Valentine is a 2001 American slasher horror film directed by Jamie Blanks, starring David Boreanaz, Marley Shelton, Jessica Capshaw, Hedy Burress, Jessica Cauffiel, Katherine Heigl and Denise Richards.
Plot[]
At a junior high school St. Valentine's Day dance in 1988 San Francisco, Jeremy Melton, an outcast student, asks four popular girls to dance. The first three girls, Shelley, Lily, and Paige, reject him spitefully and cruelly, while the fourth girl, Kate Davies, politely responds, "Maybe later". Their rich overweight friend Dorothy Wheeler accepts Jeremy's invitation, and they proceed to make out underneath the bleachers. When the school bully Joe and his pals discover them, Dorothy falsely claims Jeremy sexually assaulted her. Joe publicly strip and severely beat Jeremy, resulting the party to transform into a frenzy riot, and his nose starts bleeding under the distress.
Thirteen years later, Joe and his pals have died from unknown circumstances. Dorothy is living at her father's mansion when she receives a threatening Valentine's card signed "JM". Her boyfriend, Campbell, shows up unannounced as he lost his apartment and temporarily moves in with her. Shelley, now a medical student in Los Angeles, has a diner date with a guy named Jason Marquette, but is uncomfortable of his approach. She is at the morgue one evening studying for her medical exam. After finding a menacing JM Valentine's card in her locker, Shelley discovers someone has taken the place of the cadaver they had been dissecting. A dark figure in a trench coat and Cherub-mask attacks her. Shelley is cornered in a cooler where she attempts to hide in a body bag, but the killer finds her before slitting her throat. The killer's nose bleeds as she dies.
Lily and Paige likewise each receive urging JM Valentine's cards. Lily's card comes with a box of chocolates which she finds are filled with maggots. Kate is currently on hiatus from her recovering alcoholic on-off boyfriend, Adam Carr, who is a journalist. While preparing for Shelley's memorial, Kate is disturbed when finding a Cherub mask at her door and amorously obsess neighbor Gary. At Shelley's funeral, Kate, Lily, Paige, and Dorothy are questioned by Detective Vaughn assigned to the murder case. Vaughn thought Jason could be the top suspect due to his sudden disappearance. They admit to not having seen Shelley in some time after she moved.
The girls attend a Valentine exhibit that Lily's artist boyfriend Max hosts and meet Campbell's bitter ex-girlfriend Ruthie, who accuses him of being a con artist. As the girls reminisce the 1988 Valentine's Day incident link to the cards, they go on the tour, Lily becomes lost and the killer appears, who proceeds to shoot her repeatedly with arrows until she falls several floors above the balcony and into a dumpster. Nobody notices Lily's murder and when they have not heard from her, the others assume she is in Los Angeles on a work trip. Vaughn comes over telling his suspicions of Jeremy. Dorothy then confesses to Paige and Kate that she lied about Jeremy attacking her to avoid embarrassment. She believes herself to be Jeremy's next target, but Paige dismisses it. Kate finds all information regarding Jeremy's persona erased. Adam has a degree of certainty and cheers up Kate. Upon contacting the police, Vaughn discloses that Jeremy after being expelled and eventually transferred to reform school and juvenile hall because of Dorothy testifying against him for unwanted sexual advances towards her he later ended up in a mental institution. He also reveals Jeremy's parents were engulfed in a house fire, and possibly changed his identity with an unrecognizable plastic surgery. Kate agrees Jeremy to be the culprit. Meanwhile, Gary breaks into Kate's apartment room to steal her underwear. The killer brutally beats him to death with a hot iron and discards his body. Adam accompanies Kate to the Valentine's Day reunion party at Dorothy's estate.
On the morning of the party, the killer murders Campbell with an axe in the basement. The others assume he has simply left Dorothy, angering her. She confesses to everybody that Jeremy never assaulted her. Kate is disappointed to see Adam drinking again. When being told by Max that Lily did not arrive in Los Angeles as planned, Kate realizes she is probably dead too. Ruthie is thrown through a shower window by the killer, who then impales her neck on the glass. Paige is attacked and trapped in a hot tub by the killer. The killer impales her in the shoulder with an electric drill before throwing it into the water, electrocuting her. The party disintegrates when the power cuts out, and Dorothy and Kate argue over who the killer is, to which Dorothy believes that they are jealous and still look at her as the "fat girl" of the group. After dialing Vaughn's number, Kate follows the sound of a ringtone outside the house and discovers Vaughn's severed head in the pond. She finds Adam waiting for her; when he asks her to dance, she becomes frightened and flees. She runs through the house and inside Dorothy's room trashed and Paige and Ruthie's corpses. She locates a gun, but the Cherub-masked killer jumps out from the darkness and sends them both tumbling down a staircase. The killer arises and is shot to death by Adam.
As a shocked and confused Kate apologizes profusely, Adam pulls off the killer's mask to reveal Dorothy. Adam forgives Kate, explaining childhood trauma can lead to lifelong anger, and some people are eventually forced to act on that anger, referring to Dorothy. As Kate and Adam wait for the police to arrive, they hug and Adam says he has always loved her. Moments later, when Kate closes her eyes, Adam's nose begins to bleed, revealing that he is Jeremy Melton (and also the actual killer having knocked out Dorothy and put her in the costume), who set everything up to ruin Dorothy's reputation and exact revenge. He killed the girls correspondently to the taunts they gave him thirteen years ago, except for Kate who was the only one nice to him from the beginning.
Cast[]
- David Boreanaz as Adam Carr/Jeremy Melton
- Marley Shelton as Kate Davies
- Denise Richards as Paige Prescott
- Jessica Capshaw as Dorothy Wheeler
- Jessica Cauffiel as Lily Voight
- Katherine Heigl as Shelley Fisher
- Hedy Burress as Ruthie Walker
- Fulvio Cecere as Detective Leon Vaughn
- Daniel Cosgrove as Campbell Morris
- Johnny Whitworth as Max Raimi
- Woody Jeffreys as Brian
- Adam J. Harrington as Jason Marquette
- Claude Duhamel as Gary Taylor
Production[]
"Valentine" was filmed from July 10th to September 8, 2000 in British Columbia, Canada.
The project originated at Artisan Entertainment with producer Dylan Sellers and writers Wayne and Donna Powers, with Wayne Powers attached to direct.
The script had a different tone and the actors that were to be in the film included Luke Wilson, Tara Reid, Jeremy Sisto.
The project went into turnaround to Warner Brothers, was rewritten and Richard Kelly was originally offered the chance to direct, but turned the offer down.
Hedy Burress auditioned for the role of Dorothy Wheeler and Tara Reid was considered for the role, but it was given to Jessica Capshaw instead. However, Blanks wanted Burress to star in the film and he cast her as Ruthie Walker.
Jessica Cauffiel originally auditioned for Denise Richards' role of Paige. In the original cast, Jennifer Love Hewitt was to play Paige Prescott.
David Boreanaz shot all his scenes in less than two weeks while Katherine Heigl only had three days to shoot her scenes as she was already committed to the television series "Roswell."
Box Office[]
The movie debuted at #2 at the box office, grossing $10,024,648 during its opening weekend.
It grossed $20,384,136 domestically and $36,684,136 worldwide.
Critical Reception[]
On Rotten Tomatoes, "Valentine" was given a rating of 9% with the general consensus being that "Valentine is basically a formulaic throwback to conventional pre-Scream slasher flicks. Critics say it doesn't offer enough suspense or scares to justify its addition to the genre".
The San Francisco Chronicle's Mick LaSalle said, "Valentine isn't scary, but it is unsettling; not ultimately satisfying, but arresting in the moment".
Entertainment Weekly's Owen Gleiberman said the movie "doesn't contain a single scary or imaginative moment".
Accolades[]
2001 Golden Trailer Awards
- Best Voice Over (won)
Theatrical Trailer[]
Valentine Trailer