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MARCH 7 VHS MOVIE REVIEW : CURTAINS (1982)
Early 80's slasher film that never get the respect it deserved, probably because of its troubled production history (It started filming in 1980, but two years of reshoots caused the director, Richard Ciupka, to take the pseudonym "Jonathan Stryker", which just happens to be the name of the main character in this film, giving the whole viewing experience a "film-within-a-film" feel). In the film, conceited and abusive film director Jonathan Stryker (John Vernon; CHAINED HEAT - 1983) has to shelve his latest film, AUDRA, when leading lady Samantha Sherwood (Samantha Eggar; THE BROOD - 1979) suffers a mental breakdown (she tries to stab Jonathan with a letter opener in the doctor's office) and is led away in a straitjacket. It all turns out to be a grand performance by Samantha, since the title role of Audra is a madwoman and Samantha gets herself committed, all in the name of "research". Jonathan is in on the ruse, but Dr. Pendleton (Calvin Butler) thinks Samantha is actually insane. The more time Samantha spends in the loony bin with all the female crazies (the screamers, the laughers and even serial ticklers!), the more Samantha seems to go actually mad, so much so that Jonathan decides to keep Samantha in the institution and hold an audition at his mansion with six actresses battling for the role of Audra. What Jonathan doesn't count on is Samantha escaping from the asylum (with the help of some unseen female accomplice) and she vows to get the role back by any means possible. I guess you know what that means: The other actresses auditioning for the role, diva Brooke Parsons (Linda Thorson; HALF PAST DEAD - 2002); ballet dancer Laurian Summers (Anne Ditchburn); stand-up comedienne Patti O'Connor (Lynne Griffin; BLACK CHRISTMAS - 1974); musician Tara Demillo (Sandra Warren; TERROR TRAIN - 1980); professional ice skater Christie Burns (Lesleh Donaldson; FUNERAL HOME - 1980); and Amanda Teuther (Deborah Burgess), begin to meet unwanted (and sometimes gory) demises. But is Samantha the one responsible? Amanda (who likes to play elaborate rape fantasies with her boyfriend, Peter [Booth Savage], when he breaks into her apartment with a stocking over his head and assaults her on her bed while she feigns disgust) never makes it to the audition, as she is viciously stabbed in her own apartment by someone wearing an old hag mask (this is after Amanda has a very vivid death dream about a creepy toy doll, which makes an appearance at two other murders). The other five actresses do make it to Jonathan's mansion, where he introduces them to his assistant Matthew (Michael Wincott; METRO - 1997) and Samantha shows up to tell Jonathan and the other actresses that she is Audra and everyone else doesn't stand a chance. Jonathan disagrees and it's not long before the other actresses begin dying, but what is the connection with the creepy doll? Alas, because of all the reshoots, we never get to find out. Although quite disjointed in spots, especially the second half (thanks to the reshooting, which included Linda Thorson replacing actress Celine Lomez in the role of Brooke Parsons after Ms. Lomez shot most of her scenes), CURTAINS has its share of atmospheric sequences and shocking deaths. Director Richard Ciupka (DEAD END - 1999) and screenwriter Robert Guza Jr, (who wrote the story to PROM NIGHT - 1980) nearly have this film achieve classic status based solely on the death of Christie Burns, who is ice-skating on a frozen pond to some cheesy love ballad on her radio, when the music suddenly stops and she finds the creepy doll buried in the snow. The killer, dressed all in black (including ice skates!) and wearing the old hag mask, skates behind Christie and attacks her with a scythe, chasing her into the woods and eventually killing her (Brooke finds Christie's decapitated head in her toilet later in the film!). If the rest of the film could maintain this intensity and inventive camerawork, we might be mentioning it in the same breath with HALLOWEEN and FRIDAY THE 13TH. As it stands, CURTAINS is a well acted, if very fractured (especially the sudden disappearance of Matthew and the non-sensical ending), slasher film that delivers the creepy goods. It's not particularly bloody, but it doesn't need to be. That fucking doll is still sending shivers down my spine! Canadian staple Maury Chaykin (THE VINDICATOR - 1986) puts in a cameo as Brooke's agent. Originally released on VHS by Vestron Video and not available on DVD. Rated R. { text from critcononline.com }
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