Theatrical Spoilers<br /><br />CURTAINS is a typically Canadian thriller. Had this been a US made film, the script and the production would have been completely different. The first thing that would have been different if it was a US production is that every women in the movie would have been under the age of 25. As it is now in CURTAINS, the cast includes Samantha Eggar and Linda Thornson, two capable actresses who weren't young things back in 1983. Also, had this been a US production, it would have been "sexed up" (or cheesed up, to be more precise) and the look and feel of the movie wouldn't have been so, well, Canadian. For instance, I doubt very much that the scenes when we see the actresses ice skating or dancing would have been included in an American production. Too artsy. So, on one hand, I'm glad CURTAINS is not your typical American-made slasher. But this doesn't mean CURTAINS doesn't have its share of problems because it's Canadian.<br /><br />In fact, I'd say CURTAINS is a near mess of a film. It's well know that there were production problems during the shooting of the movie and they're in evidence on screen. What I really like about CURTAINS is that it takes its time to build suspense. It's not in a rush to clobber its audience with a sledgehammer. But somewhere halfway through the story, something really bad happens to the narrative and the film was completely derailed off of its tracks and it never fully recovers. This moment happens when Vernon and Thorson are shot. During this scene and everything else afterwards, the production feels completely different. It obvious that something happened behind the scenes and the mess that we can clearly see during this scene and everything else afterwards nearly destroys all the slow and quasi-meticulous work that went into the narrative/direction up to that point. This gives the movie a very lopsided feel to it. A somewhat structure beginning gives way to a very unstructured ending. A big chunk of the story or script is seemingly missing. Or it's as if the producers wanted to get rid of two somewhat expensive actors (Vernon & Thorson) and the way the characters are dispatched is very unconvincing. After the clunky shooting scene, we see body doubles of the dead Vernon and Thorson and then the film concentrates on a bimbo who runs all over the place and who is eventually dispatched as well. This stalking scene is long and seemingly pointless because we never really got to know this woman and her screen time seems truly excessive, compared to the more interesting actors that were just killed.<br /><br />Another important failing of the direction (or the script) is how vulnerable the killer is. The killer is often knocked over and/or falls unconscious. Now how scary is that for a killer? We always snicker at the "indestructible" killers found in practically every slasher but somehow I actually missed the unstoppable killer here in CURTAINS. The killer was just too weak to create an overpowering sense of dread.<br /><br />And there are many HUGE plot-holes that are never satisfactorily explained, like how did the killer know who was going to be invited at the house? This automatically leads to the next question: How did the killer know the blonde woman at the apartment (who is seemingly raped in a very long and tedious scene) was going to the audition and how did the killer got hold of that creepy mask, which was a prop stashed away at the mansion, a place where the killer hasn't been to yet? And other things, like the inconsistent use of the sad doll before each killings or the inexplicable appearance (and disappearance) of the film's other male character, the one seen at the diner table. We see him here and there, in the jacuzzi or skidooing but then, after seemingly having disappeared from the movie, he reappears, dead in the jacuzzi, right after the moment Vernon and Thorson are shot. What was the point of his character? Such big gaps in the story make CURTAINS feel very sloppy.<br /><br />But there are several aspects in the film that are good enough or interesting enough for me to recommend it to fans of slashers or horror. The film has attain a certain cult following. VHS tapes of CURTAINS (which is not available on DVD yet) often go for a good price on eBay. I'm sure fans of either John Vernon, Samantha Eggar or Linda Thorson (star of the AVENGERS) have kept the film from oblivion. And the couple of sex scenes, like the faux rape or the "lesbian" audition scene, have caught the attention of certain completists of exploitation. And I'm sure fans of movies with creepy dolls have also made this Canadian slasher a minor cult item. But with all said and done, the poster is probably the only thing I really like about CURTAINS, a slasher/giallo that's well intended but sorta falls short because of less than gruesome killings, extremely uneven script, a weak killer (with an albeit cool mask) and a chaotic production history.