's room in Highberger House is 217. This is also the number of the notoriously haunted hotel room in Stephen King's novel The Shining.

Movie Connections:

References "The Twilight Zone" (1959)

A Bit Too Silly For My Taste

Mick Garris deserves a lot of praise for being the creator of the "Masters Of Horror" series, but it has to be said that the episodes he directed himself, "Chocolate" and "Valerie On The Stairs" both rank among the lesser entries to this generally vastly entertaining franchise. While I liked this eighth episode of the second season slightly better than Garris' boring contribution to the first season, "Chocolate", "Valerie On The Stairs" is just a bit too silly for my tastes. The episode is set in a boarding house where unsuccessful writers are allowed to reside until their works become published. In this particular house the writers' nightmarish fantasies seem to come to life, however... "Valerie On The Stairs" was adapted from a story by Clive Barker, but I guess it must have been altered quite heavily, as this is certainly not a worthy entry to Clive "Hellraiser" Barker's repertoire. While Horror does not necessarily have to be realistic, it should have a certain logic, and it should certainly NOT be ridiculous. "Valerie On The Stairs" sadly gets ridiculous at some points, which is a shame since there could have been some potential in this episode. The episode stars prolific actors Christopher Lloyd and Tony 'Candyman' Todd, and Clare Grant, who plays the eponymous Valerie is one yummy protagonist (the beauty of the female cast members is a quality that most MoH episodes have). Too bad the episode keeps getting sillier and sillier to a ridiculous point.