Taglines: Scared to be alone on Valentine’s Day? You should be.
Valentine’s Day 1988: At the school dance, geeky Jeremy Melton bravely faces one rejection after the other when asking four popular girls to dance with him. A fifth girl, plump and insecure, agrees, but they end up making out under the bleachers. When a group of school bullies catches them, the girl claims that Jeremy attacked her. This causes them to strip off his clothes and beat him up in front of the entire school.
Flash forward to 2001. We meet the five girls who were in that school gym: Kate, Paige, Shelly, Lily and the formerly plump Dorothy. They are all in their 20’s now and trying to sort out their love lives, which is appropriate, since Valentine’s Day is coming up. After a disastrous date with a loser, one of the girls, a pre-med student, is murdered by a Cherub-mask wearing killer who sent her a death threat in the form of a Valentine card prior to the attack.
After the four remaining girls are reunited at her funeral, they all start receiving threatening cards and messages. At first they don’t know who would want to hurt them, but eventually they figure that maybe Jeremy is responsible. Police records show that Jeremy has completely disappeared, so no one knows what he looks like. Could the formerly nerdish Jeremy have had plastic surgery and turned into one of the girls’ handsome boyfriends? Who ever it is, the lone survivor has to put a stop to this spurned individual’s murder spree before she, too, becomes a valentine to die for.
Valentine is a 2001 American slasher film directed by Jamie Blanks, and starring Denise Richards, David Boreanaz, Marley Shelton, Jessica Capshaw, and Katherine Heigl. Loosely based on the novel of the same name by Tom Savage, the film follows a group of women in San Francisco who are stalked by a man whom they tormented during their childhood.
Release theatrically in February 2001, the film received mixed reviews from critics, with some praising its performances and cinematography, and others criticizing its conclusion and deeming it too redolent of 1980s horror films. In spite of the mixed critical response, the film was a box office success, earning a total of USD$36.7 million.
While Warner Bros. had acquired the rights to the Tom Savage novel in May 1998, the project was later transferred to Artisan Entertainment with producer Dylan Sellers and writers Wayne and Donna Powers, with Wayne Powers attached to direct. The original script had a different tone and was set on a college campus.
The project went into turnaround to Warner Bros., 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 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.
Valentine was shot on location in Vancouver, British Columbia, with principal photography beginning July 10, 2000, and commencing September 8. Boreanaz shot all his scenes in less than two weeks. Katherine Heigl only had three days to shoot her scenes as she was already committed to the television series Roswell. Blanks later said in an interview, “Forgive me for Valentine. A lot of people give me grief for that, but we did our best.”
In promotion of the film, Warner Bros.’s official website featured digital e-card valentines that visitors could send via email,[9] 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.
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 $10 million budget.
Valentine (2001)
Directed by: Jamie Blanks
Starring: Denise Richards, David Boreanaz, Marley Shelton, Jessica Capshaw, Daniel Cosgrove, Katherine Heigl, Hedy Burress, Jessica Cauffiel, Benita Ha, Claude Duhamel
Screenplay by: Tom Savage, Donna Powers
Production Design by: Stephen Geaghan
Cinematography by: Rick Bota
Film Editing by: Steve Mirkovich
Costume Design by: Karin Nosella
Set Decoration by: Andrea French
Art Direction by: Susan Parker
Music by: Don Davis
MPAA Rating: R for strong horror violence, some sexuality and language.
Distributed by: Warner Bros. Pictures
Release Date: February 2, 2001
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