Line #67 Film/Valentine


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6	[[quoteright:317:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/valentine-cover-3_5463.jpg]]
7
8	->''Roses are red... violets are blue... they'll need dental records to identify you!''
9
10	One of the contemporary {{Slasher Movie}}s that [[FollowTheLeader rode on the coattails of]] ''Film/{{Scream 1996}}'''s [[FollowTheLeader success]], e.g... ''Film/IKnowWhatYouDidLastSummer''.
11
12	At a junior high school [[UsefulNotes/AmericanHolidays Valentine's Day]] prom in 1988, a bespectacled loser named Jeremy Melton asks several girls (Shelley, Lily, Paige and Kate) to dance, only to be cruelly shot down--except for the latter, who politely rejects him. Another girl, Dorothy, who at this stage is a little chubby, accepts his offer. But when some boys spot her and Melton making out, she claims he was assaulting her, prompting them to publicly strip and beat him, after which he is sent to a reform school.
13
14	Thirteen years later, the girls are all grown up and played by Creator/KatherineHeigl, Jessica Cauffiel, Creator/DeniseRichards, Creator/MarleyShelton and Creator/JessicaCapshaw respectively. They're now dealing with various boyfriend issues, and Dorothy has since slimmed down. As Valentine's Day approaches, they start receiving threatening Valentine's Day cards signed by "J.M." Then, a killer dressed in a black coat and cupid mask shows up and starts offing them one by one. Is it Melton, come back for revenge, or someone else?
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17	See also ''Film/MyBloodyValentine'', another Valentine's Day-themed slasher flick.
18	----
19	!!This film provides examples of:
20	* ThirteenIsUnlucky: It's been 13 years since Jeremy Melton was framed. And now he's come back for revenge.
21	* ActorAllusion:
22	** Of Creator/DavidBoreanaz's character: "He's no Series/{{angel}}."
23	** This wasn't [[Film/UrbanLegendsFinalCut the first time]] Jessica Cauffiel missed a flight to Los Angeles because [[spoiler:her character was killed. Coincidentally, she's the second character to die in both films.]]
24	* AdultsAreUseless: Apparently there was no one at the dance in the prologue to stop Dorothy and Jeremy from going under the bleachers or to stop the bullies from beating him.
25	* AnAesop:
26	** The film has a pretty clear anti-bullying message: beware who you mistreat because they just might come back and haunt you.
27	** On the flip side, a small act of kindness or two can go a long way years later. Specifically the difference between life and death.
28	* AfterActionVillainAnalysis: After [[spoiler:Adam kills Dorothy for attacking Kate and they wait for the cops to arrive, Kate says she doesn't understand why Dorothy would kill. Adam thinks that Dorothy went mad after spending so many years being lonely. The scene also serves as a subtle MotiveRant since Adam (really Jeremy) started killing for the exact same reasons: he never got over the loneliness he felt or the FalseRapeAccusation he received until he started killing.]]
29	--> "All I can think is when someone is that lonely or that angry they can learn to hide it. But inside, it never dies. It just stays there. Eats away at you. Until one day, you have to do something about it."
30	* AloneWithThePsycho: Played with. [[spoiler:Turns out Kate is this any time she was with Adam/Jeremy, most notably the scene where they dance. Granted she never has to worry because she didn't help frame him.]]
31	* AmbiguousSituation: The ending. [[spoiler:Did Jeremy/Adam decide to frame Dorothy at the last minute to throw Kate off the scent? Or did he intend to do it all along as payback for Dorothy framing him?]]
32	* AndStarring: "And Creator/KatherineHeigl", a pretty good sign that [[spoiler:she's a DeadStarWalking]].
33	* AnyoneCanDie: Given that this is a horror film, almost every named character who appears for more than a scene or two bites it. The only ones who don't are [[spoiler:Kate, Adam (the film's BigBad), Max, and Brian (who's ChainedToABed, with [[GroinAttack wax poured on his penis]]).]]
34	* ApologeticAttacker: Kate apologizes to Adam before [[spoiler:kneeing him in the nuts.]]
35	-->'''Adam''': What's the matter baby? You're shaking.
36	-->'''Kate''': I don't want to hurt you, Adam... but I will.
37	* ArtisticLicenseGunSafety: Justified in the climax because Kate is panicking and has never wielded a gun before, so she winds up aiming the gun at her head while fumbling with loading the magazine.
38	* ArtisticLicenseMedicine: While Shelley is dissecting her cadaver, she says she's making a transverse cut when it's really a sagittal incision.
39	* AssholeVictim: All of them but Kate, but especially Dorothy (who started the whole mess by lying to everyone about Jeremy out of embarrassment) and Paige (the ProudBeauty who's the least pleasant as an adult).
40	* AudibleSharpness: When the killer draws his knife on [[spoiler:Ruthie]], the knife makes a tzing sound even though the weapon is only making contact with his coat.
41	* BadassLongcoat: Part of the killer's getup, along with a cherub mask.
42	* BadDate:
43	** The film's first scene after the prologue shows Shelley at dinner with a date named Jason Marquette, who's rather obnoxious, speaks in the third person, didn't bring enough money to pay for dinner, and [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking has something in his teeth that he doesn't seem to notice]]. Shelley's already starting to wish she wasn't there, and bails at the first opportunity to go to the morgue to study for an exam.
44	** Kate and Paige's first scene is a [[TerribleIntervieweesMontage turbo-dating session which all have unpleasant guys]].
45	* TheBadGuyWins: [[spoiler:Adam Carr/Jeremy Melton kills everyone who had a hand in his FalseRapeAccusation, frames Dorothy (who was responsible for the initial false accusation) to cover his tracks, and [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking patches things up with Kate]].]]
46	* BallroomBlitz: When [[spoiler:Paige is electrocuted]], the resulting power surge cause Dorothy's house to blow a fuse, so everyone leaves.
47	* BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor: Brian should have probably been a bit more specific when he asked Paige to "[[GroinAttack wax his dick]]".
48	* BecauseYouWereNiceToMe: [[spoiler:Ultimately the very reason Kate survives because although while rejecting him, she was the only one who ever showed him any kindness]].
49	* BeneathTheMask: This appears to be a recurring theme among a number of the male characters, who are pretending to be cooler than they actually are. Campbell puts up the front of being an entrepreneur while he's really a GoldDigger, Gary pretends to [[RhymesOnADime Rhyme on a Dime]] to attract Kate, Max is a SmallNameBigEgo artist who thinks he's irresistible. Jeremy Melton's mask is perhaps the most insidious; he's a vengeful SerialKiller who puts up the front of [[spoiler:a reporter and loving boyfriend (that part might be real) with [[MrViceGuy a drinking problem]].]]
50	* BigBad: [[spoiler:Jeremy Melton, alias Adam Carr, seeks to murder four young women who framed him for raping one of them and helped incite a GangOfBullies into beating him]].
51	* BigBadFriend: [[spoiler:The final shot of the film reveals that Kate's boyfriend Adam is really Jeremy Melton. Also counts as LoveInterestTraitor.]]
52	* BigFancyHouse: Dorothy's father owns a large mansion that's big enough to host a large Valentine's Day Party and boasts a hot tub in a greenhouse, a sauna, and multiple shower rooms. The house winds up [[spoiler:being the site of the last six deaths in the film.]]
53	* BigNo: Ruthie gives several when [[spoiler:she's trying to stop the killer shoving her head onto a shard of glass.]]
54	* BlackBraAndPanties: Paige, the "sexy one" of the five girls, is shown wearing a black bikini under [[LadyInRed her red dress]] at the party.
55	* BlackEyesOfEvil: The eyes of the Cupid killer's mask are shadowed over, giving off a look similar to IrislessEyeMaskOfMystery.
56	* BlatantLies: Dorothy, screwing over Jeremy.
57	* BlandNameProduct: While researching Jeremy Melton, Kate can be seen consulting an "Interlink" browser, likely a reference to Windows' Internet Explorer.
58	* BloodFromTheMouth: [[spoiler:Lily and Dorothy are shown bleeding from the corners of their mouths after getting shot.]]
59	* BloodIsSquickerInWater: When the killer [[spoiler:stabs at Paige with a drill in the hot tub, he stabs her in the shoulder, turning the water red before throwing the drill inside to electrocute her.]]
60	* BludgeonedToDeath: [[spoiler:How Gary is killed. The Cupid killer enters Kate's apartment, then picks up an iron. He finds Gary stealing Kate's clothes, smacks Gary in the face with the iron, burns his face, then smashes Gary in the face multiple times, using the iron as an impromptu EpicFlail.]]
61	* BodybagTrick: Shelley attempts to hide from the killer by zipping herself up inside a body bag in the morgue. [[spoiler:It doesn't work.]]
62	* {{Bookends}}: The film begins and ends with [[spoiler:a FrameUp job.]]
63	* BottomlessMagazines: Inverted; when [[spoiler:Adam shoots Dorothy]], seven shots are fired from a fresh magazine when the gun locks empty, less than half the standard 15-round magazine.
64	* BreakUpMakeUpScenario: Much of Kate's plotline outside of her friends dropping like flies is trying again with her on-off boyfriend Adam.
65	* ButForMeItWasTuesday: Zigzagged. There's a scene where Paige and Lily try and figure out who sent the maggoty chocolate, and it's pretty clear that there are a lot of guys who they've pissed off over the years, including Jeremy Melton. However, once he's brought up because Paige remembers him, Lily wastes little time in mocking him.
66	* CallingCard: The Cupid killer leaves valentines for his targets in red envelopes, signed J.M.. For the parents of one of his victims, he signs his name.
67	* CameBackWithAVengeance: Jeremy Melton. He was a young boy who was [[FalseRapeAccusation framed for sexual assault]] and after some undetermined time in a mental institute, then after some time he erases his identity, reenters the lives of the girls who framed him, starts killing them one-by-one, and to avoid getting caught, [[spoiler:frames the woman who made the initial accusation for his crimes.]]
68	* CasanovaWannabe: Max, who tries to entice Lily and his assistant Amy into a threesome and tries to smooch up Kate on a couple occasions.
69	* CastAsAMask: Stuntman Marshall Virtue portrays the killer whenever they're onscreen, but another actor portrays them whenever they're unmasked.
70	* ChainedToABed: At the Valentine's Day Party, Brian lures Paige upstairs with a promise of giving her a surprise: which turns out to be his penis. Paige takes her revenge by tying him to the bed naked and blindfolding him with silk scarves, and then [[GroinAttack pouring melted wax from a candle over his genitals]].
71	* ChekhovsGun:
72	** Jeremy's nosebleed in the prologue, which keys the audience that he's been committing the murders.
73	** Kate's iron is given quite a bit of focus in the scene in her apartment when she forgets it's still on. The iron is later used to [[spoiler:kill Gary.]]
74	** The electricity at Dorothy's mansion is rather unstable. This is first brought up when the light switch to the basement lets out a spark or two when [[spoiler:Campbell attempts to turn on the lights when he goes to relight the pilot light to the heater. The power goes out again when Paige is electrocuted in a hot tub, but this time for the whole house.]]
75	** The power drill used [[spoiler:to attack and electrocute Paige]] is seen in a pile of tools used by Campbell to fix the hot tub.
76	* ChekhovsGunman: Zig-zagged all over the spectrum from merely showing up later to being integral parts of the plot.
77	** Brian, one of the guys from the turbo dating session, shows up as Paige's date to Dorothy's party. Subverted since he doesn't contribute much to the occasion outside of that.
78	** Lily's boyfriend Max shows up at the party to inform Kate that [[spoiler:Lily is missing (we know she's dead), meaning the killer will strike there.]]
79	** Kate's boyfriend Adam [[SatelliteCharacter mostly appears in scenes with her]] as they try to mend their relationship. [[spoiler:He's the killer.]]
80	* TheChessmaster: [[spoiler:Jeremy Melton. The film is the culmination of a 13-year long revenge plot to revenge himself on everyone who ruined his life, turn the survivors against the instigator, and frame her for his crimes.]]
81	* ChildhoodFriends: Kate, Paige, Lily, Shelley and Dorothy have been friends since at least middle school; Dorothy refers to them all having headgear and braces together.
82	* ChokeHolds: The Cupid killer makes his first attempt to kill Shelley by strangling her with his arm from behind a curtain, but she stabs him with a scalpel and escapes for the time being.
83	* CollidingCriminalConspiracies: [[spoiler:GoldDigger Campbell's latest mark Dorothy is the main target of vengeful SerialKiller Jeremy Melton, and Campbell winds up a victim.]]
84	* CombatPragmatist: The Cupid killer very rarely attacks his victims head-on, preferring to ambush his quarry from behind, take advantage of disorienting environments such as the art exhibit, catch them in a compromising position, or use objects to distract them and lure them into an ambush point. On at least two occasions WhyDontYouJustShootHim is averted as well.
85	* CopKiller: [[spoiler:Detective Vaughn is killed during the third act by Jeremy/Adam, and his head left in a pond]].
86	* CouldHaveAvoidedThisPlot: If Dorothy had just told the truth and not claimed Jeremy had sexually assaulted her, he wouldn't have done what he did.
87	* CoversAlwaysLie: The movie poster shows Creator/DavidBoreanaz posing like "Angel", his character in ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer''. And one of the actresses in the poster (presumably Creator/MarleyShelton) seems to look a lot like Creator/SarahMichelleGellar.
88	* CreateYourOwnVillain: Paige, Lily, and Shelley rejecting Jeremy at a middle school dance and Dorothy falsely accusing him of sexual assault (corroborated by the former three) is the primary reason why he hunts them in the present day.
89	* CreepyCrossdresser: Kate's creepy neighbor Gary breaks into her apartment and tries on her stockings. [[spoiler: When discovered by the killer, he puts his hands up and even remarks that he is unwell]].
90	* CutPhoneLines: The killer does this at Dorothy's house at some point during the climax, forcing Kate to go on the offensive with a pistol.
91	* CutTheJuice: [[spoiler:The killer [[ElectricBathtub electrocuting Paige in a hot tub]]]] results in all the power going out at Dorothy's house, so most of the guests leave.
92	* DangerousKeyFumble: A variant involving guns. When Kate breaks into Mr. Wheeler's gun safe and grabs a pistol, she fumbles the magazine twice in her panic.
93	* DeadStarWalking: [[spoiler:Creator/KatherineHeigl, who gets the AndStarring, is the first character to die]].
94	* DeathByIrony: In the opening, when Jeremy asks the five girls to dance with him, their responses foreshadow their fates.
95	** Shelley - "In your dreams, loser!" [[spoiler: Killed while lying prone (In other words, in a sleeping position) in a body bag.]]
96	** Lily - "Eww!" [[spoiler: Received a box full of maggot-filled chocolates and later used for archery practice by Adam/Jeremy with her body falling into a dumpster.]]
97	** Paige - "I'd rather be boiled alive." [[spoiler: Make that electrocuted in a hot tub.]]
98	** Kate - "Maybe later, Jeremy." [[spoiler: She indeed later dances with Adam after thirteen years during the climax and survives only because she showed kindness to him.]]
99	** Dorothy set him up big time, claiming that Jeremy attacked her under the bleachers when they were caught making out by several school bullies. He gets his ass kicked and sent off to reform school as a result. [[spoiler: Adam/Jeremy set her up to take the fall for all of the murders, and gets away scot-free.]]
100	* DeathByMaterialism: Arguably for [[spoiler:Campbell]] since the latest mark in his gold-digging schemes happens to have a target on her back and he winds up dead right after it's revealed he's been leading her on.
101	* DeceasedFallGuyGambit: [[spoiler:How the final victim goes out. Jeremy/Adam puts Dorothy in his costume and locks her in a closet so that Dorothy will confusedly run at Kate as she makes her way upstairs with a gun, sending them both tumbling down the stairs. As Dorothy (dressed in the costume) sits up, presumably to kill Kate, "Adam" appears with Kate's gun and shoots Dorothy, then unmasks her.]]
102	* DidntThinkThisThrough: Let's cruelly reject and make fun of this nerd, stand by as he gets beaten by a gang of bullies, and help frame him for assaulting one of us. [[SarcasmMode He's definitely not coming back for revenge.]]
103	%%* DiesWideOpen: [[spoiler:Shelley, Detective Vaughn, and Dorothy.]]
104	%%* DirtyOldMan: Dorothy's father, whose new wife is around Dorothy's age.
105	* DisabilityAsAnExcuseForJerkassery: More like "lack of good looks as an excuse for Jerkassery", but Dorothy tries to justify framing Jeremy by citing that she was fat in middle school.
106	* DisposingOfABody:
107	** [[spoiler:The killer shoots Lily until she falls into [[TrashLanding a conveniently placed dumpster.]] By the end, [[FailedASpotCheck nobody has found her]].]]
108	** Presumably happens to [[spoiler:Gary]] because nobody finds his body after [[spoiler:he gets BludgeonedToDeath.]]
109	* DisproportionateRetribution:
110	** Treat the nerd like garbage, mock him when he asks you to dance, stand by and laugh as he gets beaten by bullies after a false sexual assault allegation, and corroborate the false allegation? He will come back for you later on and kill the lot of you.
111	** Beckett Broda, one of Lily's exes, sent her a computer virus.
112	* DomesticAbuser: All of the gals' current boyfriends leave something to be desired, mainly vices.
113	** Lily's boyfriend Max is a CasanovaWannabe who tries to smooch up other women in front of Lily, including her friends.
114	** Dorothy's boyfriend Campbell is a GoldDigger and ConMan only interested in her money.
115	* DramaticUnmask:
116	** Subverted. [[spoiler:The figure who is shot dead wearing the killer's costume is unmasked to reveal Dorothy, but the final shot of the film indicates that Adam, the person who shot then unmasked her, was the real killer and put her in his costume to frame her for his crimes.]]
117	** The killer's nosebleed every time he kills serves as a figurative version of this trope as it's the main feature that can be used to identify him after the film's prologue. This includes [[spoiler:the film's ending.]]
118	* DumbBlonde: Lily is a blonde airhead and party girl.
119	* ElectrifiedBathtub: [[spoiler:Paige is killed when the killer throws his electric drill into the hot tub with her]].
120	* EmergingFromTheShadows: [[spoiler:Adam]] does this twice in the expanse of a few minutes during the finale, first [[spoiler:while descending a spiral staircase when Kate comes back inside from finding Detective Vaughn's head]] and later from a darkened doorway after [[spoiler:Kate finds Dorothy's room trashed.]]
121	%%* TheEndingChangesEverything
122	* EveryoneIsASuspect: Given that this film was made in the wake of ''Film/Scream1996'' in the whodunit slasher mold, there's a cavalcade of figures surrounding the lead quintet of gals that have chances to be the suspect; to make matters even more difficult, they haven't seen the lead suspect, Jeremy Melton, in more than a decade so he could look like anyone they know. For example:
123	** Adam Carr, Kate's troubled boyfriend who is trying to curb his [[TheAlcoholic drinking problem]].
124	** Campbell Morris, Dorothy's boyfriend who conveniently shows up as the killings start, whose last name is unknown, and is genuinely up to some shady stuff (he's a ConMan GoldDigger).
125	** Jason Marquette, a man who shares initials with the killer, had a BadDate with Shelley early in the film, and leers at Kate and Paige at an art exhibit that serves as [[spoiler:the site for the second murder]].
126	** This isn't limited to the men; as Creator/DeniseRichards states in [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QoPS9BgYPIQ an interview]] that there's a chance "[she] could be the killer"; true to form, halfway through the film Paige sneaks into Kate's apartment and surprises her with a JumpScare after the killer was last seen in Kate's apartment.
127	** Dorothy is revealed to have a lot of resentment built up over the years over being the one member of the friend group who always had bad luck with guys.
128	* EveryoneLovesBlondes:
129	** Kate, who is HairOfGoldHeartOfGold, was the "popular one" while the gals were growing up and in the present day has three guys clamoring for her attention: Adam, her ex who wants to repair their relationship, Lily's boyfriend Max who's a CasanovaWannabe, and Gary, her neighbor who keeps trying to ask her out in rhyme and who she is convinced is stalking her.
130	** Dorothy seems to invoke this; she was a brunette as a child but as an adult her hair is blonde.
131	%%* EvilAllAlong: [[spoiler:Adam Carr, who is really Jeremy Melton.]]
132	* EvilGloating: After [[spoiler:killing Shelley]], Jeremy sends a remembrance card to her parents with an unsympathetic "Too bad, so sad". Notably, he signs his full name instead of the typical J.M. he typically used.
133	* EvilPlan: The killer's plan is to murder a group of friends who [[FalseRapeAccusation framed him for sexual assault]].
134	* EvilWearsBlack: Alongside the Cupid mask, the killer wears a [[BadassLongcoat black knee-length duster]] and matching gloves and slacks.
135	* FaceOfAnAngelMindOfADemon: The Cupid killer appears to evoke this trope with a FallenCupid-esque mask that clashes with his dark coat and ruthless actions.
136	* FallenCupid: The killer wears a cupid mask, leaves love letters for his victims and uses a bow and arrows [[spoiler: to kill Lily]].
137	* FalseRapeAccusation: The particular FrameUp Dorothy pinned on Jeremy, kicking off the plot.
138	* {{Fanservice}}: The movie stars Katherine Heigl, Marley Shelton, Denise Richards, Jessica Cauffiel, Jessica Capshaw and David Boreanaz. It's to be expected.
139	* FinalGirl: [[spoiler:Kate. Adam also survives but given that he's the killer...]]
140	* FiveSecondForeshadowing:
141	** As [[spoiler:Campbell]] bends down to relight the pilot light, an axe can be seen on a chopping block behind him. When he straightens up again, the axe is gone. Cue the killer [[spoiler:swinging the axe into Campbell's back.]]
142	** When [[spoiler:Ruthie]] gets thrown through a shower door, the camera focuses on a particular glass shard left behind so the audience knows exactly [[ImpromptuTracheotomy what's going to happen next]].
143	* {{Foil}}: The other girls in the friend group to Kate, outside of Shelley since the viewer doesn't get much of a chance to get a bead on Shelley's personality [[spoiler:before she is killed]].
144	** Paige is the other half of the HairContrastDuo with Kate. Paige is the aggressive vamp while Kate is sweet yet cautious. Kate has a somewhat steady relationship with Adam while Paige has no interest in keeping her attentions focused on one guy.
145	** Lily and Kate are both blondes, but Kate wears her hair straight while Lily has QuirkyCurls. Lily is the GenkiGirl to contrast Kate's [[OnlySaneMan cool head]].
146	** Dorothy and Kate both seemed nicer to Jeremy to contrast their more hurtful friends, but while Kate was nice to Jeremy even though she rejected him, Dorothy pretended to like him only to throw him under the bus at the first opportunity to save face. The consequences of that night [[spoiler:determines their fates; Kate is spared while Dorothy is murdered and framed in turn.]]
147	* FoodSlap: At the dance, the bullies dump a bowl of punch over Jeremy's head before beating him up.
148	* {{Foreshadowing}}:
149	** Connected to the DeathByIrony example above, [[spoiler:the girls die in the same order Jeremy asks them to dance, with the exception of Kate and Dorothy, though the things they do with him (Kate dances with him, Jeremy [[spoiler: frames Dorothy]]) are in the correct order.
150	** Everything around [[spoiler:Paige's death]] has to do with water. [[spoiler:Paige says she'd rather be boiled alive in the prologue, her dismissal of Jeremy's threat level is that he couldn't manage a water fountain without screwing up (verbatim), and it's mentioned she likes to soak in hot tubs. All of this leads up to Paige being murdered in an ElectrifiedBathtub.]]
151	** Max's assistant Amy mentions she's having trouble with the video playback. While it was likely an excuse to get Max for a make-out session, the slideshows cut out later in the scene when [[spoiler:Lily gets lost in the maze... just in time to get shot by the killer, implying he had something to do with the cutoff.]]
152	** At the end of Ruthie's first scene, she snarls "Watch your back, leech" at Campbell. [[spoiler:Campbell is killed with an axe to the back.]]
153	* FormerlyFat: Dorothy was fat in school but has lost the weight as an adult. Deconstructed because she's still very insecure about not being as pretty or having an attractive personality like the others in middle school.
154	* FourIsDeath:
155	** Four girls framed Jeremy for rape. [[spoiler:All four are dead by the end.]]
156	** Four guys bullied Jeremy and corroborated the girls; according to Jamie Blanks all four are dead.
157	** Reversed with Kate; she is the fourth girl Jeremy asked to dance and [[spoiler:winds up surviving.]]
158	* FourTemperamentEnsemble: The remaining friends after the opening scene: air-headed GenkiGirl Lily (Sanguine), assertive and sexually forward Paige (Choleric), nervous and insecure Dorothy (Melancholic), and level-headed and kind-hearted Kate (Phlegmatic).
159	* FrameUp: After being cruelly rejected by Shelley, Lily, and Paige, Dorothy falsely accused Jeremy Melton of sexually assaulting her, leading him to be beaten by a gang of bullies, put into reform school and later a mental institution. It's been 13 years since that happened, and now he's back for revenge.
160	* FreudianExcuse: [[spoiler:Dorothy's framing Jeremy, the bullies' over-the-top humiliation, and being sent to a mental institution really set him off]]. Lampshaded by Detective Vaughn saying that the girls "must have done a number on him."
161	* FreudianTrio: The gals' significant others.
162	** Adam (Superego), TheStoic who is trying to curb his alcoholic tendencies and repair his relationship with Kate.
163	** Campbell (Ego), the BitchInSheepsClothing who appears devoted while [[GoldDigger leeching off of Dorothy]].
164	** Max (Id), Lily's boyfriend and CasanovaWannabe who is unabashedly sleazy.
165	* FromNobodyToNightmare: [[spoiler:Adam Carr/Jeremy Melton]] went from being [[spoiler:the biggest loser in middle school]] to become a vindictive serial killer.
166	* FunctionalAddict: [[spoiler:Jeremy/Adam's drinking problem does nothing to stop him from being an effective killer]].
167	* GeekPhysiques: The geeky Jeremy Melton was rather skinny in the opening scene; Paige describes him as 60 pounds soaking wet. He's a lot stronger and physically imposing in the present day.
168	* GirlPosse: The five main leads are a clique of girls who have been friends since at least middle school. Unlike most examples there are co-leads, AlphaBitch Paige and ClassPrincess Kate, with StrawLoser Dorothy, GenkiGirl Lily, and ambitious doctor-to-be Shelley rounding out the group. Ultimately it is the actions of Dorothy that spell doom for most of them.
169	* GoldDigger: Campbell is a male example as a ConMan who's leeching off of Dorothy so can get access to her father's money.
170	* GrievousBottleyHarm: When Kate is dancing with [[spoiler:Adam]] and suddenly suspects him of being the killer, she smashes a champagne bottle over his head in order to get away.
171	* GroinAttack:
172	** Paige pouring hot wax on Brian's crotch.
173	** [[spoiler: Kate knees Adam in the crotch as she dances with him when she suspects him of being the killer.]]
174	* HairContrastDuo: Kate (Blonde) and Paige (Brunette). They spend the most time around each other and though neither is particularly innocent, their personalities and interests contrast strongly: Kate is demure, kind, and levelheaded, willing to stick with one person while Paige is sexually forward, opinionated, and brash, having a reputation for sleeping with men she's known for less than an hour and never wanting to keep to one boyfriend.
175	* HeartbeatSoundtrack: The sound of a heartbeat accompanies the editing of the opening scene of the film, as Jeremy asks each girl to dance and they reject him.
176	* HeKnowsTooMuch: [[spoiler:Ruthie catches the killer in the middle of trying to dispose of Millie's body, and that just about marks her for death]].
177	* HellIsThatNoise: [[spoiler:The shrill whistle tone and screaming sound heard accompanying the last shot of the film, revealing Adam was really Jeremy.]]
178	* HiddenVillain: Jeremy Melton is a zigzagged example. It's made pretty clear that he's the Cupid killer, but he's also unpersoned himself. So the main characters have to figure out which one of their social circle is his cover identity before he kills all of them, and even then [[spoiler:it takes until the absolute final shot of the film to reveal it.]]
179	* HorrorDoesntSettleForSimpleTuesday: The main events of the film (plus its' prologue) all revolve around Valentine's Day, with the climax centering on a Valentine's Day party.
180	* IAteWhat: Lily takes a bite of one of the chocolates sent to her, only to discover it is full of maggots. Her reaction is to spit the chocolate out, followed by InelegantBlubbering.
181	* IdentificationByDentalRecords: Referenced in the valentine sent to Dorothy where it says the cops will need dental records to identify her.
182	* ImpaledWithExtremePrejudice: [[spoiler:Ruthie is killed by having her head/[[ImpromptuTracheotomy neck]] shoved onto a shard of glass]].
183	* ImprovisedWeapon:
184	** Aside from the knife, bow and arrow, and axe, the killer uses a bunch of everyday items such as an iron, the remnants of a shower door, and a power drill. He'll usually go for those first, then bring out the knife if he has nothing on hand.
185	** Ruthie uses a pool cue to fight off the killer, smashing it against his head and knocking him down. Shame she didn't hit him a few more times.
186	* InstantDeathStab: While most of the victims are killed in a way that would be quickly fatal in real life [[spoiler:(decapitation) or are struck multiple times (shot three times with arrows then falling multiple stories, multiple strikes to the head with an iron, multiple gunshots within five yards), Campbell is notable since he's killed with a single axe blow to the back]].
187	* InternalReveal:
188	** Kate tells Adam about everything regarding Jeremy Melton offscreen at dinner.
189	** Max reveals to Kate that [[spoiler:Lily has been missing for a week, meaning that Jeremy killed her.]]
190	* InTheBack: [[spoiler:Campbell is killed with an axe to the back]].
191	* InTouchWithHisFeminineSide: Trope name-dropped and PlayedForLaughs. When Kate tells Adam that some of her underwear was stolen, he makes a SarcasticConfession that it's him.
192	%%* {{Jerkass}}: Paige, Max, Campbell Morris, and Ruthie certainly qualify.
193	%%** Also Detective Vaughn. He even harasses Paige.
194	%%* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Adam. Despite his alcoholic tendencies he genuinely cares about Kate and will drop everything to help her.
195	* JumpScare:
196	** Shelley's fellow student does one by accident in the locker room.
197	** Adam does one on Kate by putting his hand on her shoulder while she's sitting and contemplating the case.
198	** Paige does the same later when she sneaks into Kate's apartment halfway through the film and Kate nearly clobbers Paige with her iron.
199	* JurisdictionFriction: Averted since Detective Vaughn has no problem going back and forth between Los Angeles and San Francisco to investigate Shelly's death.
200	* KarmaHoudini: [[spoiler:Adam (really Jeremy) successfully takes his revenge on the girls who framed him, frames Dorothy to cover his tracks (LaserGuidedKarma since she framed him years ago), and [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking patched things up with Kate to boot]].]]
201	* KarmicJackpot: [[spoiler:Because of Kate's kindness to Jeremy, she is spared from being murdered by him, unlike her friends.]]
202	* KidsAreCruel: Not only is Jeremy insulted when rejected by the girls (excepting Kate), he's falsely accused of sexual assault, doused in punch, stripped to his undies, beaten in front of an entire crowd who laugh at the ordeal and then sent to reform school through the testimony of all the girls except Kate, as well as the bully leader.
203	* KilledOffscreen:
204	** [[spoiler:Dorothy's housekeeper Millie]], who is the first casualty during the climactic party.
205	** [[spoiler:Detective Vaughn is also decapitated off-screen during the party after Kate contacts him about Lily's death. His head is found floating in a fishpond by Kate.]]
206	* KubrickStare: Adam parodies one when imitating Gary at the bar with Kate.
207	* LackOfEmpathy: In the present day, none of the girls minus Kate show any empathy for what happened to Jeremy. When he's first brought up as a suspect after the maggoty chocolate incident, Lily makes impressions of him for laughs while Paige glibly remarks about how mean they were to him. When Dorothy reveals she lied about Jeremy assaulting her, she tries to justify it by talking about how she was fat in middle school, while Paige attempts to alleviate the situation by downplaying the threat Jeremy poses. Contrast with Kate who asks Dorothy why she would do that to someone.
208	* LaserGuidedKarma: [[spoiler:Arguably for Dorothy, as she was the one who accused Jeremy for something he didn't do which sent him to reform school back when they were kids, putting the entire plot into motion. Jeremy kills her last and frames her for his crimes.]]
209	* LastNoteNightmare: Used at the very end of the film. [[spoiler:A soothing set of chords on violin and piano plays as Kate and Adam declare their love and wait for the cops to arrive, which is followed by a [[HellIsThatNoise piercing whistle]], droning cello, and Jeremy's OminousMusicBoxTune {{Leitmotif}}, as Adam's nose starts bleeding and conveying to the audience that he was Jeremy and the real killer all along.]] The scene ends by going black with a scream.
210	* LiarRevealed: About halfway through the film after talking to Detective Vaughn, Dorothy admits to Kate and Paige that she lied about Jeremy assaulting her, meaning it's her fault that Jeremy is coming after them. Kate is dismayed that Dorothy would do something that horrible to someone, while Paige is somewhat dismissive of Jeremy Melton being a threat.
211	-->'''Paige''': Dorothy... he ''did'' attack you, right?
212	-->'''Dorothy''': ''[after a moment]'' …No.
213	* LightswitchSurprise: When [[spoiler:Campbell]] goes into the basement to relight the furnace, the lights flicker several times. When the lights come back on, the Cupid killer is revealed to be standing in the passage several yards behind him.
214	* LogoJoke: The Warner Bros. opening logo is tinted red, one of the main colors for Valentine's Day.
215	* TheLoinsSleepTonight: Happens off-screen with Campbell when he and Dorothy try to have sex.
216	* LovelyAssistant: Amy, who manages Max's Powerpoint slideshows at the art exhibit; it's implied he's using her to cheat on Lily.
217	* MagicPlasticSurgery: Discussed. At the police station where the ladies tell Detective Vaughn about Jeremy Melton, Vaughn notes, while looking at an age progression machine, that Jeremy could look completely different thanks to plastic surgery. [[spoiler:The film's TwistEnding shows that this is probably the case]].
218	* AManIsAlwaysEager: Zig-zagged. While Max has no problem trying to make out with his girlfriend (and his assistant) and later tries to smooch up Kate, Adam politely turns down an offer to come up to the apartment with Kate.
219	* MeaningfulBackgroundEvent:
220	** [[spoiler:When the killer comes for Campbell, he's first seen in the basement when the light flickers. As Campbell works the pilot light, an axe can be seen behind him. As Campbell finishes, the axe is gone. No points [[InTheBack as to what happens next]].]]
221	** As Kate walks through the billiard room after finding [[spoiler:Detective Vaughn's head]], the viewer can see [[spoiler:Adam descending a staircase behind Kate, which explains how he winds up behind her when he asks to dance. Adam has already knocked Dorothy out and put her in his costume.]]
222	* MickeyMousing: [[spoiler:The killer beating Gary to death is punctuated in the score with a series of clangs by striking an anvil or brake drum.]]
223	* AMinorKidroduction: Pretty nasty example, too. For what happened to Jeremy, see KidsAreCruel.
224	* MisplacedRetribution: Downplayed. Kate's friends ''definitely'' hurt Jeremy by framing him, but for some reason he doesn't target the GangOfBullies who actually beat him. A version of the script mentions that the leader Joe Tulga died under mysterious circumstances, indicating that Jeremy had targeted at least ''some'' of them, but for some unknown reason this was dropped. [[WordOfGod Jamie Blanks]] the director later revealed in an interview that the bullies were already dead, indicating that Jeremy's revenge had already started.
225	* MsFanservice: Paige, who is the "sexy" girl of the group. Best shown when she's in a bikini in the [[PoolScene hot tub]] [[spoiler:right before her death scene.]]
226	* MultipleGunshotDeath: [[spoiler:Dorothy is shot about seven times by Adam]].
227	* MusicalSpoiler: The OminousMusicBoxTune that serves as Jeremy Melton's {{Leitmotif}} is heard whenever the main characters receive their Valentines, tipping the audience off that he is the person sending the Valentines (and probably bumping the girls off).
228	* MyCard: Detective Vaughn ends his first scene at [[spoiler:Shelley's funeral]] by giving Paige his card and telling the rest of the friends to call him should they have any more information.
229	* NoNonsenseNemesis: Zigzagged; the killer sometimes uses an ironic Valentine or other item (such as a rose) to lure their target before moving in for the kill (even pretending to be a cadaver), but other times they just start straight in with only a small enough pause to grab a weapon. On at least two occasions, the killer [[WhyDontYouJustShootHim just shoots their quarry]].
230	* NotWhatItLooksLike: [[spoiler:Gary]] says this ''verbatim'' when the killer catches him stealing from Kate. It doesn't deter him in the slightest.
231	* OfficeRomance: Kate mentions that she met Adam because they worked at the same newspaper firm.
232	* OffscreenKarma: According to [[https://www.macabredaily.com/articles/oneoneonewithjamieblanks an interview of the director]] Jamie Blanks, Jeremy Melton murdered the bullies who beat him first before targeting the girls.
233	* OffscreenVillainDarkMatter: [[spoiler:How Jeremy got the funds to change his appearance and identity (gaining muscle, not needing glasses) before reinventing himself as Adam Carr. Unless he grew up to look like Creator/DavidBoreanaz.]]
234	* OffWithHisHead: After Dorothy's party, Kate finds the head of [[spoiler:Detective Vaughn]] floating in the fishpond.
235	* OminousMusicBoxTune: Jeremy Melton's {{Leitmotif}} is very reminiscent of a music box, with a series of discordant piano notes in the high register. The main theme (typically in a-minor) is most notably heard in the opening titles, every scene where the threatening Valentines are received, the scene where Dorothy reveals she lied about Jeremy, when a rose is revealed beside Paige while she sits in the hot tub, and [[spoiler:the film's ending where it's revealed that Adam was Jeremy all along.]]
236	* OnceIsNotEnough: [[spoiler:Both Shelley and Ruthie are able to get a hit on the killer when he attacks them, but neither stays to press the advantage and this costs both of them dearly.]]
237	* OneWordTitle
238	* OrbitalShot: The camera orbits around [[spoiler:Paige trapped in the hot tub as the killer looks for a power drill.]]
239	* OutlivingOnesOffspring: [[spoiler:Shelley and Dorothy's parents (or at least her father in the latter case) are still around while their daughters are murdered. Shelley's parents received an unsympathetic remembrance card from Jeremy Melton, which they sent to Detective Vaughn, providing a big clue as to who murdered Shelley.]]
240	* PeekABooCorpse:
241	** Chad, the cadaver Shelly is supposed to be dissecting, is found propped up in a closet while the killer took his place on the table.
242	** Ruthie finding [[spoiler:Campbell's]] corpse whilst hiding from the cupid killer at Dorothy's party.
243	** After everyone left at Dorothy's party, Kate finding [[spoiler:Paige's and Ruthie's corpses (along with Detective Vaughn's head) while trying to run away from the killer]].
244	* PlayingDrunk: [[spoiler:Jeremy/Adam. While it's unclear how much he's been pulling this act over the years, he's ''definitely'' pretending to be drunk during the climax when he starts pounding drinks yet conducting coordinated attacks.]]
245	* PlayingPossum: The killer briefly pretends to be Shelley's dissection cadaver just to freak her out.
246	* PoeticSerialKiller: The Cupid killer seems to pattern the deaths of the friend group on how he was insulted. Specifically [[spoiler:Lily, who said "Ew!", receives a box of maggot-infested chocolate and was later shot into a dumpster, while Paige, who said she'd "rather be boiled alive", is electrocuted in a hot tub.]]
247	* PsychoKnifeNut: Whenever the killer doesn't have [[ImprovisedWeapon anything on hand to use]], he defaults to carrying a kitchen knife.
248	* PsychoStrings: The film is rife with them, notably during the first chase scene through the morgue.
249	* RailingKill: After being hit by several arrows, Lily topples over a railing and falls into a dumpster.
250	* RasputinianDeath: [[spoiler:Paige is thrown into a hot tub, stabbed several times with a running drill, then electrocuted when the killer drops the drill into the hot tub]].
251	* RealityHasNoSubtitles: Dorothy and her stepmother Kim have a brief argument in Cantonese that is interrupted by her father.
252	* ReallyGetsAround: Paige. When Paige chastises Dorothy for allowing a man whose last name she does not know into her house, Dorothy snaps back that Paige has allowed men she has known for less than an hour into her pants.
253	* RedHerring:
254	** The Cupid mask worn by one of the partygoers in the prologue and later found by Kate in her apartment building. This mask is never worn by the killer throughout the film (for one thing there's no back to the mask and is secured to the user's head by a strap, while the killer's mask encompasses the entire head).
255	** One of Shelley's fellow med students initially appears to be the Cupid killer because her Valentine is first seen after he leaves the locker room.
256	** [[spoiler:Jason Marquette and Campbell. The former has the same initials as the killer and gives creepy stares, the latter just happens to appear as the killings start and none of the other gals know him very well.]]
257	** [[spoiler:Paige makes a sudden appearance in Kate's apartment, right where the killer was last seen when he killed Gary. This one is lampshaded in an interview with Entertainment Tonight where Denise Richards said "''I'' could be the killer!"]]
258	** [[spoiler:Dorothy is shot dead wearing the killer's costume after revealing the large amount of emotional baggage she has and attacking Kate on the stairs. This last one was a deliberate ploy by the killer.]]
259	* RedRightHand: The killer's main physical trademark is his nose, which bleeds whenever he kills or experiences any strong emotion.
260	* ReluctantFanserviceGirl: Kate is shown to be very uncomfortable while caught out in the hallway, face-to-face with her StalkerWithACrush Gary, wearing only a ModestyTowel.
261	* RevealingHug: The final shot of the film where [[spoiler:Kate falls asleep in Adam's arms and Adam's nose starts bleeding, revealing he's really Jeremy Melton and the real killer all along.]]
262	* RevengeByProxy: Downplayed with [[spoiler:Paige, Lily, and Shelly. While Dorothy is the main one who hurt Jeremy by framing him, the other three (plus one of the bullies) corroborated Dorothy's false testimony, making them just as culpable in Jeremy's eyes. Played straight with Dorothy's boyfriend Campbell and housemaid Millie, who were murdered to make Dorothy look like she'd gone crazy.]]
263	* RewatchBonus:
264	** [[spoiler:Twofold. In the scene where Kate and Adam are sitting in the bar, Kate mentions that Gary is creepy around her, always around her and leering. The next scene in Kate's apartment, the killer finds Gary in her apartment and beats him to death. These two scenes are a pretty strong clue that Adam is the Cupid killer since the only person who knew Kate was uncomfortable around Gary was Adam.]]
265	** [[spoiler:Right before Campbell gets a call from his fence, he can be seen with a few power tools next to a hot tub. If the viewer is wondering where the killer got the drill to attack Paige, this is it.]]
266	** [[spoiler:A clue that the person clad in the killer's costume isn't Jeremy/Adam is how they jump Kate near the end of the film. Throughout the film the killer [[MenacingStroll never moves faster than a brisk walk]], while the person who attacks from the closet quickly bull-rushes Kate.]]
267	** [[spoiler:When Adam unmasks Dorothy after shooting her, the latter has a bruise on the left side of her head she did not have when arguing with Kate (the last time Dorothy appeared onscreen). This is a clue that someone knocked her out and set her up...]]
268	* RhymesOnADime:
269	** Gary, Kate's neighbor, who makes four rhymes in succession while trying to get her to go on a date with him. He apparently speaks in a more normal speech pattern when she's not around, as shown in [[spoiler:his death scene]].
270	** Jeremy Melton makes three rhymes in the Valentines he sent to his enemies. To Shelly, he sends:
271	-->The journey of love\
272	Is an arduous trek.\
273	My love grows for you\
274	as you bleed from your neck.
275	** To Dorothy, he sends the message under RosesAreRedVioletsAreBlue. To Lily (and Paige by extension) he sends, along with [[IAteWhat maggoty chocolate]]:
276	-->'Tis a well-known fact\
277	That beauty is skin-deep.\
278	Savor the taste,\
279	You are what you eat.
280	* RoaringRampageOfRevenge: Adolescent rejection and a FalseRapeAccusation turns into an adult killing spree.
281	* RosesAreRedVioletsAreBlue:
282	-->Roses are red,\
283	Violets are blue,\
284	They'll need dental records\
285	To identify you.
286	* ScareChord:
287	** French horn and piano combo when Lily finds maggots in the chocolate gifted to her.
288	** Of the piano variety when [[spoiler:Detective Vaughn's head]] is found in a pond.
289	* SevenDeadlySins: Kate's friends and their significant others.
290	** Dorothy is Envy; she admits to resenting her friends and stepmother because everyone wanted to hang out with them while she was alone.
291	** Paige is Pride; she's a ProudBeauty who takes every opportunity [[MsFanservice to show off]], blowing off death threats and pouring hot wax on Brian's dick because he proved not up to her standards.
292	** Lily is Gluttony; she's the vapid, hedonistic one who doesn't take care to [[IAteWhat watch what she's eating]].
293	** Shelley is Sloth; while the most ambitious, she apparently procrastinated over her medical exam and gives no thoughts to what happened to Jeremy.
294	** Campbell is Greed; he's a GoldDigger only interested in Dorothy's money.
295	** Max is Lust; he invited Lily and his assistant Amy for a threesome and tries to smooch up Kate.
296	** Adam is [[spoiler:Wrath; the entire plot happens because of his personal vendetta against Kate's friends, which claims a number of other lives along the way.]]
297	** Alternatively Paige is Lust (befitting the traditional way of depicting lust) and Max is Pride given his ego.
298	* SexSignalsDeath: Downplayed. [[spoiler:Dorothy and Campbell]] have sex and both die, but Jeremy [[spoiler:would have killed Dorothy at some point or another to complete his revenge.]]
299	* ShamefulStrip: In the opening, the GangOfBullies tear Jeremy's clothes off before chasing him into the middle of the gym floor and beating him.
300	* ShoutOut:
301	** The killer getting a nosebleed every time he kills is a possible reference to ''Film/AloneInTheDark1982''.
302	** When Kate tells Adam about Jeremy Melton, she refers to Jeremy's plot as "Film/RevengeOfTheNerds".
303	* ShowerScene:
304	** Kate is taking a shower in her apartment. She hears a noise, and with shampoo still in her hair, puts on a ModestyTowel and goes out to investigate. Her water then goes out, prompting a bit where she dunks her head in the (hopefully clean) toilet to rinse the shampoo out of her hair.
305	** Dorothy also has one which is [[InterruptedBath interrupted]] by her boyfriend giving her a gift.
306	* SilentAntagonist: The Cupid killer says nothing throughout the film, not even a grunt. However, they speak a lot more while unmasked/out and about.
307	* SlashedThroat: [[spoiler:Shelley]], the first girl to die, is done in by having her throat cut.
308	* SlashersPreferBlondes: [[spoiler:Averted. Kate, the sole survivor, is a blonde although two of the victims Lily and Dorothy are blondes as well.]]
309	* SmallRoleBigImpact: The GangOfBullies only shows up once in the prologue and all of them are dead by the film's main events, but their finding Dorothy and Jeremy kissing at the dance causes Dorothy to lie that Jeremy raped her, kicking off the plot.
310	* SoftGlass:
311	** Averted as [[spoiler:Ruthie]] is visibly cut and bleeding after being thrown through a glass door by the killer.
312	** Played straight when [[spoiler:Kate strikes Adam with a bottle; the bottle shatters but Adam doesn't have any cuts on his head from the shards and the only thing he's seen doing to treat the injury is holding an ice pack to his head while calling the cops.]]
313	* SomethingAboutARose: Invoked with [[spoiler:the killer luring Paige out of a hot tub by leaving a rose by her bottle of wine, making her think there's somebody who wants to be her Valentine.]]
314	* StartingANewLife: Jeremy Melton did this after his stint in a reform school and mental institution; there's no trace of him after that point, but he never forgot what Dorothy and her friends did to him, infiltrating their circle of acquaintances and biding his time until he could take revenge.
315	* StartOfDarkness: The film's prologue is essentially one for Jeremy Melton, detailing his obsessive tendencies, which became exacerbated when Dorothy framed him for assaulting her. By the present events, he's a calculating and vindictive SerialKiller.
316	* SuspectExistenceFailure: Several of the RedHerring characters are victims in the middle of the film, such as [[spoiler:Kate's stalker Gary and the GoldDigger Campbell.]]
317	* {{Swirlie}}: Kate gives a self-inflicted one by dunking her head in the toilet to rinse the shampoo out of her hair when her water goes out in the middle of a shower.
318	* TalkingToTheDead: Shelly briefly muses sarcastically to Chad, the cadaver she's dissecting.
319	* TeenyWeenie: Brian is implied to have this, judging by Paige's reaction when she sees it.
320	* TerribleIntervieweesMontage: Kate goes through one of these at a blind dating session.
321	* TheseGlovesAreMadeForKillin: The Cupid killer is always seen wearing a pair of black gloves whenever he makes his presence known, except for their final kill [[spoiler:which is done out of costume.]]
322	* ThirdPersonPerson: Jason Marquette, who constantly refers to himself as 'Jason'.
323	* ThisIsADrill: [[spoiler:The killer picks up a power drill and uses it to stab at Paige while she's in the hot tub. Eventually stabbing her in the shoulder, he then tosses the power drill inside, electrocuting her.]]
324	* TokenGoodTeammate: Kate is the only one of the girls who wasn't a massive {{Jerkass}} when rejecting Jeremy at the school dance, [[spoiler:which is why he lets her leave unharmed at the end.]]
325	* TomatoSurprise: It's established relatively early on that Jeremy Melton has been sending the threatening Valentines, thanks to the JM initials and {{Leitmotif}}, but since he wears a mask and it's been 13 years since the gals last saw him, there's no way to pin him down because nobody knows what he might look like. The ending reveals that [[spoiler:he looks like Creator/DavidBoreanaz]].
326	* TrashLanding: Lily is shot by arrows until she falls off the balcony into a dumpster aka DeathByIrony.
327	* TraumaCongaLine: The entire opening scene is an exercise in this trope, with various bad things piling up on each other ranging FromBadToWorse. First, Jeremy's rejected by four girls, three very harshly, the fourth more gently. Then he asks another girl to dance, she starts kissing him under the bleachers, they're seen by a GangOfBullies, she accuses him of sexual assault. Finally the bullies douse him in punch, strip him to his underwear, and beat him in front of the entire student body as they laugh at him.
328	* TwistEnding: [[spoiler:Adam Carr '''is''' Jeremy Melton the killer.]]
329	* TwoAliasesOneCharacter: [[spoiler:Adam Carr is the public identity of Jeremy Melton, the Cupid-masked SerialKiller.]]
330	* UnderestimatingBadassery: When the ladies realize that Jeremy Melton must be the killer and that Dorothy lied about the dance, Paige tries to reassure her by saying "Jeremy Melton couldn't manage a water fountain without screwing up. I don't think he's capable of an intricate revenge plot." She proved [[spoiler:to be wrong about that, dead wrong]].
331	* ValentinesDayViolence:
332	** The prologue is set at a Valentine's dance years prior, when Jeremy Melton asked each of the girls to dance with him. Only Dorothy accepted, but when they were caught making out, Dorothy accused Jeremy of raping her. Their classmates then attacked him and fruit punch poured on him.
333	** Years later, Jeremy returns in the run-up to Valentine's Day and murders the girls he asked to dance (and anyone else close to them). He sends them gory Valentine's Day cards, before hunting them down and killing them in a Cupid mask. He then attacks at a Valentine's Day party, where he kills all of them (the police, and plenty of the guests) [[spoiler:except FinalGirl Kate, kills Dorothy in retaliation for "attacking Kate" and misidentified as the killer in revenge, and appears to get away with all his crimes.]]
334	-->''Roses are red, violets are blue, they'll need dental records to identify you.''
335	* TheVoice: Kate's landlord Murray, who's only heard via his answering machine when the water to Kate's apartment runs out.
336	* WhamLine:
337	** In-universe, Kate bumps into Max at Dorothy's party. When he tries to smooch her up, Kate rebuffs him, so he changes tact by asking about [[spoiler:Lily]]. When Kate says that Lily is in L.A., Max replies, "Well sweetness, [[spoiler:Lily is not in L.A."]]
338	** [[spoiler:The final line of the film. After Adam calls the police, he and Kate sit down for a hug and declare they love each other. Adam adds on "I always have", which segues into the film's WhamShot.]]
339	* WhamShot: The TwistEnding. [[spoiler:After Adam kills the killer, and then reveals that it's Dorothy, Kate apologizes for suspecting him and they hug, relieved that it's over. But since Kate's eyes are closed, she doesn't see ''Adam's nose start bleeding'', which reveals to us that he was ''Jeremy'' all along, and just got away with multiple murders by setting up Dorothy to be his FallGuy, [[LaserGuidedKarma just like she had with him all those years ago.]]]]
340	* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: The last that is seen of Brian is when Paige leaves him ChainedToABed. This means that at the end of the film, he is very likely still tied to a bed in a house full of dead people.
341	* WickedStepmother: Played with. Dorothy and her stepmother Kim have a mutually antagonistic relationship and Dorothy resents Kim butting into her life.
342	* WithFriendsLikeThese: The central group of friends have a real tendency to bicker, with Lily chiding Paige for [[ShamelessFanserviceGirl showing off at a funeral]] and Dorothy and Paige arguing over each other's choices in men. The only one the gals seem to get along with at all times is [[NiceGirl Kate]].
343	* YouCantThwartStageOne: According to Blanks in an interview, the film is merely the second half of Jeremy's RoaringRampageOfRevenge.

Context Film / Valentine