Myron Clemons
A film of deceptively outspoken contemporary relevance, this is cinema at its most alert, alarming and alive.
Sam Panico
After the box office success of Prom Night, producer Peter R. Simpson wanted to create an "adult" slasher. After three troubled years, he had this film, which didn't do all that well with audiences or critics. That said - after years of cable viewing and even more years where the film wasn't available on DVD, it's become something of a cult classic.
Samantha Sherwood (Samantha Eggar, Welcome to Blood City, The Brood, All the Kind Strangers) commits herself to an asylum so that she can prepare for the role of her lifetime: Audra. Yet once inside, she learns that her director and lover Johnathan Stryker (John Vernon, Killer Klowns from Outer Space, Animal House) has actually left her there to rot.That's because a whole new group of young girls are about to audition for the role. Like Amanda, who has a dream that she sees a large doll in the road. When she goes to get it, she's run over. And when she wakes up, a killer in an old hag mask stabs her and steals the doll. The five remaining girls show up to audition for Stryker at his mansion: Patti (Lynne Griffin, Strange Brew and Black Christmas, two of the most Canadian movies ever), a stand-up comedian. Brooke (Linda Thorson, Tara King from TV's The Avengers), an actress. Laurian, a ballet dancer. Tara, a musician. And Christie (Lesleh Donaldson, Canada's top screen queen, thanks to roles in Happy Birthday to Me, Deadly Eyes and Funeral Home), an ice skater. And then Samantha shows up!The first night everyone is in the house, Tara and Matt, the caretaker, hook up in a jacuzzi. So does Christie and Stryker, but she pays in the price in the film's best scene when she gets her throat cut while ice skating. Her head ends up in a toilet bowl, which is pretty shocking even for a slasher, and Brooke freaks out upon finding it. So of course, Stryker hooks up with her.All Laurian wants to do is dance, so she gets stabbed. And while Brooke is banging Stryker, they're both shot and killed, falling down through a window. Tara runs from the mansion and finds Matthews body in the jacuzzi. Even though she escapes the killer three times, the fourth time is never the charm because things don't work in fours. She is dragged into a ventilation shaft and killed.Samantha and Patti celebrate with a toast, as Samantha tells her about killing Stryker and Brook. Patti is shocked and reveals that she is the killer, then murders Samantha. We cut to her in a mental asylum where she acts out the film for the other inmates.Lynne Griffin recalls filming an alternate ending where Patti would read a monologue to all of her victims while on stage. It was rejected, yet another issue in a production so tenuous that director Richard Ciupka has his name listed as Jonathan Stryker in the credits. Yes, the same person who is in this movie as the director.To be fair: this movie is a mess. It barely came together and while there are moments of suspense and one great kill, it's amazing that it came together to be a barely coherent movie at all.
IanIndependent
Hidden somewhere in this dated and predictable horror is a potential classic of the genre looking to escape. Curtains is a early slasher movie that uses the template that has now become the boring norm. Yet, there are some genuinely good scenes and frightening moments. Unfortunately, they are submerged between clearly sign posted plot devices and oh so obvious build ups. It is a film that needed to be a bit more enigmatic and a lot less episodic. With a bit more imagination it could have been a film we were still talking about as an original and best. Instead it isn't. If not instantly forgettable it is certainly one that I doubt I'll long remember.
LasKeepsItReal
This is my review for the horror film Curtains 1983. I shall be giving away some of the plot details so prepare for some spoilers along the way!I like the film Curtains because it mixes horror along with thriller and suspense intelligently. Samantha who is already an established actress rehearses for a new drama film about a woman who kills her lover caller Audra,she originally confident that the role will be given to her, having known the director Jonathan for while and being an associate of hers. Samantha decides to gain further experience for her characters role by mental institution for a short time. The film focuses on six different actresses from various backgrounds including Ballet, Comedy and Ice Skating auditioning for a part in the same film Audra. When one of the actresses is stabbed to death before getting the chance to audition she is replaced by Samantha who meets the other aspiring actresses at a mansion where the audition will take place.Things go from bad to worse for the women after some competition and rivalry they are killed off and in a who done it type fashion. It is left to the final few ladies to try to survive and find out who the killer is and their motive before it is too late.There are some interesting scenes in the film and i like the film soundtrack and music throughout and thought it was suited. There is a fast paced and dramatic sequence involving Christie on the ice skating rink and i liked how Tara was developed more as a character towards the end of the film.I do however find final two scenes fairly pivotal which explain a lot about the film and quickly as one of the characters had hinted about her intentions very early on in the film. I also heard that the film had many re shoots over the early 1980's when it was in production and there were extended scenes and some things were edited out, would hope to see some of those scenes one day even though i have read about them!I would give this film 7 out of 10.
loomis78-815-989034
A veteran actress named Samantha (Eggar) has herself committed to an insane asylum to study being nuts for her big role in the film "Audra". The sleaze ball Director Jonathon Stryker (Vernon) who was in on the idea promptly leaves her there. He then sets up an audition with six young actresses at his isolated estate over a weekend to see who will get the part. In the meantime; Samantha gets released from the asylum and makes her way to the estate in with trying to convince Stryker that the role is hers. It doesn't take long for a killer wearing and old woman's mask to start knocking off the actresses. This Canadian slasher film has some good things going for it. It offers a creepy masked killer and some exciting stalk and slash moments. There is also a three foot tall standing doll with the meanest face you have ever seen. This doll appears in a memorable dream sequence that delivers on the films best jump scare. Slasher fans will particularly like the attack of an ice skater being pursued by the killer on the ice and through the snow. There is some classic slasher film suspense that delivers. At its best, 'Curtains' delivers a creepy killer and some decent scares. Unfortunately it also bogs down into too many tedious scenes of the actresses auditioning for the fictional role. Many of these scenes are dull and just plain dumb and this gets in the way of some of the films momentum. Paul Zaza delivers an effective musical score which really helps the movie work. The twist ending and revelation of the killer is rather hollow and doesn't really serve any purpose. There just isn't enough motivation for the killer to be doing all of this. If you can get past the dull parts, 'Curtains' is a good slasher film with just the right amount of blood and don't forget about that scary doll.
