Curtains (Richard Ciupka, 1983)

[cloud]

Cast: John Vernon, Samantha Eggar, Lynne Griffin, Linda Thorson, Anne Ditchburn, Sandee Currie, Deborah Burgess, Michael Wincott, Maury Chaykin, Joann McIntyre, Calvin Butler and Lesleh Donaldson.

"Six beautiful girls trying to get ahead... when the curtains fall, five will be dead."

After buying the rights to a major new film named "Audra", the director (aptly named Jonathan Stryker) fools business partner and actress Samantha Sherwood into entering a mental asylum to prepare for the role. But when she finds out that he has decided to let her stay there permanently and instead invited six actresses around to his mansion to audition she escapes and plots her revenge. Soon after the bodies begin piling up.....

Maybe I'm a bit biased, I first saw this film when I was having a really bad time and needed escape. This gave me that escape and took me on a very entertaining journey as well. Sometimes films hit you at the right time of your life and so you naturally appreciate them perhaps that 10% more than what most others do. If ever there was an example of that then it's this film which is and always will be very special to me.
I've read criticism before of Curtains that it's perhaps a bit too straight played, too lacking in gore and too slow and glum. These are perfectly fair criticisms, ones I can understand, however I happen to disagree. A major strength this film has is being a seperate entity from other teen led body count films around the time. For once it's nice to have actors who can actually act and it's nice to escape from the happy go lucky style of many others of this ilk. This film is grim, it's (almost) humourless and that's exactly what I believe it set out to do and managed to achieve.
It isn't without its quirks though, is it a coincidence that the lead female actress was called "Samantha" who of course was played by Samantha Eggar and is it also a coincidence that the Belgium born director (Richard Ciupka) used a pseudonym of Jonathan Stryker? These things aren't important but they help the film stand out.

Its cast has a few familiar faces. We all know about John Vernon who starred in classics such as THE OUTLAW JOSEY WALES and DIRTY HARRY as well as the not so classic late Alfred Hitchcock movie TOPAZ. Samantha Eggar of THE BROOD and THE EXTERMINATOR fame. And of course lesser known actresses such as Lynne Griffin who you might recognise as the first victim in BLACK CHRISTMAS as well as the lovely Lesleh Donaldson of HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME and FUNERAL HOME fame.

Any Slasher movie fan worth his or her salt will be all too aware of the much talked about ice skating scene that occurs in the middle of the film. It introduces the eerie looking "old hag" killer who in my opinion is one of the most iconic screen killers of all time. It's a classy and well directed scene and is Curtains' finest moment. That doesn't mean that the rest of the film is disappointing in comparison because it isn't, in actual fact this is what I'd call a very consistent and well paced movie and contains many scenes that I savour whenever I see them. It's not flooded with gore, it doesn't even have a high body count and yes the identity of the killer is very predictable but it's a smooth ride and not once did I feel it swayed or outstayed its welcome.

This film ain't without its negatives though. Some characters could perhaps have done with more screen time. By the time the final chase came about the character was so underdeveloped that it was hard to really get behind her. There were also a couple of big red herrings that weren't at all convincing but were important to the plot. And though it ain't the end of the world it could have done with just a little bit more of the old red stuff.

So what do we have? A moody, atmospheric snowy set Canadian made early '80s stalk and slash film. With a little bit of blood, a fairly low body count, some good and offbeat characters, a creepy doll, an eerie sickle wielding hag, an iconic death scene, a few bare breasts and a short lesbian sequence. Did I miss anything?

One of the many '80s Slasher movies and in my opinion one of the best with lots of replay value. While it's not quite up there with (in my opinion) the genre's very best examples such as SLAUGHTER HIGH, HELL NIGHT and THE MUTILATOR (to name but a few) It still stands as a gem, a real gem! Now lie down, wrap up warm, rest your head and enjoy the film because winter nights are the best time to view this film - 4/5.

Now can somebody please release this classic on DVD please with a lovely restored picture, nice artwork and a few extras?

[Fuad Ramses]

Nice write up. I watched Curtains a few months back and thoroughly enjoyed it apart from that awful picture quality on the DVD.

[jacksmith1983]

Yes, nice review Cloud, it's obvious that you put a lot of thought into that.

I'm ashamed to admit that Curtains is one of only a few early eighties slasher pictures I've never managed to catch up with. After reading that enthusiastic write up I may have to remedy that.

It's a shame there isn't a better DVD out there. From what I've heard the UK DVD is an unauthorised, VHS quality job from the dreaded Blackhorse.

[ecc]

I think CURTAINS is one of those Canadian tax shelter films that is apparently difficult to get the rights to.

The film apparently had a very troubled production history which might explain some of the shortcomings. Apparently, one of the original actresses refused to do a nude scene and was fired (and blacklisted - Canada's stable of actors was relatively small at the time) and all of her scenes had to be reshot with a different actress. Can anyone shed more light on the film's history?

[cloud]

Thanks chaps. The UK DVD was a bootleg released by Blackhorse I think and featured some really ugly cover art. I requested this film to CRD to release a couple of times last year or the year before, I think with Code Red's track record then they and Curtains are made for each other. I believe Shameless are also looking into the possibility of releasing some old slashers so I've requested it over there but so far nothing.

What's a "tax shelter film"?

Make sure you check it out, Jack, you're missing out on one of the genre's best examples. Here's a picture of the hag masked killer:

[jacksmith1983]

I intend to catch up with it Cloud don't worry.

And here is the "Tax Shelter Years" of Canadian filmmaking explained.

[MarcMorris]

Death Ship was another tax shelter film.

[jacksmith1983]

Weren't most of William Fruet's films too? Death Weekend, Funeral Home, etc?

[cloud]

This eBay auction may be worth keeping an eye on. The other film it's with - Mortuary - is another gem that's in need of a DVD release.

I'd love to see official releases of Death Weekend and Funeral Home. Weren't Code Red working on an SE of William Fruet's Trapped? I think they were so there's hope!

[Myersfan73]

Great review cloud. I really like Curtains and would love to see a good DVD release of it. I would say it has a following that would make it a seller for any releasing company. It's got a great look to it and it's another low buget gem that deserves to see the light of day again.

[Shaun C]

Remember fondly renting this back in the day and the highlight you mentioned really stod out. I have the recentish dvd and the film is still enjoyable though the quality is depressing. I like Miss Donaldson who also did a fine job in HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME another superior slasher.

[cloud]

Thanks for the comments and kind words everyone. This is an important film to me so it's nice to see others who also hold a lot of affection for it.

I've gotta say I do have a bit of a thing for Ms. Donaldson and it's a pity she didn't go on to do many more horror films. She did appear in a few such as THE RATS and FUNERAL HOME and yeah her appearance in HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME was memorable, just a shame she only had about 5 minutes screen time before getting killed. Not only was she eye candy but a true horror legend merely for the films she appeared in and how she'd get killed off.

Here is a nice tribute to her: Lesleh Donaldson: Scream Queen.

[jacksmith1983]

I revisited Curtains a couple of evenings ago for the second time and as it's fast becoming something of a personal favourite I felt I would revive Cloud's excellent thread/review and post my own thoughts on this overlooked gem of a film.

Firstly as no-one else seems to have touched upon this I feel it is worth clarifying that although directorial duties for Curtains are credited to a Jonathan Stryker, the film was actually directed by Belgian born first time filmmaker Richard Ciupka and the Stryker pseudonym is actually also the name of one of the films chief onscreen protagonist's, the oily would be director of the proposed film within the film played by John Vernon.

To quickly reiterate the plot, Curtains begins with film director Jonathan Stryker acquiring the film rights to a play named Audra which deals with a beautiful woman's descent into insanity. Stryker's regular female lead Samantha Sherwood has took it for granted that she will be granted the starring role in the production and in order to prepare for the role, with Stryker's assistance, she takes the unusual step of tricking the authorities into having her judged insane and committed to a secure mental institution so that she can study the behaviour of the insane. However, Stryker - an unscrupulous character with a roving eye for nubile young starlets - has secretly tired of his professional and heavily implied personal relationship with Sherwood and in order to get her out of his hair he callously abandons her to rot in the institute.

With Sherwood seemingly out of the way Stryker arranges for a sextet of attractive female hopefuls to gather at his remote estate for a weekend of auditioning for the lead role in his proposed production of Audra. The auditionee's include female comedienne Patti O'Connor, young ice skating sensation Christie Burns and haughty seasoned actress Brooke Parsons. However, matters are unexpectedly complicated when a severe snowstorm leaves the party stranded at Stryker's estate and the audition weekend is unexpectedly gate crashed by Samantha Sherwood who has somehow escaped the mental institute and is filled with anger towards Stryker for robbing her of the role which she believed to be hers by right. Terror then strikes as the attractive would be actresses begin to die horribly at the hands of a mysterious, masked killer who is prowling the grounds and shadowy recesses of Stryker's snowbound estate. Has Samantha Sherwood's anger and resentment boiled over into cold-blooded murder? Or is it someone else with a far different motive who lurks behind the mask?

While Curtains does essentially follow the familiar narrative setup of a group of young, attractive women gathered at a remote location being systematically killed off by a masked killer with an undefined grudge, otherwise it actually shares surprisingly little common ground with the likes of Friday The 13th, The Burning, Madman, He Knows You're Alone, The House On Sorority Row and all the other sundry early eighties slasher pictures. Instead I think Dave Alexander writing for the excellent Canuxploitation website summed Curtains up beautifully when he described it as a kind of "snowy giallo". Indeed, Curtains largely eschews generic stalk and slash tactics for the most part, and instead develops into an accomplished, compelling and at times disarmingly chilling whodunit replete with black-glove wearing masked killers and obvious red herrings set against an isolated winter backdrop. So those approaching Curtains expecting to find nothing more than a standard Friday The 13th inspired body count picture may be in for a disappointment as Curtains, whilst certainly boasting a reasonable quota of killings, is actually based more around brooding atmosphere and deliberately ambiguous characterisation which in my mind qualifies it as a sort of younger Canadian cousin to the groundswell of thrillers centring around the activities of mysterious black-gloved killer's which emanated from Italy during the seventies.

Shot on location in Muskoka and Toronto, Ontorio, Curtains sees director Richard Ciupka make fine, evocative use of the films snow covered, lonely looking shooting locations, conjuring up a strong, prevailing atmosphere of wintry desolation which this writer found highly reminiscent of films such as Bob Clark's seminal Black Christmas (1974) and Theodore Gershuny's underrated Silent Night, Bloody Night (1974), two of the films which in any ways established the template for what eventually became the slasher sub genre. Meanwhile the interiors of Stryker's vast mansion - in actual fact a creepy residence located in Muskoka - are also employed to good effect, with Ciupka using its shadowy recesses and curiously chilly emptiness to jangle the viewers nerves on more than one occasion.

In addition to maintaining a highly atmospheric winter mood, the efficient Ciupka also keeps Curtains moving along at an involving if not exactly quick fire pace, and pulls off several highly effective scare sequence's and set-piece death's once the films masked killer emerges to begin killing off the female auditionee's for Stryker's production of Audra. I think there is really little disputing that easily the finest and most memorable of these is the scene Cloud alluded to at length in his review in which one young female victim is set upon by the killer whilst indulging in a spot of early morning ice skating. This scene has since passed into slasher movie legend and rightly so as it is a beautifully timed and orchestrated, genuinely hair-raising sequence which ranks as one of the most effective murder set-piece's that the early eighties slasher movie cannon has to offer. In addition the masked killer also exudes an unsettling, curiously malignant presence which only serves to accentuate the power of the aforementioned scene's, the hag-like mask which disguises their true identity lending them an effective resemblance to the evil witches of myth and fairytale. By contrast however, I must confess that I never really fully understood the significance of a rather creepy looking doll which turns up at the scene of each killing, but if nothing else it at least makes for an eerie and slightly offbeat touch.

Curtains also benefits from superior performances and characterisation, both of which punch far above the level normally associated with films of this ilk. The wise decision is made to hinge much of the films narrative upon the performance's of its two seasoned stars John Vernon and Samantha Eggar, both of whom are very good indeed in their respective roles. Indeed, Vernon manages to pull of the tricky feat of being sleazily odious yet at the same time imposing and authoritive as unscrupulous filmmaker Jonathan Stryker. In the meantime Samantha Eggar, an actress whose abilities were always best exhibited when cast in villainous or psychotic roles as anyone who has ever witnessed her performance in David Cronenberg's classic The Brood (1979) can attest, is equally fine, portraying Stryker's callously shunned, possibly mad starring actress Samantha Sherwood as someone who seems to be constantly teetering on the brink of a full blown,violent mental breakdown. Curtains certainly benefits immensely from the thespian talent Vernon and Eggar bring to the table, the latter's in particular, even if Eggar's role as Stryker's scorned, vengeful fallen ingénue ultimately proves to be little more than a rather large and obvious red herring.

Meanwhile Vernon and Eggar committed lead performance's are nicely complimented by the supporting presence of Toronto born scream queen Lesleh Donaldson, Black Christmas starlet Lynne Griffin and well travelled television actress Linda Thorson (best known for her regular role as Tara King in The Avengers) all of whom acquit themselves quite nicely in roles as some of the aspiring actresses gathered at Stryker's remote residence to audition for the role of Audra. Although it does have to be said that Donaldson is really too pretty, talented and easy to empathise with to be killed off quite so early as what she is. What is more the characterisation of the sextet of auditionee's is better developed and more well rounded than you might expect for what is still ostensibly a slasher picture. Indeed, each of these female protagonists are afforded their own well defined personality and motivation's: the female comic eager to move on to straight roles and be taken seriously, the promiscuous starlet willing to sleep her way to success, the naive teenage figure skater with thespian aspirations and the arrogant veteran actress who views the role as her god-given right. Elsewhere viewers may also wish to keep their eyes peeled for the appearance of a young Michael Wincott, who later carved out a deserved niche for himself as a high profile mainstream character actor specialising in villainous roles, who is featured here as Stryker's young assistant and general lackey Matthew.

In truth Curtains is only really let down, albeit only slightly, by its slightly ponderous and unsatisfying conclusion. The finale itself is preceded by a delectably creepy and protracted sequence, bathed in some ominous, almost Bava-esque neon lighting, in which the killer stalks their final victim through a cramped, darkened storage room in which both mannequin's and the mutilated corpses of prior victims are suspended from the ceiling. In fact for my money this scene actually runs the aforementioned ice rink attack close for the accolade of this films most effective individual moment. It is therefore unfortunate that the eventual revelation of the killers true identity, which follows quickly on the heels of this masterful sequence, by contrast feels contrived, rushed and oddly inconclusive. It almost gives the impression that Richard Ciupka and the films writer Robert Guza Jr - who previously penned the initial story for Paul Lynch's slasher effort Prom Night (1980) and subsequently enjoyed a prolific and successful career as a television writer - having done a sterling job up to that point were at a bit of a loss as to how to draw Curtains to a close (no pun intended). In any event the revelation of the killers identity does have something of a "drawn at random out a hat" feel about it and as a result Curtains concludes on something of a flat note, which is a shame.

So in conclusion Curtains, despite being let down slightly by its ponderous and contrived final denouement, nevertheless emerges in this writer's view as a real unsung, often unjustly overlooked gem from the commercial heyday of the slasher sub genre, which is really some achievement when you take into consideration that Curtains was, by all accounts, a rather troubled production. As I've already stressed, those seeking a more linear body count picture are perhaps looking in the wrong place, but for the viewer hankering for something more than just another generic Halloween or Friday The 13th clone, Curtains stands as a genuinely well made, involving and suspenseful Canadian chiller which delivers plenty of tangibly foreboding snowy atmosphere, the presence of an unnerving masked killer, several beautifully mounted suspense sequence's and the unexpected bonus of solid performance's and characterisation. Undoubtedly one of the true highlight's of the early eighties slasher boom.

Highly Recommended!

Finally it almost goes without saying that it is an absolute crime that the only commercial DVD release Curtains has enjoyed to date is a completely unauthorised, VHS quality UK release from notorious bootleg peddler's Blackhorse Entertainment. Needless to say I would love to see a label such as Code Red or someone similar locate the rights and release Curtains in its OAR with some retrospective extra's featuring the films game surviving participant's. But I wont be holding my breath I'm sad to say in the current climate where sales of more niche titles on DVD have hit rock bottom and it seems judging by some negative comments I read online that even some so-called "fans" no longer view the legitimate release of a long buried slasher gem on the shiny disc format as something to rejoice over. At any rate VHS aficionado's can always seek out either the old UK pre-certificate tape on the Videospace label, or the slightly later post-VRA 18 certificated UK VHS re-release from Apex Distribution, both of which can still be tracked down with a little effort.

[ecc]

I wasn't as impressed with the film when I first saw it (after having seen the great trailer) but it gets more interesting on repeat viewings. A bitchy Samantha Eggar is always fun.

[christats]

It must be some unique skill that the people behind Blackhorse Ent. have.
I have the big box VHS and after getting that,saw the DVD on a 2nd hand stall.
It seems or rather is worse than the video picture quality wise.

What did they do.? Sit infront of a TV playing the video and film it with a video camera.

Reasonable DVD would be nice.

[Myersfan73]

Curtains is one of those films that is crying out for a decent DVD release. The more I return to this thread, the more I want to see it on a nice DVD release. People have great affection for this film, someone needs to track it down and get it released.

[jayzus]

Just watched my VHS Curtains, it was surprisingly good

I find it interesting that people keep asking why X, Y or Z are not available on DVD. The format is now into its second decade and surely the reason is that there is little or no prospect of any distributor breaking even on a single title, they would probably have to buy the entire library and find they have 5 or 6 other titles that wont sell.

Thats assuming the rightsholders are not holding out for a vast fortune.

A film called The Independent with Jerry Stiller, who plays a down on his luck director with ownership of his library, finds that the only value for it is the chemical elements in the negative and they are treated like sausage meat and valued by the pound and not individual titles. The Independent is currently available in every Cash Converter/Generator on probably the greatest budget double disk with the excellent Wet American Summer.

[Dave Jay]

THE INDEPENDENT's a marvellous movie! WET HOT AMERICAN SUMMER ain't bad either.

Surely the strange thing is that there would be anybody left holding out for fortunes to be paid for the DVD rights to their fairly obscure, low budget movie. Surely, as over a decade's gone by since the advent of DVD and nobody's paid the money to pick up their film, they'd relaise they ain't EVER gonna shift it if they continue to insist on overcharging for the rights?

It doesn't make much sense to me. There's still SO many great titles that haven't received any kind of decent DVD release and it looks set to remain that way, for whatever reason...

[mark meakin]

This has just come out (or is in the process of coming out) in the states on a Midnight Horror Collection release from Echo Bridge Entertainment.Looks like a 4-movie 2-disc 'flipper' release.I've never seen the film but I've come across some posts that state it's a fullframe release.
http://horrordvds.com/vb3forum/showt...ewpost&t=41420

[mark meakin]

Axel Music have it listed cheaply.
http://www.axelmusic.com/productDetails/096009969790
I've ordered it as I've never seen the film & I love films with a wintery atmosphere.Ghost Story(1981) had one of it's best scenes (The death of Douglas Fairbanks Jnr) in such a setting.