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Valentine (2001) - Blu-ray

Does this mean that you WON'T be my valentine?  With those words, one scorned nerd has his revenge on a group of pretty little liars.  Valentine, directed by Jamie Blanks, is immediately better than most of the teen slasher flicks of the late ‘90s and early 2000s.  It just doesn’t get the recognition, of course, because of its critical condemnation at the time of its release and its tone, which leans on horror, satire, and comedy while trying to pull off a cupid-faced masked killer.

"Valentine and its ax-to-the-back tendencies is not a frightening film.  But, it operates and feels very similar to Urban Legends."


Valentine is the story of a group of girls who, time and time again, repeatedly tell the same nerd to beat it and get lost at dances throughout their high school history.  The opening of the film, serving as a montage of hilarious rejections, shows their cruelty and then, thanks to a fun opening with Katherine HeiglHeigl might not be the best actress in the world, but as Shelly, who is on a blind date with a real self-involved loser, she brings the charm and the humor needed to make the audiences feel a bit of sympathy when her neck is slashed.

And it will be up to her friends – besties Kate (Marley Shelton), Paige (Denise Richards), Dorothy (Jessica Capshaw), and Lily (Jessica Cauffiel) – to figure out just which of the dudes around them is responsible.  Yet, the killing has just begun as the most romantic (yuck) day of the year (double yuck) gets served a big ol’ pile of guts and goo in this send-off of Valentine’s Day. {googleads}

Forget the flowers.  Send help.  Because the men around them – Adam (David Boreanaz), Campbell (Daniel Cosgrove), Max (Johnny Whitworth), and Detective Leon Vaughn (Fulvio Cecere) – are not all that helpful.  Plus, all eyes are on one of them as the suspect.  After all, some jaded lover or love interest must be behind it all.  Right? 

With a couple of excellent kill sequences – one involving shards of glass and a poor victim shoved into the stall and the other a hot tub sequence with Richards (hubba, hubba) – Valentine, without a doubt, takes its slasher stalks seriously (even if some of its surrounding material doesn’t). It is both fierce and fun, offering fans of the subgenre a chance to laugh at the tropes being served so raw and bloody here.  Love kills, okay?Valentine (2001) - Blu-ray

Valentine and its ax-to-the-back tendencies is not a frightening film.  But, it operates and feels very similar to Urban Legends, and for good reason.  Blanks was the man behind the lens for that film and here, with the success of that film under his belt, he tackles the absurdity of the situation as these San Francisco model-types attempt to turn the tables on this killer Cupid.  Make no mistake, if you don’t approach this film in the right mood, you will hate it.  You have to be ready for its clichés and its campy tone. 

Thrills, kills, and candy-coated chills, Valentine is now available from Scream Factory in a brand-new Collector’s Edition.  The film, thanks to a new 2K transfer that has been supervised by the film's director and the cinematographer, looks amazing and definitely will NOT break your heart.  That old icky, sticky love is in the air again!

4 beers

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Valentine (2001) - Blu-ray

MPAA Rating: R for strong horror violence, some sexuality and language.
Runtime:
96 mins
Director
: Jamie Banks
Writer:
Donna Powers
Cast:
Denise Richards, David Boreanaz, Marley Shelton
Genre
: Horror
Tagline:
Fall in love with terror this weekend.
Memorable Movie Quote: "Roses are red, Violets are Blue, They'll need dental records to identify you."
Theatrical Distributor:
Warner Bros.
Official Site: valentinemovie.warnerbros.com/
Release Date:
February 2, 2001
DVD/Blu-ray Release Date:
February 12, 2019
Synopsis: Revenge is sweet, just like Valentine's Day chocolates. At least, that is what a vengeful, Cupid-masked killer thinks. Be my Valentine ... or else. Broken hearts and other mortal wounds await a cast of contemporary young stars when they play dating-scene veterans dying for love in this humor-laced, twist-filled thriller cleverly directed by Jamie Blanks (Urban Legend) and starring David Boreanaz (Angel, Bones), Denise Richards (Starship Troopers), Marley Shelton (Scream 4, Planet Terror), Katherine Heigl (Grey's Anatomy) and more. Cards, candy and flowers are nice. But for fans of stalker-shocker terror, there's nothing like a Valentine.

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[tab title="Blu-ray Review"]

Valentine (2001) - Blu-ray

Blu-ray

Blu-ray Details:

Collector's Edition Blu-ray

Home Video Distributor: Shout Factory
Available on Blu-ray
- February 12, 2019
Screen Formats: 2.35:1
Subtitles
: English SDH
Audio:
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
Discs: Blu-ray Disc; single disc
Region Encoding: Locked to Region A

Presented by Scream Factory, the release houses a pretty clean and crisp 1080p transfer. Texture and fine detail – note the dried hairspray on the follicles – are both present and colors are properly saturated.  The gore is excessively thick and the make-up work is of a darkly precise matter.  There’s little CGI so the effects are mostly practical and thankfully have clear definition.  The sound is presented in a warm DTS stereo surround release.  Dialogue is mixed well with everything else in the front channels.  Nothing spectacular here.

Supplements:

Commentary:

  • There are two commentaries: a new one with director Jamie Blanks and filmmaker Don Coscarelli which is moderated by author Peter Bracke and an archival one with just Blanks.

Special Features:

The LOAD of NEW supplemental materials included with this release should tell you a couple of things: people LOVE this movie and it is widely underappreciated.  These new featurettes help fill in the gaps in our appreciation with background knowledge, some behind the scenes reminiscences, and the thought that went into its making.  Fans are going to gobble this one up.   

  • NEW Thrill Of The Drill – An Interview With Actress Denise Richards
  • NEW The Final Girl – An Interview With Actress Marley Shelton
  • NEW Shot Through The Heart – An Interview With Actress Jessica Cauffiel
  • NEW Writing Valentine – An Interview With Co-writers Gretchen J. Berg And Aaron Harberts
  • NEW Editing Valentine– An Interview With Editor Steve Mirkovich
  • NEW Scoring Valentine – An Interview With Composer Don Davis
  • NEW Almost 2 Hours Of Never-Before-Seen Behind-The-Scenes Footage From Director Jamie Blanks’ Personal Archive
  • Vintage “Making Of” Featurette Featuring Cast And Crew
  • Extended Interviews And Behind-The-Scenes Footage From The Electronic Press Kit
  • Deleted Scenes Including Extended Death Scenes
  • Music Video
  • Teaser Trailer
  • Theatrical Trailer
  • TV Spots
  • Still Gallery
  • Hidden Easter Egg

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Valentine (2001) - Blu-ray

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