Curtains

There was certainly a lot more slashers released during the eighties than there needed to be; but every now and then, you'll come across a decent one and while it has its fair share of problems, Curtains is one such film. The film is both a trashy eighties slasher, and a somewhat inappropriate commentary on the mentality of aspiring actresses. These two ideas blend well with the mystery plot too, as there's plenty of red herrings for the audience to mull over and a somewhat bitchy atmosphere to most of the lead characters. The plot seems to focus on the relationship between film director Jonathan Stryker and his long term muse Samantha Sherwood. For his next film, Samantha is required to be committed to a mental asylum in order to research the role. However, this is actually a ruse to allow the director to audition six younger actresses while Samantha stays inside. However, she manages to escape and get herself to the old mansion where the auditions are taking place. Around the same time, several of the young starlets start to disappear...

Normally, there's a high amount of gore in any given slasher; and while Curtains features a handful of murder scenes, none of them are particularly bloody and director Richard Ciupka seems to prefer to keep the focus more on atmosphere and tension than gore. The plot pacing is somewhat ponderous, so the film isn't always filled with tension - but the scenes that feature the murderer are largely well executed, and the mystery as to who is behind the mask is one that seems worth uncovering. Curtains takes place in a creepy old mansion house, and this provides a more than adequate location for the film to take place in. The acting is decent also, with two central performances - those coming from John Vernon and Samantha Eggar standing out among the younger cast. The conclusion to the film is particularly well done, and this ensures that the audience leaves the film on a high. The mystery behind the murderer is clever in that all the cards are kept close to the chest until the end, and while the culprit is unlikely - it does come as a surprise. Overall, Curtains is hardly a brilliant film, but it's not bad and certainly is worth seeing.

As slasher movies go, this one is not too bad. It borrows liberally from other more famous Canadian slasher films (the wintry setting and actress Lynn Griffith from "Black Christmas", the killer's mask from "Terror Train"), but it's not a bad little film in its own right. It has a good set-up. Six young actresses are gathered together in an isolated house to compete for the same theatrical role (of an insane woman). As it turns out the treacherous director (John Vernon) had previously given the part to an older actress (Samantha Egger) who had gone so far as to fake her way into a mental institution to research the role and ended up being left there by the director. Soon the competitors start disappearing one-by-one. But is it the director, the bitter older actress, or has one the younger would-be thespians been driven over the edge by the competition? The movies falls apart a little in the middle (apparently there were directorial problems-- the director on record, "Johnathon Stryker", has the same name as the character in the movie, and, according to this website, they also had to replace a lead actress). The ending is good, however, and pretty surprising--and it definitely has some very spooky scenes.

This is one of the rare slasher movies that is more interested in creating a strong atmosphere and developing the characters than in showing 101 ways to carve up annoying, brain dead teenagers. If you're the proud owner of the "Sleepaway Camp" box set you might want to pass on this one, but if you like horror movies that are well-crafted and actually a little bit scary, this is worth a look

Premise = Six actresses are invited to a cabin in the mountains to audition for the part of Audra. Well, all of these actresses are really good-looking (well or so they're supposed to be I guess) but one, there's someone running around in a hag mask killing people around the cabin. Anyone who gets in her way will die.

I watched this movie recently and found it very entertaining, quite different from the other slashers that came out during this era, and plus the acting is actually really good especially Samantha, there are many effective scenes like the ice skating murder scene which is really well done, the dream sequence with the doll at the beginning and the final chase scene which takes a rather unpredictable turn and last but not least the ending which has a bit of a twist which i never saw coming.

The killers mask is really creepy as well and the directing is rather sleek even though we know when the killer's going strike next. All in all this is a really entertaining slasher that deserves to be remembered.

Some creepy moments and an atmospheric location, but "Curtains" is also ponderous and bloodless, which, for a slasher coming at the end of a cycle, is suicide. It seems to have been inspired by Soavi's "Stagefright", an excellent slasher, but it's too slight, too low key to make any impact. The plot, if you can call it that, focuses on women auditioning for a part in a horror film. They don't get the part, they get killed.

The Australian "Nightmares" (by John Lamond) bears some resemblance to this, but uses its theatre setting to better effect.

The poster art depicting a deformed doll and a curtain was striking and raised expectations, but director Jonathan Stryker seems incapable of pacing the narrative and is finally undone by is refusal to let the blood run free.

A number of good Canadian horror movies have made their way to the USA, to become cult classics. Bob Clark's outstanding 1974 horror-thriller Black Christmas remains a staple of the modern "scary" movie. Beloved Jamie Lee Curtis came to horror fame through the likes of Prom Night (1980) and Terror Train (also 1980). However, you may not have heard of this interesting little shocker...

Curtains is a better-than average slasher, despite some of its reviews. The movie is about six actresses who go to audition at a director's country house, where it seems someone is willing to kill for the role! While this may sound cliché, the film has enough creativity on it's side for one not to really notice. It sets up some pretty good shock sequences. Anyone who has read about this film will surely have seen mention of the infamous "ice skating" scene, which is very memorable.

Curtains was a troubled production though. It was to be filmed in 1980 and ended up taking years before completion. So, any of the films "loose ends" are more likely a product of this problem. But it does hold together. The cast is quite good; Eggar, Griffin, and Thorson are in especially top-form. The direction is well done with a touch of style. Paul Zaza's music score is an effective one. Last, but not least, the story itself is a gripper!

For horror fans, Curtains is a rare treat that is well worth seeking out. It ranks with some of the better slashers of the early '80s.

*** out of ****