Curtains (film)

Curtains
Official 1983 one-sheet poster
Directed by	Richard Ciupka
Produced by	Peter R. Simpson
Written by	Robert Guza, Jr.
Starring	John Vernon Linda Thorson Samantha Eggar Lynne Griffin Lesleh Donaldson
Music by	Paul Zaza
Cinematography	Robert Paynter
Editing by	Michael Laverty Henry Richardson (uncredited)
Distributed by	Jensen Farley Pictures (USA) Norstar Releasing (Canada)
Release date(s)	March 4, 1983 September 14, 1984
Running time	89 min.
Country
Language	English
Budget	$3,700,000 (Estimated)

Curtains is a 1983 Canadian horror film. Though a fairly obscure film, Curtains has gained some underground cult status among fans of the slasher film genre, many of whom cite the 'ice skating' murder scene as the film's memorable highlight. The film was relatively obscure until word of mouth among horror fans developed interest in the film again.

Plot

Samantha Sherwood, a beautiful aspiring actress has herself committed to a mental institution to do some background research for the role of a woman with unstable sanity in a film called 'Audra' in which her well known director, Jonathon Stryker, leaves her at the mental institution. Once finding out Stryker is letting a new group of girls audition for the role of Audra, she escapes the asylum for revenge.

One of the girls who was going to audition, Amanda Teuther, is stabbed to death before she even gets the chance to go to Stryker's mansion for the audition. The next day we are introduced to the five other women auditioning for the part of Audra. The girls consist of Patti, Brooke, Laurian, Tara, and Christie. The remaining five girls left to audition meet Stryker at his mansion along with Samantha who appears at the house without welcome. After a night of the girls getting to know each other Christie is brutally murdered while figure skating by someone in a grotesque hag mask outside of Stryker's house the next morning.

Later that day, while the girls are all auditioning, Brooke discovers Christie's decapitated head in a toilet bowl. She tells Stryker what she saw but when they go back to the bathroom where she found Christie's head they find nothing in the toilet. Abusing Brooke's vulnerability, Stryker gets her to reluctantly sleep with him. Meanwhile, Tara and Patti start to wonder what may have caused Brooke to say that Christie was dead which causes Tara to suspect foul play while Laurian is killed while dancing.

After having sex Brooke and Stryker are both shot to death, to which Tara discovers the bodies. After trying to escape the isolated location Tara is chased by the hag in a backstage prop shed. After escaping the killer nearly three times, she is killed after being dragged into a ventilation system by the hag. A little later Samantha and Patti have a bottle of champagne and discuss Audra being insane in the kitchen. Samantha tells Patti about how Stryker left her in the aslyum and eventually admits to shooting Stryker and Brooke. After telling Patti this information Patti admits to killing the other girls and stabs Samantha to death. The epilogue consists of Patti performing Audra to other patients in a mental institution.

Cast

• John Vernon as Jonathan Stryker
• Samantha Eggar as Samantha Sherwood
• Linda Thorson as Brooke Parsons
• Anne Ditchburn as Laurian Summers
• Lynne Griffin as Patti O'Connor
• Sandee Currie as Tara DeMillo
• Lesleh Donaldson as Christie Burns
• Deborah Burgess as Amanda Teuther
• Michael Wincott as Matthew
• Maury Chaykin as Monty
• Booth Savage as Peter, Amanda's Boyfriend

Production

Filming for Curtains began November 10, 1980. The film was shot on locations in Muskoka, Ontario, Canada and Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The film had a very troubled production though. Ultimately the film was shelved for a year, during which there were re-writes, re-shoots, and one major re-casting done. Eventually numerous crew members had to be re-hired to shoot the footage to complete the film. Curtains was finally released in March 1983.

In preparation for the film's ice-skating sequence, actress Lesleh Donaldson was sent for skating practice by the film's producers. However, when filming for that scene commenced, Donaldson tripped on the uneven ice and injured herself, resulting in a stand-in double being used for her long shots.^[1]

Actress Linda Thorson was cast in the role of Brooke Parsons after actress Celine Lomez left the production.

Deleted scenes include a backstory sequence where, prior to arriving at Stryker's retreat, Christie is emotionally rejected by her skating coach. This scene was intended to show the character's vulnerability when she is rejected again, this time by Stryker.^[2]

Actress Lynne Griffin recalls filming an alternate ending scene in Toronto. In this scene, her character Patti O'Connor delivers a monologue on a theatre stage surrounded by her dead victims. This alternate ending was not used in the final cut of the film.^[3]

Influence

• American death metal band Mortician used a sample from Curtains as an intro for the song "Audra" from their 2003 album Darkest Day of Horror. Bassist / vocalist Will Rahmer has said in interviews that Curtains is one of his favorite films.^[4]

DVD release

The film was finally released on DVD on October 5, 2010 by Echo Bridge Home Entertainment, as part of the Midnight Horror Collection: Bloody Slashers DVD collection, which also includes Secrets of the Clown, Hoboken Hollow and Room 33, 3 direct-to-video B-movies.^[5] This release, which featured generic cover art for the film and a poor transfer, has angered many fans, who have demanded a separate re-release. It is unknown whether Echo Bridge will re-release it anytime soon.

References

1. ^ "Losing My Head: An Interview with Lesleh Donaldson - June 1999". The Terror Trap. http://www.terrortrap.com/interviews/leslehdonaldson/. 
2. ^ "Curtains Unveiled: An Interview with Peter Simpson - August 2004". The Terror Trap. http://www.terrortrap.com/interviews/petersimpson/. 
3. ^ "Six for Her Scythe: An Interview with Lynne Griffin - July 2011". The Terror Trap. http://www.terrortrap.com/interviews/lynnegriffin/. 
4. ^ "Interview with Will Rahmer, Mortician's Vocalist & Bassist - February 2004". Oh My Gore!. http://english.ohmygore.com/metalinterviewuk-4-interview-with-will-rahmer-mortician-s-vocalist-bassist-february-2004.html. 
5. ^ "Echo Bridge Entertainment Releases 'The Midnight Horror Collection: Bloody Slashers'". More Horror. http://www.morehorror.com/Echo-Bridge-Entertainment-Releases-The-Midnight-Horror-Collection-Bloody-Slashers377112. 

External links

• Curtains at the Internet Movie Database
• Curtains at AllRovi