Plot
In 1988, Jeremy Melton, an outcast junior high school student, asks four popular girls to dance at a Valentine's Day dance. The first three girls, Shelley, Lily, and Paige, reject him cruelly, while the fourth girl, Kate, politely responds, "Maybe later". Their overweight, awkward friend Dorothy accepts Jeremy's invitation, and they proceed to kiss behind the bleachers. A group of boys find and mock them, leading Dorothy to falsely claim Jeremy attacked her. Jeremy is beaten and humiliated by the bullies and his nose bleeds from distress. Due to Dorothy's false accusation and subsequent ones by the other girls, Jeremy is expelled and, eventually, institutionalized.
Thirteen years later, Shelley, now a medical student, returns to her lab after an unsuccessful date with Jason Marquette. There, she receives a threatening Valentine's card and is killed by a stalker in a Cupid mask, whose nose bleeds after killing her. Now adults, Paige intents to get Kate away from her boyfriend, Adam, a journalist and recovering alcoholic. After attending, an unsuccessful speed dating event, they learn of Shelley's death. At her funeral, Kate, Lily, Paige, and Dorothy are questioned. Paige, Lily, and Dorothy receive threatening Valentine's cards next, each signed "JM". Meanwhile, Dorothy's boyfriend, Campbell, loses his apartment and temporarily moves in with her at her father's mansion.
The girls attend an exhibit by Lily's artist boyfriend Max's work, where they encounter Ruthie, who accuses Campbell of being a con artist. The killer fatally shoots Lily with multiple arrows, causing her to fall into a dumpster. Following Lily's death, the girls reveal to Det. Vaughan their earlier harassment and Jeremy and Jason are pinned as suspects. Afterwards, Dorothy confesses to Kate and Paige that she fabricated her story about Jeremy to save face. Due to Paige's flirting, Vaughan reveals that Jeremy's parents died in a house fire, and Kate discovers that all records of Jeremy have been erased. Meanwhile, Kate's neighbor Gary breaks into her apartment to wear her underwear, and the killer brutally bludgeons him to death with a hot iron.
Dorothy hosts a Valentine's party at her estate, which Ruthie attends to collect her investment back from Campbell. She is killed, along with Paige, Campbell, Ruthie, and Dorothy's maid, Millie. Max arrives at the party to inform Kate that Lily never arrived in Los Angeles, leaving Kate to believe she may be dead. Vaughn calls Kate to let her know that they let Jason go due to lack of evidence, and encourages the friends to stay in groups until he arrives.
After the party guests clear out, Dorothy and Kate accuse each other's lovers of being the killer, and Dorothy believes that Kate and the others are jealous and still look at her as the "fat girl". Kate goes outside to call Vaughn only to discover his severed head in the pond, and becomes convinced that Adam is Jeremy. She finds a drunk Adam waiting for her; when he asks her to dance, she becomes frightened and flees, finding a gun in Dorothy's father's study. The killer jumps out at Kate, but is shot by Adam.
Adam pulls off the killer's mask to reveal that it was Dorothy and explains that childhood trauma can lead to lifelong anger. As they wait for the police to arrive, he says he has always loved Kate and his nose begins to bleed.
Release
In promotion of the film, Warner Bros.'s official website featured digital e-card valentines that visitors could send via email, [8] and stars David Boreanaz and Katherine Heigl—both well known at the time for their roles in the series Angel and Roswell, respectively—appeared at the Los Angeles Comic Book and Science Fiction Festival. [9]
Valentine had its Hollywood premiere at Hollywood Post No. 43, American Legion, on February 1, 2001. It earned $20,384,136 in the United States and Canada and a total gross of $36,684,136, allowing the film to surpass its $29 million budget. [3]
Reception
Critical reception
On Rotten Tomatoes the film holds an approval rating of 11% based on 79 reviews, with an average rating of 3.40/10. The website's critics consensus reads: "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." [10] Metacritic , which uses a weighted average , assigned the film a score of 18 out of 100, based on 17 critics, indicating "overwhelming dislike". [11] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "D+" on an A+ to F scale. [12]
Mick LaSalle of the San Francisco Chronicle gave the film a middling review likening to a 1980s-style slasher film, but praised the performances, writing: "Valentine isn't scary, but it is unsettling; not ultimately satisfying, but arresting in the moment. Part of the credit has to go to the ensemble. The actresses are vivid, and the characters they play are clearly delineated". [13] Ben Falk of the BBC gave the film two out of five stars: "Let's face it — we all know what's going to happen and director Blanks ( Urban Legend ) offers up few surprises. There's the host of red herrings of which none really bite, creative deaths, girls running around screaming and then being incredibly thick, but a distinct lack of gratuitous nudity, which would have at least brightened up the landscape". [14]
Kevin Thomas of the Los Angeles Times gave the film a positive review, calling the film a "smart, stylish horror picture that offers a fresh twist on the ever-reliable revenge theme and affords a raft of talented young actors solid roles that show them to advantage". [15] Dennis Harvey of Variety gave the film a mixed review, noting: "Looking good but lacking much in the way of personality or gray matter — rather like its characters — Valentine is a straightforward slasher pic that’s acceptably scary until a weak finale". [7] Maitland McDonagh of TV Guide awarded the film one out of five stars, calling the film "a throwback to the formulaic, holiday-themed stalk-and-slash pictures of the early '80s — but why it took four writers to adapt Tom Savage's generic genre novel is thoroughly baffling". [16] Elvis Mitchell of The New York Times also felt the film was formulaically structured, writing: "The worst kind of mystery is one in which nobody cares who the killer is. Even the cast of Valentine doesn't seem that concerned, and their fictional lives are at stake. When it's hard to hear the dialogue because the audience is laughing, it's clear that Valentine doesn't even succeed on its own limited terms." [17]
In 2007, Blanks stated in an interview: "Forgive me for [Valentine]. A lot of people give me grief for that, but we did our best". [18]
In a 2015 retrospective review for Icons of Fright, BJ Colangelo defended the spirit of the film and its thematic handling of the holiday's mythological aspects, calling it "a lot of fun and definitely one I think more people should give a chance." [19]
Accolades
The film was nominated for three Teen Choice Awards, including in the Choice Movie — Horror/Thriller category. [20]
