Director: Jamie Blanks
Starring: Denise Richards, David Boreanaz, Marley Shelton
Kevin’s Rating: 4/10
Valentine – 2001
With a newly released Blue-ray collector’s edition, Valentine will keep you guessing until the end. And maybe beyond.
The movie starts with a scene similar to others that fans of horror films might recognize. A kid is bullied, rejected, and humiliated in front of his class (in this case at a Valentine’s Ball). Flash forward to years later when the now grown up bullies, and others, become the victims.
The acting is very good from a talented cast, the special effects are top-notch (except for one obviously rubber decapitated head), the killings are gory, and there are some good scares along with tension. Who is doing the killing, we are made to wonder. There are a number of suspects, though the list gets thinned out as the movie progresses. There are annoying loose ends, things that didn’t seem necessary because we never hear them mentioned again. For instance, Dorothy has a brief yelling match with her step-mother who is about her age, with father yelling from upstairs for them to knock it off. We never see or hear anything else about the parents after that.
After going through it all rooting for the survivors, I didn’t find the ending clear or satisfying. It left me with too many questions about who really did it. Because of that and the loose ends, I only give it a weak thumbs up. Check it out for yourself, and let me know what you think.