Valentine Collector's Edition Blu-ray Review

In 1988, at the Valentine’s dance, geeky sixth-grader Jeremy Melton approaches five popular girls asking each one to dance and all but one shoots him down. Jeremy’s festive time turns into a nightmare when an intimate moment is interrupted by the school bullies and the girl involved falsely claims he attacked her. He is summarily humiliated in front of the crowd. Everybody laughs – everybody but Jeremy. His life goes into a downward spiral after this and he blames his classmates for all of it. Thirteen years later, the young women have reunited and are preparing to celebrate Valentine’s Day with a grand party. They each receive anonymous death threats via greeting card and as the big day approaches, a masked killer begins a violent murder spree. Is Jeremy back to get revenge? The ladies certainly think so. The pressing questions include what does he look like as an adult and is he one of the guys they are currently dating?

Paige is the hot one, Kate is the smart one, Lily is the fun one and Dorothy is the girl who betrayed Jeremy. They are all on the lookout for love, but live in a bubble untouched by the ills of society. Only one mentions having a job and yet she never goes to work. Dorothy is hosting the upcoming party and is eager for the ladies to meet her new live-in boyfriend. Kate is piecing things together with Adam, her on-again off-again beau. Paige takes her out to keep up her spirits, but ends up flirting with the sole interesting guy they meet. Lily invites the group to her boyfriend Max’s new art show and trouble follows. The police are not having much luck in their investigation and encourage the friends to stick together. A big party is just what they need and the killer takes advantage of having everyone together for a memorable night.

Valentine is a love letter to 1980s slasher films with the polish of the ‘90s post-Scream revival. Director Jamie Blanks (Urban Legend) delivers a briskly paced feminist thriller that is everything it needs to be to win the hearts of genre fans. His silent villain is a Cupid-masked killer who sports a black trench coat and carries a very large knife. It took four writers to nail down the formula and while that feels excessive, they succeed in telling a fun story loaded with genre tropes and enjoyable murder set-pieces. Cinematographer Rick Bota (House on Haunted Hill) stages some inventive camera angles and fills the image with bright colors and rich detail. Blanks generates many suspenseful moments as we work our way closer to the big reveal in the final scene.

Denise Richards (Wild Things) stars as Paige, the sexy leader of the bunch who is a constant flirt yet never seems to have a boyfriend. She doesn’t really need one and is more than capable of entertaining herself. Love would be nice, but friendship is what really matters. Matching Paige’s depth in character is the intelligent and resourceful Kate, played by Marley Shelton (Planet Terror). Kate has a complicated relationship with Adam, currently on a break but trying to get back together. David Boreanaz (Angel) plays Adam as a sympathetic yet troubled guy on his best behavior to win a second chance with Kate.

Jessica Cauffiel (Urban Legends: Final Cut) plays Lily, the fun one who is always looking for a good time. She has great chemistry with the other ladies and injects some levity into the serious scenario. Jessica Capshaw (Grey’s Anatomy) co-stars as Dorothy, the wealthy one trying to find love but is surrounded by opportunistic jerks. She is a sympathetic character with some great moments with her friends. Katherine Heigl (Knocked Up) appears in the intro as med student Shelley Fisher, the fifth member of the group. She doesn’t get a lot of screen time but does a fine job getting the picture off to a rousing start.

Where Scream was self-referential and frequently funny, Valentine approaches the content from a more serious standpoint. There are light-hearted moments to be sure, but nobody winks at the camera or comes off as too cool for the material. This is just a fun ride that knows exactly what kind of movie it wants to be. The characters are smart and resourceful and more importantly, decent to each other. There is no shallow bickering or backstabbing, just four innocent women targeted by a psychopath. The film received an R rating from the ratings board, but the studio called for additional cuts before release, citing the political climate at the time. Fans will rejoice that the title is finally coming to Blu-ray, but be aware this is the same theatrical cut that was previously available on DVD. Otherwise this is a solid disc loaded with special features that make it an easy addition to your collection.