The first slasher film of the year has arrived and while it might be easy to dismiss “Valentine” as just another “Scream” rip off, that would be doing the film an injustice.
This is not to say that the film is destined to be a cinematic classic, rather, it is a solid horror film that delights the audience while maintaining a decent amount of suspense.
The film revolves around five young ladies who all have their own issues played by Denise Richards (Paige Prescott), Jessica Capshaw (Dorothy Wheeler), Jessica Cauffiel (Lily), Marley Shelton (Kate Davies), Hedy Buress,
The girls are the standard mix of horror films, there is a sweet and innocent one, a trampy one, a ditzy one, a serious one and one who has issues about not being good enough due to a weight issue in her past. While the ladies all share an interest in finding Mr. Right, and having a good time, they also share an interesting past. All of the girls were rather cruel to a young man during a school dance in 6th grade. All it was except for the girl with the weight problem, (Capshaw) who was so happy to have anyone pay attention to her. That is until someone sees the two of them kissing, and decides to say that she was attacked rather than face snide comments from here friends about the choice of her men. In a seen out of “Carrie” his classmates besiege the young man and we later learn that he spends the next several years in institutions as a result of the lie that was told about him.
The film then jumps twelve years in the future when in typical horror film fashion, the girls, who have almost forgotten the incident, are shocked by the death of a friend from that fateful evening years ago. Before long, they are receiving threatening cards, gifts, and unsure who to trust, and where the killer might strike next.
While it is a typical horror film, “Valentine” did manage to stay interesting and does have a few nice wrinkles and twists in it. Denise Richards once again proves that she can do little more than smile, as her acting is so bad it is painful, that withstanding, the film was a enjoyable horror film, that while not being original, was entertaining, as Director Jamie Blanks (Urban Legends) managed to keep the film moving at a crisp pace, as well as build suspense in the appropriate moments.
3 stars out of 5
