There's a germ of brilliance in Curtains. The initial concept of 6 actresses forced to audition for a role in a director's snowbound mansion as a killer picks them off one by one seems like prime slasher/thriller fun. It seems like a simple enough premise to sustain a 90 minute movie, but Curtains isn't satisfied with following through with this simple premise. In fact, it's almost 30 minutes into the film before we get to this portion of the film. I wish I could say those first 30 minutes were spent getting to know the soon-to-be victims, but Curtains isn't smart enough to do that.
Instead, we're treated to an extended sequence of an aging actress getting herself committed to a mental hospital in order to study for this role. It's an interesting story idea by itself, but feels so disconnected to the rest of the film and it really sets the film out on a strange note it never really recovers from. If there's a positive in this, it's that the strange structure gives the film a certain dreamlike quality throughout.
Things just sort of happen in Curtains. By the time you get to the climactic final chase scene with the film's final girl, it's hard to care too much since we don't know a thing about her. What's even more upsetting is that it's a well shot, edited, and scored sequence that, with the right character, could have really been a nail biter. Curtains is full of a few well orchestrated scenes including two scenes where two of the actresses encounter a spooky doll that's luring them to their deaths.
Curtains ends up being more frustrating than anything else with a few good performances and well done set pieces to save it from being a total washout.
Instead, we're treated to an extended sequence of an aging actress getting herself committed to a mental hospital in order to study for this role. It's an interesting story idea by itself, but feels so disconnected to the rest of the film and it really sets the film out on a strange note it never really recovers from. If there's a positive in this, it's that the strange structure gives the film a certain dreamlike quality throughout.
Things just sort of happen in Curtains. By the time you get to the climactic final chase scene with the film's final girl, it's hard to care too much since we don't know a thing about her. What's even more upsetting is that it's a well shot, edited, and scored sequence that, with the right character, could have really been a nail biter. Curtains is full of a few well orchestrated scenes including two scenes where two of the actresses encounter a spooky doll that's luring them to their deaths.
Curtains ends up being more frustrating than anything else with a few good performances and well done set pieces to save it from being a total washout.