The Vals (1983) User Reviews

Totally farfetched, but at least they looked good!

[The Fox-2 · 3/10 · 26 June 2002]

I've been a fan of the whole early 80's Valley Girl concept; the cute fashions, the carefree attitudes, and the mall roaming. The Nic Cage movie "Valley Girl" has been a favorite of mine for years, but the wardrobe of the Valley Girls in that movie seemed a little lacking in a sort of je ne sais quoi (I thought, anyway)... a sort of cuteness or spunkiness was missing.

Enter "The Vals," a low-budget movie about Valley Girls who wonder if there's more to life than partying with college boys, battling with Beverly Hills girls that seem to have invaded Val turf, shopping for new clothes, and riding down the street perched on the drop top of a white Mercedes. One day at the mall, they overhear a couple of drug dealers putting demands on one of their pushers, a young boy. Out of curiosity, they observe the boy as he pushes drugs on other kids, then they follow him home. His home is a house on the other side of town, an orphanage run by a kind old man who's been running the place for many years. The old man and his charges are in danger of losing their home unless they can come up with $25,000 of back rent, which is why the one boy had started selling drugs. Suddenly, the Vals "know" that they have to save the orphanage. How, though, is ridiculously farfetched and made you wonder if the Vals themselves weren't on something when they came up with their plan. Suffice it to say that everything turns out okay in the end, in typical early 80's movie style.

One of the few redeeming qualities about "The Vals" is the Valley Girls' wardrobe. The clothes were much more, well, Valley Girl than those from "Valley Girl." The Vals' clothes were fun, frilly, and funky. It's really hard to explain, but I'm more partial to that sort of cutesy Valley Girl look over the polished preppy Valley Girl look favored by the ladies of "Valley Girl."

Call me crazy, but I kind of dig the song "Girls In The Valley," which seems to be the featured track on the "The Vals" soundtrack. The end credits say "Soundtrack Available On Unicorn World Records," but that seems to be about as real as an actual unicorn (DID a soundtrack really exist in some form for "The Vals"?). The rest of the soundtrack is a take-it-or-leave-it thing, but I'd love to be able to get "Girls In The Valley" in a more portable version someday.

On the floor of the rental store

[midwesternhooligans · 5/10 · 9 August 2019]

"The Vals" has very little going for it but the charm here is that bottom row rental store feel. The acting is bad, the plot is easily the weakest part of the whole movie. HOWEVER! The 1980s valley girl slang makes up for all of that within the first few minutes of the film.

John Carradine!

[BandSAboutMovies · 5/10 · 10 September 2023]

Sam (Jill Carroll, Psycho II), Trish (Elena Stratheros), Beth (Michelle Laurita, who danced in Footloose and went on to be the cinematographer on Alanis Morrisette's videos for "You Oughta Know," "Jagged Little Pill" and "You Learn" as well as directing that last song's video as well as "Head Over Feet") and Annie (The Dungeonmaster, Vicious Lips) are Valley Girls who decide to help Mr. Stanton (John Carradine) keep his house for orphaned boys.

They also get mixed up with the drug dealing Lance (Michael Leon) and Stone (Robert Dyer, Savage Streets), as well as battle the Bevs, girls from the other side of town. Plus Chuck Connors plays Trish's producer dad who loves the cocaine, he's on a plane with cocaine and yes Chuck is all lit up again. Sonny Bono plays a "spaced-out musician," Tiffany Bolling is Sam's mom (and you thought the MILF in these movies was first in American Pie), Shirley Rothman is Trish's mother (and also co-wrote the script) and Sharana Lee from Gymkata is a rival Valley Girl.

The Vals was directed by James Polakof, who also made Demon Rage, and co-wrote this with Deborah Amelon, who went on to write Parent Trap III, and Rothman.

Obviously, this is unfairly compared to Valley Girl. It had the title Valley Girls before that movie was released. It was actually filmed first and went unreleased, but when that movie did well, it was finally put out. It doesn't have the same level of soundtrack, as it features the bands Annine, Daphna Edwards and Unicorn Gang, Wet Picnic and Frankie Bleu. It didn't even get to film at Sherman Oaks Mall, instead taking place in a secondary shopping plaza in Stockton, CA, the Weberstown Mall. Unlike so many malls, it's still in business.

This movie is way better than it needs to be.

A film of beauty at low cost!

[docmav · 9/10 · 7 September 2006]

I remember watching this on a tape I managed to pick up years ago and I wish I still had that tape, maybe I do somewhere! My recollection of the film is a fairly low budget production but one where the mostly unknown cast gave their all and made a good job of the script. I always will remember the gorgeous actress, Gina Calabrese, who sashayed across the screen and was a perfect example of womanhood to a very young and lusty lad. Hopefully one day someone will see fit to buy the rights to this movie and release it on DVD as it was one of the better low budget movies I ever saw in my youth. A shame that Gina never went much further in movies beyond 1987, I wonder what became of her!

"THE VALS" Trivia

[pinkfloyd95209 · 26 April 2002]

Not only have I seen this movie, I was also an extra in it. "The Vals" was filmed here in Stockton, California in September and October of 1982. For trivia buffs out there the school sequence in the beginning of the movie was filmed at "A.A. Stagg High School" located at 1621 Brookside Road. The Ranch home sequence was filmed at the Michael Blatt Estate in the Morada section of Stockton. The Mall sequence was filmed at "Weberstown Mall" located at 4950 Pacific Avenue. Today Weberstown Mall has changed considerably since 1982 with the interior remodeled. Most of the stores there then are gone today with the exception of See's Candies.Even the Orange Julius restaurant (where the on-screen drug deal goes down) is no longer there.The Orphan House scene with John Carradine is located on 1130 North San Joaquin Street near Downtown Stockton. "The Vals" had a sneak preview here in Stockton at the historic "Stockton Royal Theatre" the following year but to the best of my knowledge it wasn't released anywhere else until it hit video and pay tv in 1986. It was originally filmed as "Valley Girls" but because of the Nicholas Cage film of a similar title the same year they changed the title to "THE VALS". For someone like me who grew up in Stockton and had an extra part on the movie, It was a good movie but for someone else, it might be just mediocre.

What happened?

[danlord65 · 6/10 · 6 August 2017]

Just saw this on Youtube 2017. I like the 1980's era of films, esp. similar movies like Valley Girl, Fast Times At Ridgemont High, The Wild Life. I had never heard of this title til today. I guess it didn't get a theater opening, went straight to cable. Um, I don't want to throw too much shade on it. It seems like this was someone's 1st time directing and writing a screenplay.Im sure it was a good learning process for them, but for the audience, yikes. There are 2 things that stand out that I wish they had done better. 1. The night exterior lighting.I can barely see the actors in many scenes, as if they only had one lamp to put on people.Why shoot night ? Wouldn't shooting day be better and less expensive? 2. The soundtrack needed help. What really made a lot of the 80's teen flicks stand out was the music by pop bands of the time. Again, I'm sure it was because of budget constraints.But at least that would've helped folks stay interested. The script & 1 -dimensional characters are too easy to take shots at , but it probably would've been helpful to get writing feedback from professional writers.

On the positive side, like other posters have said, it was cute & lighthearted at times.There was a good story here that needed to come out. The ladies were beautiful & charismatic.I hope everyone in it is successful today, and all went on to better projects after.

Well hidden!!

[saint-21 · 17 January 2002]

I first heard of this film in 1991 when it came on USA network.. I kinda liked it, it was filmed in 1982. It had some hot chicks, Low budget music and made for almost nothing.. The story centers around 4 high school valley girls who are spoiled and hang out with college dudes. The girls are pretty good looking. Now there are no real big names in this film, except for sonny bono who has a quick scene. I liked the relationship between the 4 friends. The acting seems cheesy , but the vals acting is actually pretty well recieved.. The subplot is the bored girls try to save poor kids from drug dealers.. And save thier shelter from being closed.. And there is two diffrent versions of this film, one is a Usa network version. And an R-rated video version with some nudity and cussing, not really that bad. In the r-rated version there is a scene at a frat party where one of the vals is screwing a line full of horney guys. Well, not much nudity is shown, it could have been more. The film sat on a shelf from 82 till 86 when vestron video picked it up.... It is now out of print...And hasnt surfaced on cable again. and probley never will..

The Vals (1982)

[ragtop6t4 · 10/10 · 23 July 2007]

The house scene in Morada was not filmed in the Michael Blatt house as it was stated in a earlier post. It was filmed at the Stagi family house on Hildreth Lane. I lived about 500 feet away from the house. Michael Blatt built and lived in his Morada home which was really close to the Stagi home around 1987 until his legal problems forced him to sell and relocate. Little did I know they were filming in the area which I was in total disbelief when I watched the film and saw the Morada home and Weberstown mall. It brings back memories watching it today thinking I use to hang out at the mall at the time it was being filmed.

Right Girls, wrong valley

[ChipRinaldo · 7/10 · 20 March 2024]

The movie opens with the girls struggling through Hamlet and then ditch class as the teacher gets carried away reciting Hamlet with his plaster skull. The girls take off in Trish's Mercedes 450 to her house all the while driving on a road that looks like Mulholland Drive before arriving at the mansion (in the Morada district of Stockton). What a confusing driving sequence that was!!

The majority of the film was produced in and around Stockton, California so that's why I said "wrong valley". Another scene where Albert leaves the mall and hitches a ride from a random passerby shows the girls merging on what appears to be CA 134, part of the Ventura Freeway corridor. People viewing this movie today would be alarmed about 2 of the girls riding up on the boot of the convertible top while zipping down the freeway... and forgetting to shut off the left turn signal.

Maybe someone could chime in on the locations of the driving scenes at the start of the movie... in particular the curvy road that looks a lot like Mulholland Dr. And the CA 134 "freeway entrance" sign which is seen when the girls follow Albert and his driver.

As others have said, the mall scenes were shot in Weberstown Mall which is smack dab in Stockton and no where near the San Fernando Valley.

Another scene that I'm not clear on the location would be the cemetery where the drug dealers told the girls to show up at.

We also see the girls sparring with the ones from Beverly Hills (Julie has more vocal fry than most Valley Girls, fer sure!). So let's go over the cast briefly.

Trish - the blonde one. Her father, played by Chuck Connors is a Producer. And he's producing a dubious show called The Boom Boom Girls. Trish's mother (who also co-wrote the script) is at odds with Chuck because he's always out and busy with his show.

Annie is the "loose" Val that is living with Sam until her parents get back together.

Samantha is more or less the "leader" of the pack who has a horse and her mother, Beth's mother, and Trish's father are having a blast snorting rails.

Beth is the goofy and fun loving val (my favorite of the bunch) that drives an orange patinaed Volkswagen Beetle convertible.

A few other actors needing some $ are Sonny Bono who plays a "spaced out musician" and John Carradine who plays a man that runs a 'this close to bankrupt' orphanage.

The drug dealers, Stone and Lance... both appear tough until Trish's boyfriend, Keith, beats up both of them at the impound lot towards the end of the movie.

Keith has blonde hair and looks more or less like a life sized Ken doll.

Also included is a 'moon' scene involving David, the king of the Beer Bongers, a goofy security guard that makes Barney Fife look like Patton, MIke, the tall one that runs the Beer Bongers frat house, and that one guy with the goofy "Groucho Marx" mask that Sam rapidly dismisses at the frat party.

At the jail, one of the hookers begins to harass the vals and almost using the line verbatim from the song Valley Girl (cleaning the cat box). The harassing hooker also had a southern accent and it amongst all of the val speak heard in the movie stands outs like a sore thumb. Maybe she lived in Merced, Madera, Fairmead, or something ;).

How did I come across this movie? By freak accident. I spotted The Vals in a video store sitting on a shelf in the $1 rental section and since I kinda knew what Valley Girls were, I was curious. Finding the film is rather tricky nowadays. Hopefully someone will obtain the rights to this film and put this on digital format.

Orphanage House scene

[rdrmikepage · 8/10 · 5 February 2021]

The house on San Joaquin St and Magnolia belonged to my mothers aunt Connie. House next door was radio station KWG and we sat on grass and watched them film when i was a kid. The parlour where the scene was filmed was only place we went when visiting her. It wasnt until early 90s when I got to go upstairs to help my dad fix one of the pipes in bathroom.