Villainess Review: Ms. Valenti (Are You Afraid of the Dark?)

Who remembers Are You Afraid of the Dark?, Nickelodeon's hit horror anthology series? Horror/suspense anthology series have been a thing since the late 1950/early 1960s, and it got turned up in the 1980s and the 1990s with shows like Tales from the Darkside, Monsters, and Tales from the Crypt. It was in the 1990s that we received the kid-friendly versions, and that's where Are You Afraid of the Dark? came in.

Much like a lot of good shows, good Lifetime movies, and Hallmark's amazing films, we have Canada to thank for this show. The series was filmed mostly in Montréal and partly in Richmond, BC, and centered around a group of teens known as "The Midnight Society," with each member telling their own bone-chilling story, which plays out in every episode. The introduction often begins with the selected storyteller saying, "Submitted for the approval of The Midnight Society, I call this story...," and then the title drops.

So, submitted for the approval of Vocal and its readers, this story is centered on the episode, "The Tale of the Mystical Mirror."

The episode opens late at night, with a young woman, Tannis, running for her life, with an ominous voice calling for her. Tannis suddenly feels somewhat ill, and after a cloaked figure appears in front of her, Tannis screams, and then suddenly howls and barks. Whoa!

The scene shifts to a beauty shop, where Cindy and her friend, Laurel, enter. Laurel asks Vicki, the shop's employee and another friend about the whereabouts of the shop's owner, Ms. Valenti, who later appears and enters with great "boss lady" vibes. She offers a job to Cindy, and also gives her a bit of a makeover; meanwhile, Laurel asks Vicki for her watch back, because she needed to wear it on a date. Laurel and Cindy leave the shop, but the former realizes that she never received the watch back. Regarding Vicki, Cindy suggests heading to her house, but while they don't know where she lives, they do know that she'll be with Ms. Valenti later that night.

Sure enough, that's where Vicki is later on, and she is gifted a dress that she had already tried on by her boss, and it's followed by Vicki admiring herself in a handheld mirror...longingly. Ms. Valenti tells Vicki that she could be the most beautiful woman in the world, and be admired by many. Afterwards, Ms. Valenti gives Vicki a mysterious drink in what looks like a chalice, and Vicki accepts, only to suddenly feel quite strange. Ms. Valenti looks with a sinister smile, and at that moment, Vicki's eyes glow white, leading to a loud scream, a howl, and a bark. I'm sensing a theme.

So Laurel and Cindy went to Ms. Valenti's house, and after entering, we see Laurel being groomed in the same way that Vicki and Tannis were. All the while, Cindy's walking around the house and seeing all sorts of portraits of Ms. Valenti, with two of them revealing that she was a pageant queen--in 1952 and 1923?! 1923 was the year the New York Yankees won the World Series...for the first time. Cindy notices that, despite all of the photos of Ms. Valenti, there's no mirror in her bathroom. We quickly know why. Cindy took out her compact, and noticed that the portrait was aged in the reflection. This occurred with all of the portraits, and when it came to Ms. Valenti herself, well, let's just say she was around to see the Stanley Cup's creation. Cindy's attempts to take Laurel out of the house are thwarted by Ms. Valenti, who hands Laurel the same drink she gave to the other two girls.

From outside, Cindy loudly shouts at Laurel, who runs out of the house. However, she's too late; Laurel did drink some of that concoction, and just like the other two girls, we see glowing white eyes, and in the next moment, Laurel's transformed into a dog. Ms. Valenti later appears in her cloaked outfit, cackling and rubbing her hands in evil delight, as she finally had her "beauties." So that was the last piece of Ms. Valenti's reveal as an evil, centuries-old witch, and regarding her now-canine victims, their tongues were needed for Ms. Valenti to continue to maintain her youth and beauty. Cindy later appeared and grabbed the mirror, threatening to smash it unless the girls were returned back to normal. Ms. Valenti attempted to manipulate Cindy into looking into the mirror and giving in to her desires for beauty and admiration, but Cindy only desired to have her friends back, and she smashed the mirror.

Ms. Valenti was destroyed--aged to dust--and all three girls were back to normal. As for Ms. Valenti's house and her shop, they suffered the same fate as the Winnipeg Jets in this year's playoffs: disappeared in a sudden flash.

"The Tale of the Mystical Mirror" was the fourth episode of AYAOTD's fifth season, and aired on November 11, 1995. The episode featured Jayne Heitmeyer as the evil Ms. Valenti, one of the best villainesses in the overall series. The episode, if you think about it, had a bit of a Hansel and Gretel vibe, but instead of a gingerbread house, this wicked witch lured her victims with the promise of beauty and prestige. Ms. Valenti was ruthless, manipulative, and charming, and I loved that she put all of that evil into a business suit early in the episode, which was followed by an elegant gown and that cloak as well. I absolutely loved when Ms. Valenti appeared to Cindy in her cloak, the scene that completed her villainous reveal. Heitmeyer was so stellar in this episode; she acted out Ms. Valenti's charm so wonderfully, and I enjoyed her delivering the slow burn reveal leading up to her cloaked appearance. I think that Heitmeyer absolutely relished playing this wicked role, and she totally knocked it out of the park.

This episode was one of Jayne Heitmeyer's earliest roles; this was before she played the regular role of Lt. Briony Branca on the second (and last) season of Nightman, as well as recurring on Earth: Final Conflict as Renee Palmer. Regarding villainous roles, Heitmeyer played Jean Francis in an episode of Republic of Doyle, and Kolbie Gaines in the Lifetime film, Separated at Birth. Heitmeyer's set to appear in another Lifetime film, Death Down the Aisle, and I really hope she's a villainess in that film as well.

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Click here for Ms. Valenti's profile on Villainous Beauties Wiki!