Curtains (1983 film)
| Curtains | |
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Official 1983 one-sheet poster
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| Directed by |
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| Produced by | Peter R. Simpson |
| Written by | Robert Guza, Jr. |
| Starring | |
| Music by | Paul Zaza |
| Cinematography | Robert Paynter |
| Edited by |
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| Distributed by | Jensen Farley Pictures |
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Release date
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Running time
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89 minutes |
| Country | Canada |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $3.7 million |
Curtains is a 1983 Canadian slasher film directed by Richard Ciupka, written by Robert Guza Jr., and starring John Vernon, Samantha Eggar, Linda Thorson and Lynne Griffin. A slasher film centered on theater and filmmaking, its plot focuses on a group of actresses targeted by a masked killer at a prestigious director's remote mansion where they are auditioning for a role in a movie.
Shooting began in late 1980 and had a markedly troubled production, with multiple re-writes and re-shoots that spanned nearly three years, ending in director Richard Ciupka detaching his name from the project. The film premiered in the United States in March 1983, and was released theatrically in Canada that fall. Though a critical and box office failure, the film became a staple of late night television, only to later receive attention through word of mouth among genre fans, many of whom cite the Lesleh Donaldson '"ice skating scene" as the memorable highlight.
Samantha Sherwood, a beautiful actress and muse for director Jonathan Stryker, has herself committed to a mental institution as method preparation for the titular role of a mentally unstable woman in a film called Audra. 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 invited to audition, fledgling actress Amanda Teuther, has a dream that while driving to the audition, she is stopped by a large porcelain doll standing in the middle of the road; when she leaves her car to move it, she is run over. She awakens from her dream, only to be stabbed to death in her apartment.
The next day, we are introduced to the five other women auditioning for the part of Audra who have all been invited to Stryker's mansion. They are comedian Patti O'Connor, veteran actress Brooke Parsons, dancer Laurian Summers, musician Tara DeMillo, and professional ice-skater Christie Burns. A caretaker named Matthew is also introduced. Samantha appears at the house uninvited during dinner. The girls spend their first night in the mansion getting acquainted; Tara has sex with Matthew in a jacuzzi and Christie reluctantly is seduced by Stryker.
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