"Curtains" features a group of women who have been summoned to a prestigious director's mansion to audition for a film; meanwhile his frequent collaborator and muse, a glamorous and established actress, has intentionally admitted herself into a psych ward in order to prepare for the role he is now offering to one of the younger talents. Things are doomed for the the young women from the start when a killer in a grotesque hag mask begins killing them along the way.
One has to wonder why a film like "Curtains" has been so longly ignored except among cult horror purists— fans have ached for a proper DVD release of the film, and it certainly deserves at least that. It is not a great film, but it is great if we're measuring it on a slasher scale.
Though it is most definitely a slasher movie, there are shades of class here that set it apart from the sleazier body count films of the era, and the performances are part of this, but also a great deal of attention to cinematography and the establishment of mood. The entire film has a dark, somber, weather-drenched atmosphere that is immediately off-putting, and things become progressively macabre after the girls reach the remote mansion.
It's an interesting and unusual setup, and there is a lot of subtext about filmmaking and performance that is played up with some minor intelligence. While the establishment of mood is fantastic here, and the setting is delectably spooky, there is a sense of disconnectedness in the film on a tonal level. Given the film's purportedly lengthy, troubled production, this makes sense, but it does create a feeling of the film not really being the sum of its parts— at least not the sum that it could have been. That said, the film is nevertheless successful at maintaining an eeriness.
The performances here are great, with John Eggar as the cold and calculated director, and Samantha Eggar as his glamorous "has been" muse. These two are the veterans of the film, both literally and narratively. Linda Thorson, Lynne Griffin (of "Black Christmas"), and Lesleh Donaldson ("Funeral Home") are welcome additions to the younger actresses, and give respectable performances, especially Griffin.
Overall, "Curtains" excels at being a moody and moderately classy slasher film. There are enough death scenes to appease the gore crowd, and enough suspense and mood to engage the more narratively-inclined audience, and, while the film's disjointed production seeps into the final product, the parts are effective enough to take precedence over the sum. 8/10.
