Linbeymusol Wonderful character development!

Lightdeossk Captivating movie !

Intcatinfo A Masterpiece!

Comwayon A Disappointing Continuation

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.

Scott LeBrun Samantha Sherwood (Samantha Eggar) is a veteran actress who very much wants the title role in her director / lover Jonathan Stryker's (John Vernon) new film "Audra". So much so that she's willing to feign insanity to get herself committed to a mental institution for first hand experience. Unfortunately for her, her surroundings do seem to get to her, and Stryker gives up on her. He invites six young ladies to his remote estate to audition for the part. Well, Samantha gets wind of this, and is able to escape and get back to Strykers' pad. There's also a killer on the premises, as well, one wearing a memorably hideous old hag mask.Considering how troubled this production was, it's a miracle that it ended up being as coherent as it is, and that it's actually pretty damn entertaining. It's a solid Canadian slasher that takes full advantage of atmospheric environments; there aren't enough slashers set in the winter in this fans' humble opinion. It's rather low on gore, but *does* feature one fun severed head gag. It's got some pretty interesting moments that let us know that just racking up the body count is not the primary concern of writer Robert Guza Jr. or director Richard Ciupka (who ended up using the fictional name Jonathan Stryker as a pseudonym). The scene where Stryker puts the mask on Samantha and demands that she "seduce" him without words comes to mind. The music by Paul Zaza (composer for the original versions of "Prom Night" and "My Bloody Valentine") is very effective.The film also creates some very engaging characters such as stand-up comic and aspiring actress Patti O'Connor (lovely Lynne Griffin of the original "Black Christmas"). Vernon is fun as the pompous director and Eggar is just great in her part. Also among the auditioning thespians are Linda Thorson, Anne Ditchburn, Sandee Currie ("Terror Train"), and Lesleh Donaldson ("Happy Birthday to Me", "Cries in the Night", "Deadly Eyes"). It's also a treat to see actors Michael Wincott ("The Crow") and Maury Chaykin ("Dances with Wolves") in early roles for them.There are some mighty fine moments involving a doll left in a road, and an extended chase sequence set inside a storage space full of props and costumes, but the main thing that would give "Curtains" a reputation is the incredible ice skating set piece, which this viewer saw on TV many years ago; it burned its way into his brain long before he ever knew the name of the film.Very well directed and featuring appropriate scene transitions, this is one entry into the slasher genre that its dedicated fans *should* check out.Eight 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.