Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		4.5
Audio		5.0
Extras		5.0
Overall		4.0

Curtains Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Brian Orndorf August 6, 2014

“Curtains” isn’t a single film, it’s a handful of subplots and ideas competing for screentime under the guise of a traditional ‘80s-style slasher endeavor. Bizarre seems too mild a description when discussing this movie, which is actually stitched together from two production periods spread out over three years, with the original director, Richard Ciupka, taking his name off the effort when producer Peter R. Simpson elected to jazz up the rough cut with customary slicing and dicing. The fascinating backstory on “Curtains” is evident throughout the presentation, leaving the picture half-realized, shooing away substance to plow ahead with violence. It’s a mess, but an entertaining one thanks to Ciupka’s visual ambition and ensemble work from the oddball cast, who deliver the proper level of hysteria to assist what little suspense remains. It’s not movie that’s easily understood, but one that has a few passable moments of genre proficiency.

Preparing to film “Audra,” an explosive look at insanity, moviemaker Jonathan Stryker (John Vernon) conspires with leading lady Samantha (Samantha Eggar) to commit her to a mental health hospital, trusting the experience will help prepare her for a difficult role. As Samantha succumbs to the pressures inside, Stryker goes ahead with casting, inviting a group of actresses to his rural home for an unusual audition process. Vying for the job are comedian Patti (Lynne Griffin), figure skater Christie (Lesleh Donaldson), Tara (Sandra Currie), acting veteran Brooke (Linda Thorson), and ballerina Laurian (Anne Ditschburn), all of them anxious to impress and secure high-profile employment. When Samantha escapes from the hospital, she returns to Stryker with renewed commitment to prove her abilities, while a masked figure stalks the property, killing off the actresses one-by-one as private readings with the director intensify.

The potential for a satire on the audition process is there for the taking, but “Curtains” doesn’t retain that level of ambition. Instead, it’s a slow-burn chiller that takes some incoherent turns in its pursuit of a narrative, electing to treat its industry leanings as motivation for desperation, not a starter pistol for a witty deconstruction of thespian ambition. While the screenplay is credited Robert Guza Jr., it’s difficult to comprehend what the picture was meant to be before its splintered production experience, opening with Samantha’s mission to join the mentally ill as research for her starring role. While such a plot holds potential, the movie quickly switches it off to move on to the actress convention in Stryker’s home, with Samantha suddenly free from the hospital and apparently willing to forgive. “Curtains” fights to remain focused, working in separate footage of another aspiring talent (Deborah Burgess) as she strokes her rape fantasies and encounters a creepy doll on her drive to the audition. And please don’t expect me to explain the doll business, which must be a remnant from the original draft. The toy simply pops up a few times, a dead-eyed harbinger of doom, only to be eventually abandoned in the final cut.

In fact, many elements of “Curtains” are left for dead, including a fleeting appearance from character actor Michael Wincott (playing a caretaker who eagerly seduces one of the actresses) and the visual of actual curtains to facilitate scene transitions, which is woefully underused. The best way to appreciate the movie is to zero in on its craftsmanship, with Ciupka’s stylistic touches remaining in the feature, but only in fragments. Sections of “Curtains” are artfully composed, ripe with tension, and interested in breaking away from the norm. The rest is flat and feebly staged, with such blunt pursuits keeping the feature conventional, while Ciupka aims to elevate the material with an interesting visual push. He’s also good with his cast, pulling convincingly frazzled work from Eggar and Vernon, while Griffin (perhaps best known for her turn in “Strange Brew”) steals scenes as a compulsive jokester, always quick with a quip, the more inappropriate the better. Even when the picture falls apart or gets lost, the acting is always above average, which is a rare achievement in this genre.

Curtains Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

The AVC encoded image (1.78:1 aspect ratio) presentation carries "Curtains" triumphantly to Blu-ray with a richly filmic viewing experience. Colors are immediately explored with stable primaries, bringing out powerful reds and blues, while the pink of Christie's skate gear is vivid and accurate. Skintones are natural and spot-on, permitting the examination of dramatic flushness. Grain is superbly managed, while fine detail brings out make-up achievements and pained reactions with precision, making the most out of this softly photographed but clear event. Damage is limited to a few speckles. Black levels are consistent and communicative.

Curtains Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The 5.1 DTS-HD MA sound mix was specifically created for this Blu-ray release, gifting the picture a more atmospheric presence. Circular events are minimal but definition is terrific, with a secure handle on scoring efforts and suspense beats, which register with the supportive energy intended. Dialogue exchanges are crisp and clean, keeping up with surges in aggression and group interplay. Range is healthy, without ragged extremes, holding "Curtains" to a tasteful audio event that's precise and appropriate, refreshing the movie for a home theater environment.

Curtains Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Commentary with actresses Lesleh Donaldson and Lynne Griffin (moderated by Edwin Samuelson) is a conversational track featuring the fuzzy memories of the participants. Thankfully, Samuelson is there to keep the chat moving along, but Griffin and Donaldson are game to discuss anything, commenting on Canadian tax breaks, cast relationships, and the feature's fragmented production schedule. The listener learns quite a bit about Griffin's professional history and the pair's knowledge of the finished product, with some decent anecdotes shared along the way.

• Audio Track (55:26) featuring vintage interviews with producer Peter R. Simpson and actress Samantha Eggar. Simpson (recorded on the phone) is surprisingly animated about "Curtains," exploring the reshoots, the firing of an actress during production, and the casting of Shannon Tweed as a breast double during one exploratory scene between characters. Eggar (possibly interviewed at a convention) offers more of a career overview, with limited information pertaining to "Curtains."

• "The Ultimate Nightmare" (35:51, HD) is a glorious look at the making, or disintegration, of "Curtains." Interviews with cast (including Donaldson and Griffin) and crew (including Ciupka and composer Paul Zaza) are stunningly candid about the troubled production, exploring how they came to the project, which was originally imagined as a psychological thriller, with emphasis on Hitchcockian stylistics. That all changed once producer Simpson saw a rough cut, reuniting the cast two years after principal photography concluded to reshoot chunks of the movie, without Ciupka's participation. Everyone seems to have a healthy sense of humor about the disastrous situation, and opinions of the finished product are not kind. Wonderfully assembled and honest about the pitfalls of the industry, this featurette is a must-see.

• "Ciupka: A Filmmaker in Transition" (15:09, HD) is a vintage featurette celebrating the cinematographer as he makes his move from photography to direction, working his last few days on "Melanie" before taking command of "Curtains." Some valuable BTS footage is offered, but more interesting is the helmer's resignation with his new gig, unsure of its importance to his career.

• And a Theatrical Trailer (1:44, HD) is included.

Curtains Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

There are a few scenes in "Curtains" that stand out, one pitting Christie against the masked killer on a frozen pond, while lousy editing and iffy physics make a scene where Stryker and Brooke fall out of a window the most rewindable moment of the movie. Thematic pursuits also hold attention, including a running inspection of illusion that's constantly faking out the viewer with nightmare asides and considered cinematography, and the requisite sex-as-a-weapon attack gets a modest workout here. "Curtains" is often caught scrambling around in the dark for direction, gradually losing interest in consistency as violence increases and the opportunity to simply capture the masked killer chasing victims around proves irresistible. The picture isn't all there, but I certainly understand why cult audiences have been drawn to it over the last three decades. Weird is wonderful, and for this effort, oddity is a band-aid that almost holds the feature together.