Valerie on the Stairs – Masters of Horror: Valerie on the Stairs (2006)

Directed by: Mick Garris | 59 minutes | horror | Actors: Tyron Leitso, Nicola Lipman, Jonathan Watton, Christopher Lloyd, Christine Barrie, Clare Grant, Suki Kaiser, Tony Todd

A quintessential haunted house movie in many ways, Valerie on the Stairs is based on a short story by Clive Barker, the man behind classic horror stories like Hellraiser and Candyman. Ambitious writer Rob decides to move into a building where unpublished writers are offered a free room to work on a book. The only condition is that after publishing your own work you have to scratch it. However, Rob soon encounters strange noises and a ghostly apparition that reveals that the house is not as clean as you might think at first glance.

Since the story underlying ‘Valerie on the Stairs’ brings little new under the sun, much depends on the prowess of the director and the actors. In any case, the camera work and lighting ensure that the film exudes a nice mysterious, dark and claustrophobic atmosphere. The pace at which the story is told is also good. Things don’t wind up too quickly, but the events certainly don’t play out at a snail’s pace, so that the film never becomes lethargic or sleep-inducingly boring. Despite some gory segments, this movie is more recommended for fans of subdued, suspense-based creepiness than for the adepts of raw and uncompromising gore. The acting is generally solid, with seasoned veteran Christopher Lloyd as a positive outlier.

Nevertheless, there are certainly some critical comments to make with this episode. For example, after the exciting and challenging beginning, the story becomes too predictable at a certain point. Director Garris fails to keep the tension taut until the end. The last part of the film looks a bit forced and eventually culminates in a rather vague-looking final scene. Also the appearance of the demon (an almost unrecognizable Tony ‘Candyman’ Todd) does not show too much originality and resembles a cheap copy of the djin from ‘Wishmaster’. ‘Valerie on the Stairs’ will not go down in history as one of the classics from this series of short horror films, but it is nevertheless quite an enjoyable piece that will appeal to moderate fans of the genre.