On Sunday, January 14, David Boreanaz (star of the hit Buffy the Vampire Slayer spinoff, Angel) and Katherine Heigl (of the WB's Roswell) appeared at the Los Angeles Comic Book and Science Fiction Convention to discuss their upcoming film Valentine.

Based on the novel of the same title by Tom Savage, Valentine's holiday-themed killer-on-the-loose plot harkens back to films like Halloween, Friday the 13th and, of course, My Bloody Valentine. "There is this series of killings involving five girls," says Boreanaz, describing the film's plot. "We don't really know who's doing it or what's doing it."

Heigl describes Jamie Blanks, director of Valentine, as "a big, big horror film fan, so he kind of knew all the angles." Boreanaz agrees, saying: "When I sat with Jamie in his office, he had posters of Carrie and the original Halloween on the walls."

Boreanaz goes on to describe the "very strong vision" of Blanks, a native of Australia who made his feature directorial debut in 1998 with the surprise hit Urban Legend. "When I met him and he told me about it," the actor recalls, "I said, 'What's going to distinguish this from other horror/slasher films?' Jamie said that it's not going to be the average 'See the guy, it's spooky, he turns around and bumps into somebody to get the jolt.'" Heigl adds: "Jamie is a really passionate and fun director. He sets suspense very well, and he shoots in a very Hitchcockian way."

For the actors themselves, who have both come to prominence via television shows, Valentine represented a welcome foray into features. "TV is a very, very different deal than films," states Heigl, who in Valentine plays a med student named Shelly. "I think it's a lot harder to play the same character for nine months of the year. It's hard to keep the character interesting."

The big difference between features and TV for Boreanaz (who plays a journalist in Valentine) is the pacing. "When you shoot a film, you shoot two [script] pages a day. When you do a series, it's eight pages a day. That's probably the biggest difference." He adds that "Valentine was a wonderful learning experience. And I'm still learning."

Valentine opens nationwide on February 2nd. If you're looking for a sneak preview of the movie, a trailer is available on the film's official site.