MovieChat Forums > Curtains (1983) Discussion > Is it just me? Did not care for the film...

Is it just me? Did not care for the film at all!

posted 12 years ago by TearsForFearsFan-1
18 replies | jump to latest

I am a huge fan of 80's slasher films, but I was very disappointed by this film. I read so many rave reviews for this hailing it as one of the greatest slasher movies ever made so I had to get a copy. The movie moves way to slow, has a strange sub-plot, not neary enough of a body count, leaves so many unanswered questions, was not at all scary either. The mask was cool but the film did not flow. I have a large collection of 80's slasher films but this was certainly a disappointment expecially from all the praise it seems to get. I can certainly see that I am in the minority on this but wanted to put my 2 cents in. Thanks for reading.

[–] dustin565 12 years ago

I haven't seen this in a long time but I recall having a similar opinion on this...it was kind of boring, not to say that it wasn't effective at times. I had the doll on the road part spoiled for me because the House By The Cemetery VHS had a trailer of it at the end...I was expecting more stuff like that. I'd like to give this another look but I have a feeling I'll just rediscover what I didn't like about it.

[–] DesperateHouseboy 12 years ago

I liked it :) To each their own though, right?

[–] UpperEastSider 12 years ago

Just watched it on YouTube. Personally, I thought it was awful. Like you said, the movie was very slow, the characters were underdeveloped (so you didn't care who died) and characters would just randomly get murdered. Not to mention the fact that there was 0 suspense.

The mask was creepy and the ice skating scene was good, as well as the back-stage chase scene (or whatever) but that was about it.

I also found it very hard to tell what was happening in most parts since the screen was so dark.

I gave it a 3.

A true friend walks in when everyone else walks out

[–] scoup 10 years ago

Good points - several good scenes but overall not too interesting

[–] Mathias001 11 years ago

I thought this movie was quite boring. I always didn't like slashers that don't really show any slashing. IIRC, the kills were off screen. And the chase sequences were a bit on the long side with no "payoff". I guess you can't compare these lame movies to classics like Halloween or the first Friday the 13th etc.

I did like the doll in the road scene. It creeped me out a bit. The ice rink scene was good also but alas they couldn't save this turkey.

Long live the 70's!

[–] michaelchandler45 11 years ago

I felt the same way. Grew up in the 80's on slashers but this was one of those lame attempts to cash in on the genre. Boring with no substance. Like it was a cheap made for tv movie.

[–] massey7109 10 years ago

I bought the blu ray of Curtains after hearing so many great things about this movie over the years and I was very disappointed. Very slow and not scary at all. It was nothing like the slasher movies I grew up on like Halloween, Prom Night, Friday the 13th, Happy Birthday to Me, My Bloody Valentine, etc....The blu ray looked great and there were a ton of extras, but after watching it, I considered reselling it on ebay lol. I'll give it another view in a month or so. Maybe I missed something the first time around, maybe I was in a bad mood that night or something!

[–] Mr_Ectoplasma 10 years ago

Considering the production problems it had, it's damn good I think. I had no idea they were doing reshoots for YEARS after the initial production ended. For being a mashup of work that was passed through different hands and filmed over a period of years, I think it's surprisingly cohesive and enjoyable. It's not remarkably fast-paced, but I think it's a pretty well crafted slasher film.

[–] 10 years ago

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[–] Ore-Sama 10 years ago

I think this film deserves the praise it gets. It's well made, genuinely creepy and suspenseful.

Underdeveloped characters? Congrats on seeing your first slasher film ever. If you went into a slasher film expecting character development, you have only yourself to blame for not getting it. That's like going into "Amadeus" expecting a lot of shoot outs.

Slow? I could name so many genuinely slow movies. Curtains is pretty fair paced. To call it slow shows either a woeful lack of an attention span or great unfamiliarity with actually slow paced films.

"It's just you and me now, sport"-Manhunter

[–] bradleynath 10 years ago

I have red interviews with the producer where he states that it was shot by two different directors that both had different ideas, from what I remember he shot a lot of it himself as well.

There comes a time to put away childhood things. But some things just won't stay put!

[–] Disardor 10 years ago

It's one thing to pose a question like this on, say, the message board of The Godfather or Star Wars or something, as those are considered to be among the best movies of all time and have ratings hovering around 9 out of 10 from hundreds of thousands of ratings by users, but why ask it on the board of a little known movie like Curtains, where the user rating is 5.7? Obviously you're not the only one who doesn't think much of it.

[–] VWstarwars 9 years ago

When you know the story of how this movie got made, it's actually pretty interesting. It explains why the film is uneven and seems to be going in multiple directions at the same time. There are some really chilling scenes in it. I'm not sure where the OP is getting that it was void of suspense, but whatever.

[–] Mightygill 9 years ago

When you know the story of how this movie got made, it's actually pretty interesting. It explains why the film is uneven and seems to be going in multiple directions at the same time. There are some really chilling scenes in it. I'm not sure where the OP is getting that it was void of suspense, but whatever.

It is pretty interesting learning about this film's production, in fact, it's much more interesting than the film itself

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