I know, I know… Valerie
on the Stairs sounds like a Counting Crows song. And yet it’s not. Adapted
from a story by Clive Barker, Valerie on
the Stairs is in fact the latest entry in the bestselling Masters of Horror anthology series, this time with series executive producer Mick Garris (The Stand) back in the saddle himself as
writer-director.

Tyron Leitso (Dinotopia)
stars as Rob Hanisey, an unpublished novelist who moves into Highberger House,
a grungy commune for broke, aspiring writers. This affords him the opportunity to
eat on a regular basis, and Tyron figures it might help keep the demons of
rejection somewhat at bay. On his first night, though, he comes into contact
with Valerie (Clare Grant), a gorgeous but mysterious apparition who lives in
the walls of the building and wanders its halls, under the control of a
frightening beast (Candyman’s Tony
Todd) who owns her soul. Rob believes he’s found his muse and a mystery worth
investigating to boot, but none of the other authors want anything to do with
his story. Are they perchance hiding something as well?

Barker has always had a layered penchant for literary in-references,
darkly ironic shading and sexual deviance (just think back to Hellraiser, with its barely contained
lethal-Goth eroticism bubbling just underneath the surface), and a good bit of
that distinguishing instinct remains intact with Garris’ teleplay translation. Valerie on the Stairs, though, while fairly
skillfully constructed from a technical point-of-view, also suffers from the
unfortunate editorial decision (addressed by Garris in one of the bonus
features) to inject goosing moments of gruesome gore and aural smash-cuts. The result
is, because of a small budget to begin with, the reduction in sum effectiveness
of what could have been a much more tightly contained psychological thriller. No need to try to play on a playing field for which you’re not suited, you know?

Housed in a regular Amaray case in turned stored in a
cardboard slipcover, Valerie on the
Stairs is, like every episode in the series so far, presented in a 1.78:1
anamorphic widescreen transfer, with solid flesh tones, deep and consistent
blacks and only a few mild problems with compression artifacts. Dolby digital
5.1 surround sound and Dolby digital 2.0 stereo tracks anchor the audio
presentations, and the latter, scaled-down mix is by the better offering, with
clearer dialogue and music. Animated menus give way to probably the most interesting
bonus feature — an audio commentary track from Garris in which he talks about
the pleasures of working with Christopher Lloyd and the challenges presented by
casting the series as a whole. Other supplemental materials include two production
featurettes with a nice variety of cast and crew interviews, a brief biography
of Garris, a copy of the movie’s script in PDF format for those who happen to have
a DVD-ROM-equipped computer, and a scrollable photo gallery. To purchase the film via Amazon, click here. C (Movie) B- (Disc)