In association with

Valentine [2001]
from Warner Home Video
starring Denise Richards, David Boreanaz, Marley Shelton, Jessica Capshaw, Jessica Cauffiel
directed by Jamie Blanks

Features:

• PAL
• Widescreen

Editorial Review:

A moderately enjoyable by-the-numbers slasherflick, Valentine is more memorable for incidental characters and details than it is for its central plot or the various twists director Jamie Blanks and his large team of writers inflict on us. Years ago, in sixth grade, causal cruelty by a group of girl friends to an outsider boy had, accidentally, terrible consequences for him... and now someone disguised in a cherub mask is killing them, one after another. Most of them have more or less messy relationships--Kate (Marley Shelton) is dating the charming alcoholic Adam (David Boreanaz) and Dorothy (Jessica Capshaw) has attracted the exploitative conman Campbell; as the bitchy bad girl Paige, Denise Richards has a memorable sexual charisma. All of the performances have enough depth to be readable for subtextual clues as to who the killer really is. Some sequences--the pursuit of Lily through a maze on the walls of which highly sexualised advertising images are flickeringly projected--have an impact which, sustained, would have made for a far more interesting film.

On the DVD: The DVD has a commentary by Jaime Blanks in which he talks frankly about some of the working constraints, a club reel of the song "Opticon" by Orgy, a short behind-the-scenes documentary and subtitles in English, Arabic, Romanian and Bulgarian. The film is presented in a widescreen 2.35:1 visual ratio and has excellent Dolby Sound which ensures that the vigorous dance soundtrack never drowns the snappy dialogue. --Roz Kaveney

Customer Reviews:

• Avg. Customer Rating: 3.5 / 5.0

• The strong, silent type...how refreshing!
  On Wednesday, I visited my "adopted" sister and her three children. As soon as I walked through the door, I could smell the distinct odour of illness: not only was my "sister" ill with what we thought was food-poisoning, so were her three children and her mother-in-law, who were also in the house at the time. Needless to say, the food-poisoning turned out to be a stomach bug, and I spent Thursday in bed, and not at work. Bored rigid, I dragged out and dusted off some of my old VHS (having already attempted... more info

• AN UNDERRATED BUT DECENT SLASHER FILM
  Friends since High School, Paige Prescott, (Denise Richards) Kate Davies, (Marley Shelton) Dorothy Wheeler, (Jessica Capshaw) and Lily Voight, (Jessica Cauffiel) are shocked to learn the murder of a friend of theirs. Meeting up with Kate's boyfriend Adam Carr, (David Boreanaz) at the funeral, they are told from Det. Leon Vaughn, (Fulvio Cecere) if they'd help him with evidence in the case. As they get tormented by a series of strange valentine cards, old friend Campbell Morris, (Daniel Cosgrove) arrives in... more info

• FIlm ruined by plot summary on box!!!!
  I'm not sure whether this will have been changed by now, but if you do decide to buy this film (and its not actually that bad) be warned: DO NOT READ THE PLOT SUMMARY ON THE BACK OF THE BOX. When me and my mates rented it, we spent most of the film waiting for some twist, which never came. Why? Because the spiel on the back of the box TELLS YOU WHO THE KILLER IS!!!!
  So be warned...

• Average and pretty standard
  If you know what you are looking for and like the teen slasher style of picture, then I am sure that Valentine scores points. I am reviewing this, however as a fan of good films, and this is not a particularly good film.
  The story is pretty standard - some dude has got a grudge against a group of late-teenage American kids and rather than "talking" to them or maybe "forgetting about it", better to cunningly and gruesomly scare the bijeezus out of them, then slash them up.
  Cops get involved but... more info

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