Follow TV Tropes

Following

Recap / Masters Of Horror S 2 E 8 Valerie On The Stairs

Go To

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/valerieonthestairs.jpg
Directed by Mick Garris and based on a short story by Clive Barker. Rob Hanisey (Tyron Leitso) is a young man who has just gone through a terrible break up and is struggling to publish his first novel when he is accepted in the Highberger House for aspiring writers. Soon after moving in, he begins to have repeated encounters with a mysterious woman, Valerie (Clare Grant), who pleads him to save her from a demon-like creature called The Beast (Tony Todd). The other residents don't believe him and have him for crazy, though a small group led by the oldest resident, Everett Neely (Christopher Lloyd), seems to know more than they say.

Tropes:

  • All Women Are Lustful: Valerie seduces pretty much everyone she sees, and Patricia talks very openly about her sexual life. Valerie appeals to the latter's interests long enough for The Beast to kill her.
  • Author Appeal: In-universe. The story is set in a boarding-house for aspiring writers and the clichéd main characters are their creation.
  • Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: Despite being a Damsel in Distress, Valerie is also extremely vindictive towards her creators. Her murder of Patricia alongside The Beast perfectly demonstrates this.
  • Cruel Twist Ending: In literally the last minute Rob's quest to save Valerie fails when she ceases to exist, and Rob realizes that he too is just a figment of someone else's imagination.
  • Damsel in Distress: Justified with Valerie. She was created by the writers in the boarding house as a fictional character whose only reason to exist is to be saved from The Beast. She vanishes after she's rescued, having finished her role.
  • The Dulcinea Effect: Rob is rather drawn to Valerie, the woman who begs him to save her from a monster, even though he knows nothing about her. This is because they're both fictional characters who were written that way. Valerie specifically has no personality attributes beyond her status as a damsel in distress, barring a few moments of vindictiveness against her creators, because she's defined solely by her relation to Rob.
  • Fanservice: Valerie sometimes appears nude for no reason.
  • Halfway Plot Switch: The episode begins as your average Haunted House story but later turns into a Refugee from TV Land plot.
  • The Hero: Rob wants to become a published author and strives to save Valerie from her situation. Like her, it's because he was literally written into this role.
  • Kill It with Fire: The Beast is slain when Rob knocks it into a fire.
  • Mars Needs Women: The Beast collects women and is particularly interested in Valerie.
  • Mirror Scare: Used for Valerie's first appearance.
  • Most Writers Are Writers: Rob is a writer moving into a boarding house for struggling writers and comes face to face with characters who escaped from a Round Robin story written by the other residents, before discovering that he is one of them (the characters). So this is a case of a writer writing about writers writing about a writer.
  • Neutral Female: Valerie never attempts to free herself, and just stares at Rob and The Beast during the final battle.
  • Noticing the Fourth Wall: At the end, Rob ignores Valerie's pleas that she can't exist outside the house, only for her to vanish. Shortly afterwards, Rob realizes that he is a fictional character too and everything he did was written by the boarding house residents. He dissolves into a pile of written papers, the last line of which is "And so it came to pass that Rob Hanisey never became a published author".
  • Old Shame: Regretfully, Everett's only published work was the script of a B-Movie starring a Man in a Rubber Suit.
  • Perverse Sexual Lust: Rob falls in love with Valerie, who turns out to be a fictional character come to life with no personality outside of Rob's championing for her Damsel in Distressness.
  • Rage Against the Author: Valerie and The Beast target their creators, the former being uncharacteristically vengeful about the situation Patricia put her in.
  • Refugee from TV Land: Valerie, The Beast, and Rob himself are fictional characters created by the house residents.
  • Rewriting Reality: It's a Round Robin story which, unbeknownst to its authors, was causing real people to be murdered. Eventually, the story's characters broke from the script and killed the authors.
  • Round Robin: In-universe, the writers at the house collaborate to make one.
  • Self-Deprecation: Rob tells Everett that he is crazy, prompting him to reply "You too! We are writers."
  • World Limited to the Plot: When Rob and Valerie manage to escape the building they are confined in, they realize that they are fictional characters not expected to exist outside and vanish accordingly.
  • Writer's Block: After moving, Rob can't write beyond the first line.

Top