Curtains (1983 film)

Curtains
A spotlight over a woman standing in a bathroom clutching her hair, and screaming; The title, Curtains is positioned in large font beneath, with red, dripping tinges of blood on the lower part of the typeface.
Theatrical one-sheet poster
Directed byRichard Ciupka
Peter R. Simpson[i]
Written byRobert Guza Jr.
Produced byPeter R. Simpson
Starring
CinematographyRobert Paynter
Edited by
  • Michael MacLaverty
  • Henry Richardson[ii]
Music byPaul Zaza
Production
company
Simcom Limited[2]
Distributed byJensen Farley Pictures
Release dates
Running time
89 minutes[3][4]
CountryCanada
LanguageEnglish
Budget$3.7 million
Box office$1 million (North America)[5]

Curtains is a 1983 Canadian slasher film directed by Richard Ciupka and Peter R. Simpson, from a screenplay by Robert Guza Jr., and starring John Vernon, Samantha Eggar, Linda Thorson, Lynne Griffin, and Lesleh Donaldson. Centered on the world of theater and filmmaking,[6] its plot focuses on a group of ambitious female performers who are targeted by a masked killer while auditioning for a film role at a prestigious director's mansion.

The film was conceived by Guza and producer Peter R. Simpson, produced under the latter's production company Simcom Limited, who had previously released the box-office hit Prom Night (1980). Curtains was intended by Simpson to be an adult-oriented slasher aimed at older audiences, contrasting with the standard genre films of the time which featured predominately teenaged characters. Principal photography began in Toronto in late 1980, with much of the shoot taking place at Magder Studios on interior sets designed by Roy Forge Smith.

Curtains had an extremely troubled production, fueled by disputes between Simpson and Ciupka over its tone: Inspired by giallo films, Ciupka envisioned it as an arthouse thriller, while Simpson sought a more straightforward slasher film form. The conflicts between the two resulted in Ciupka abandoning the project, after which Simpson took over directorial duties, overseeing multiple rewrites and reshoots. The film was completed approximately two years after production began,[7] with Ciupka detaching his name from the project and being credited under a pseudonym.

Curtains opened theatrically in the United States in February 1983, and was given a limited release in Ottawa the following year, through Jensen Farley Pictures. It received largely negative reviews from critics, with many citing its screenplay and lack of narrative cohesion as faults. It earned $1 million at the North American box office. In the years after its release, Curtains became a staple of late night television,[iii] and developed a cult following in the 2000s, with fans petitioning for an official DVD release. Following its inclusion in several multi-film bargain DVD releases sourced from video masters, the film received a 2K restoration by Synapse Films, who released it on Blu-ray and DVD in 2014.

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference amg was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ Armstrong 2003, p. 84.
  3. ^ "CURTAINS (18)". British Board of Film Classification. May 18, 1983. Archived from the original on November 17, 2015.
  4. ^ "Curtains". Film Society of Lincoln Center. November 1, 2013. Archived from the original on May 29, 2022.
  5. ^ Donahue 1987, p. 298.
  6. ^ Sipos 2010, p. 177.
  7. ^ "It's curtains after 12 additional days". Cinema Canada (88): 5. September 1982. ISSN 0009-7071.
  8. ^ "Premium Movies". Fort Worth Star-Telegram. February 3, 1985. p. 95 – via Newspapers.com.
  9. ^ "Television". Los Angeles Times. June 23, 1985. p. 31 – via Newspapers.com.
  10. ^ "Thursday on TV". Times-Advocate. January 29, 1987. p. 37 – via Newspapers.com.
  11. ^ "Westminster Cable Television". Westminster and Pimlico News. February 11, 1988. p. 3 – via Newspapers.com.
  12. ^ "Weekend TV notes". Kilgore News Herald. June 10, 1988. p. 4 – via Newspapers.com.
  13. ^ "Thursday, January 5". Ottawa Citizen. December 31, 1988. p. 46 – via Newspapers.com.
  14. ^ "Today's Movies". The Times Herald. December 30, 1989. p. 8B – via Newspapers.com.
  15. ^ "12:00 Midnight". Tri-City Herald. September 16, 1990. p. 131 – via Newspapers.com.
  16. ^ "Thursday 3:00". Vancouver Sun. February 1, 1991. p. 53 – via Newspapers.com.
  17. ^ "Evening". Abilene Reporter-News. October 13, 1991. p. 84 – via Newspapers.com.
  18. ^ "Movies". Longview News-Journal. July 17, 1992. p. 23 – via Newspapers.com.
  19. ^ "Broadcast Movies". The Tampa Tribune. October 10, 1993. p. 56 – via Newspapers.com.


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