FM
Francesco Mirabelli
•A masked maniac sows terror and death in a quiet town. The killer targets a group of beautiful girls, sending them unsettling Valentine's Day cards before brutally massacring them. However, the killer seems to be under the effect of a strong shock that occurred years ago, precisely on the fateful day of Valentine's Day.
When it was released in theaters, it knew very little success, to the point of being considered a disaster by many critics and by the public, both horror and non-horror. "Valentine" disappoints minute after minute, sequence after sequence;
if it weren't for some good moments (including the well-done sequence in the morgue and some good murders) the film would have received a substantially poor rating. Starting with the prologue: the classic "childhood trauma" memory is repeated for the umpteenth time (see "Deep Red"), a boy mocked and isolated by his peers, who will be the victim of a very bad taste joke, the same joke we saw in "Carrie" where the protagonist was catapulted with pig's blood, coming out of a bucket. But as if that were not enough, the director Jamie Blanks ("Urban Legend")
follows in the footsteps of his beloved Carpenter by proposing the over-the-top serial killer with a mask and costume (see "Halloween" and "Scream"). Moving on to the technical aspect: a cast clearly below zero, whose performances make you cry literally, despite the presence of high-level actors, including David Boreanaz and Denise Richards ("James Bond 007: The World Is Not Enough"). The screenplay is ridiculous and predictable, as if it had been written in a negligent or better yet, hurried manner, and it's a shame, because the subject promised a lot. Therefore, a misstep from the semi-decent Jamie Blanks, who seemed to promise well after directing the good thriller-horror "Urban Legend". If you're in the mood for a slasher, you'd better look elsewhere, maybe rummaging through the classic movies from the 70s/80s, which will surely offer something better.
