Festa de Fantasmas

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.

"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.

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 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.

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.