I think we can all look back at our high school days and remember that one person the “class nerd” if you will. No matter what this one poor soul did, it was never good enough or “cool” enough. Sure, he or she was nice. In fact, if you tried to actually think of something mean or bad this person did, you probably couldn”t.
Now, imagine where all these people are today. Some of them are probably very successful in every aspect of their lives. They have moved beyond the hell that is high school. Of course there are others that have not been so lucky. They have never been able to fully close the door to their past. No matter what they do, they are always that “weirdo.”
The new movie “Valentine” follows this story through in a “what if” scenario based on the idea of that one kid getting revenge. This person gets revenge by sending freaky Valentine poems along with maggot filled chocolates, attacking people with electric drills, as well as hunting them down with a knife in a room filled with frozen corpses.
The idea behind “Valentine” is great because it is something everyone can relate to from both sides of the story. We all know the rush one can get from being powerful and in control yet we can also understand the pain of being the odd man out, so to speak.
The movie starts at a junior high Valentine”s dance where a geeky kid is trying to ask a group of popular girls to dance. They all rudely say no, disgusted that he would even ask. Finally he finds a girl sitting by herself and asks her to dance. Two seconds later the two are under the bleachers making out when suddenly a group of boys discovers the two and begins to make fun of them. The girl, feeling ashamed, tells the boys that the “geek” attacked her and they grab him and maliciously start beating him up.
I wish they would have spent a little more time on the introduction of “Valentine.” The description I just gave was shown in about a one minute time period, even though it was a very pivotal scene and referenced numerous times throughout the rest of the movie.
Thirteen years later the group of popular girls consisting of Kate, Paige, and Dorothy (Marley Shelton, Denise Richards, and Kate Capshaw”s daughter Jessica, respectively) are all conveniently living near each other and still best buds. After the death of one of their close friends, the girls start receiving disturbing valentines and other mysterious packages. They all seem to sense that their lives are in danger yet continue to trust everyone around them, no matter how mysterious they may be.
“Valentine” was most assuredly better than a lot of the horror movies that have come out in the past year. With the killer wearing a freaky cupid mask that was reminiscent of classic films such as “Halloween” and “Friday the 13th” There were also a variety of out-of-the-ordinary death scenes it is not everyday you get to see someone being shot to death with a bow and arrow.
However “Valentine” did have some major downfalls. For one, it was not really all that scary, which I find somewhat of a prerequisite for horror movies. There were a few suspenseful scenes and some shocks that made me jump, but for the most part I was unimpressed.
As with a lot of horror movies, the acting in “Valentine” was far from captivating. Except for Marley Shelton, the girls were quite one dimensional and boring. Denise Richards in particular seemed as though she was hoping her looks alone would get her through this movie and yet she wasn”t even too attractive in any of her scenes. Someone needs to tell both her and Freddie Prinze Jr. that a big toothy grin of a smile is not the same thing as acting.
Overall “Valentine” did not leave me too disappointed. Part of that may have been because of the interesting way in which the movie ends. A word of advice though, if you”re planning on seeing this movie with your date on Valentine”s Day in hopes that you”ll be able to nuzzle together during the real scary scenes, might I recommend perhaps staying at home and renting an old classic instead.