CURTAINS (1983)

CURTAINS (1983)

Tagline: Behind Every Curtain, Someone Is Watching...Something Is Waiting

(Horror, Mystery, Creepy Mask) [R]

You haven't spent five minutes with me and now you're telling me I'm wrong for the part. Why? Because I haven't got a staple to my navel like that centerfold? Because I wouldn't pirouette into bed with you and skate on your face?

In this one, Samantha Sherwood wants to convince director Jonathan Stryker to cast her as Audra in his next production, that she gets herself committed to an insane asylum to prep for the role. Her performance is so effective that in his meetings at the asylum with Samantha, Jonathan starts to believe she really is insane and leaves her there. As casting for the role begins Jonathan invites 6 actresses up to his estate giving each a chance to get the role. His methods are madness, but as the night begins an unexpected guest shows up. 

First off, this movie starts off really weird and to be honest the dialog doesn’t do us any favors as to letting us know what is really going on. It is not until the night in question begins that we start to see the plot move forward and to be quite honest, this is a bit of a gem that I didn’t expect. While we do get a high level of creepy in this slasher, this isn’t a gore-fest so if you are looking for that, move along. 

The pacing in this film is a bit odd but overall the tension gets ramped up perfectly and in spite of a few crazy unnecessary sequences this thing is pretty solid. We also get a pretty good score, but the soundtrack is forgettable. This is also probably the only film other than THE RUNNING MAN that features an ice skating killer. 

Acting wise in spite of one of the creepiest masks in a flick, the most menacing role comes from John Vernon (KILLER CLOWNS FROM OUTER SPACE) who plays Jonathan Stryker. Samantha Eggar (THE PHANTOM) does a solid job, but she does overact in certain parts. I do think that director Richard Ciupka was probably pushing her to play the role like that. CURTAINS was his first film ever. Sandee Currie (TERROR TRAIN) plays the headstrong Tara DeMillo and is pretty solid. Anne Ditchburn is decent as Laurian Summers who is a pretty timid character, that does a weird little dance. So there’s that. Linda Thorson plays Brooke and I think she quickly realizes that she won’t get the part unless she gets involved with Jonathon, but she does a pretty decent job in the role. Lynne Griffin shows off some range in this as Patti O'Connor and I would say her acting is excellent here. She also appeared in the comedy classic STRANGE BREW. Lesleh Donaldson (DEADLY EYES) rounds out the top cast as Christine Burns and is just okay in the role, but she is definitely a candidate for the “top horror movie character death that didn’t deserve it” list. 

This is actually the second outstanding low-budget B-movie horror flick I have watched from the 80’s that I never saw in the 80s. This is a solid, spooky effort worthy of a Halloween horror-o-thon. Like most 80’s horror, we do get a moral. The moral of the story is don’t drive to an audition and stay if people start disappearing, no matter how bad you want the part of the job. Also – if you have beaten the crap out of the killer twice, make sure you finish the job. 

Overall this is a solid 6 out of 7 that 80’s horror fans won’t want to skip in spite of a few weird spots.

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