The Film (4/5)

    Valentine is a huge love-letter to 80's slashers like Prom Night, and of course, My Bloody Valentine.   The film opens at a middle school dance in 1988, where a young geeky boy attempts to dance with a girl, he is always thwarted at every turn, when one girl takes pity on him, and they end up under the bleachers. She gets made fun of, and then states that he forced himself on her.   The film then picks up at  over a decade later, the girls who rejected him that night, find themselves being the recipients of morbid Valentine's Day cards, and then begin getting killed off one by one by a killer in a Cupid mask.

    Valentine is not an original film, but it does what it aims to do quiet well. When Valentine came out in the late 90's, I dismissed after reading an article about it in Fangoria. I assumed that it would be another post-Scream "Whodunit" slasher, and I was tired and annoyed by those. It is definitely part of the post-Scream horror wave, but it's also effective at what it is attempting to do, by channeling slasher and horror films of the 70's and 80's while also giving the film a modern (for the time) sheen and tone.

    The kills in the film, while not over the top and gory like many of it's 80's predecessors are a mix of unique and occasionally suspenseful (I will admit the murder in the morgue to be most effective).  There is that saying that "hindsight is 20/20" and in retrospect director Jamie Blanks, though he only made 2 films in the period, seems to be one of the finest director's in that 90's horror wave. The 2 films he directed Urban Legend and Valentine are quite good at channeling slashers, while making them fit into the 90's mold, and are quite possibly the most entertaining films of the period.

Audio/Video (5/5)

    Scream brings Valentine to Blu-ray in a splendid 2:35:1 transfer. This film is decidedly newer than most films that companies Scream brings to Blu-ray, and as such the 2k scan ends up being of materials that are in much better condition. Thus the film is well-restored with excellent detail, colors, and black levels.

    Audio is handled by a DTS-HD MA 5.1 track that effectively brings the film to audio life, without any obvious issues.

Extras (4/5)

    There are 2 commentaries included here one with Blanks solo, another with Blanks, Phantasm director Don Coscarelli, and author Peter Bracke. The disc is also loaded up with interviews with the cast and crew, including some new ones and archival ones. There is also a theatrical trailer.

Overall

    At the time of release Valentine was derided by fans and critics as a lesser film. Watching it in 2019, I found it quite an enjoyable slice of late 90's horror, and plan a revisit sometime in the near future. Scream restores the film well for Blu-ray and includes solid extras. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.