Movie Reviews for Writers: Valerie on the Stairs

Admittedly, Valerie on the Stairs isn’t quite a full movie, but one of the many long-form episodes of the Masters of Horror anthology show. But let’s ignore that because this is (in spite of the negative reviews all over the internet) a fun little flick with a fantastic cast and credentials. Based on a story by Clive Barker, it features Clare Grant, Christopher Lloyd, and Tony Todd.

What is real? And its companion question: What is fiction? are common themes in movies from Matrix to Cool World. And here both questions are taken to the farthest logical ends. But I’ll stop that line of thought to avoid spoilers.

Valorie on the Stairs begins like so many writers’ stories, with rejection. Stacks of letters saying the proverbial thanks but no thanks. Robert knows what it’s like to be a storyteller without an audience, a preborn, perhaps unborn, creative with something personal to offer to the world. So, to hone his craft and become a published writer (i.e., successful) he moves into Highberger House, an enclave for unpublished writers to help them have a quiet place to work. 

Now, as he begins to see visions of a beautiful girl on the stairs, he works up the nerve to ask a fellow member of the house, “Is this place haunted?” After a smirk and a laugh, the neighbor responds, “Only by the specter of failure.”

It’s a danger we all fall prey to too easily at times. See enough rejections, and failure becomes not a temporary place we’re moving through, but a character trait we wonder if we’ve caught like a disease.

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