[11] At the time Ciupka abandoned the project, only 45 minutes of the film had been shot, which resulted in Simpson having to take over the shoot. Then, an unseen figure enters the tool shed, grabs a sickle, and sharpens it. [32] This release featured generic cover art and a poor transfer from VHS source material. [8] Wincott's death was originally filmed with him being killed on a snowmobile and then crashing into the library, scaring Sandee Currie's character. Thinking she has outsmarted the killer, Tara begins to climb out of the duct, only to be pulled back in and murdered with an axe, her screams echoing throughout the prop shed. A rivalry develops between a showbiz veteran and an upstart newcomer. As she rests against a tree, the killer appears from behind and viciously decapitates her. The killer manages to wound her, but Christie is able to momentarily incapacitate the killer, escaping into the woods. (1966). Once inside, she finds out that Stryker has left her there alone and lets a group of young girls audition for the role of Audra, instead. Directed by Patrick Harkins. It's a mess, but an entertaining one thanks to Ciupka's visual ambition and ensemble work from the oddball cast, who deliver the proper level of hysteria to assist what little suspense remains. This January, put your resolutions on hold and dive into some great streaming picks. A serial murderer is strangling women with a necktie. A young girl, overjoyed when her favorite uncle comes to visit the family, slowly begins to suspect that he is in fact the "Merry Widow" killer sought by the authorities. With Paul Newman, Julie Andrews, Lila Kedrova, Hansjörg Felmy. She follows him there and is shocked when he announces that he's defecting to the East after the U.S. government cancelled his research project. [10], An alternate ending of the film was shot in Toronto. Loyal movie buffs are helping the area’s independent movie theaters -- another industry financially reeling amid the coronavirus pandemic -- keep the curtains up. When she leaves her car to move it, it grabs her hand as someone gets into her car and runs over her. After the film was completed in 1982, director Ciupka detached his name from the final cut, and the film's director is credited as "Jonathan Stryker", the name of John Vernon's character. Done. by Becket Adams | November 19, 2020 11:00 PM Print this article. In fact, Michael is there to obtain information from a renowned East German scientist. While driving to the audition, she spots a large doll in the middle of the road. This request mortified Hitch and his wife. You must be a registered user to use the IMDb rating plugin. "[19] Joe Baltake of the Philadelphia Daily News noted that Vernon "projects a genuine aura of menace" and that Eggar is "saddled here with a character that looks like a practical joke by her agent," summing up the film: "The movie itself is never a mystery, never frightening, but is, instead, unrelievedly solemn, given to long, mournful pauses. Get a sneak peek of the new version of this page. Once the information is obtained, he and Sarah now have to make their way back to the West. [6], Lynne Griffin, who had previously appeared in the slasher film Black Christmas (1974), was cast in the role of Patti, the stand-up comic, and at the time had been working in local theater productions in Toronto. And since the act of watching a movie is generally a sit-still-for-2-hours activity, there’s far less chance of interaction, even casual, than at a restaurant, bar or casino. It is not one of Hitch's top 10, but it is still a very good movie. A young man accused of sabotage goes on the lam to prove his innocence. Patti is given an impromptu audition with Stryker and nearly explodes with anger when he mocks her ability to act, not even giving her a chance to start. [10] The scene was shot two years after the initial production on a college campus, but never made it into the final cut. It had its first DVD and Blu-ray release by Synapse Films in 2014. Thriller. [11], Deleted scenes included a backstory sequence where, prior to arriving at Stryker's retreat, Christie is emotionally rejected by her skating coach. It was based on the 1928 novel of the same name. This scene was cut out of the film, and he is, instead, killed off-screen in a hot tub. "[21], Linda Gross of the Los Angeles Times summarized the film as a "mediocre and grotesque Grand Guignol horror movie," criticizing its depiction of violence against women. Behind the Curtain is a look into the murky world of dark money—massive amounts of it aligned to push a far-left agenda that would make even mainstream liberals shiver. Some time later, Patti is revealed to have been committed to a mental hospital, where she performs a monologue from "Audra" for the patients, who pay her no mind. [9] As a result, two sets of credits grace the ending of Curtains, divided between "Act I" and "Act II", denoting the two different, protracted production periods. Curtains is a 1983 Canadian slasher film directed by Richard Ciupka, written by Robert Guza Jr., and starring John Vernon, Samantha Eggar, Linda Thorson, and Lynne Griffin. Some scenes finish with a closed curtain which is a neat idea and the final quarter of an hour are very good. She follows him there and is shocked when he announces that he's defecting to the East after the U.S. government cancelled his research project. The film was based on the memoirs of Igor Gouzenko. The film premiered in the United States in March 1983, and was released theatrically in Canada the following year to extremely negative reviews. Unfortunately, they are submerged between clearly sign posted plot devices and oh so obvious build ups. Torn Curtain (1966) - English Bibles Arrived in Copenhagen, Sarah (Julie Andrews), assistant and fianceè to American nuclear physicist Armstrong (Paul Newman) is shadowed by uninvited East-German professor Manfred (Gunter Stack), confusing the bookseller (Arthur Gould-Porter), and director Alfred Hitchcock’s plot thickening, in Torn Curtain, 1966. Was this review helpful to you? Hitchcock's 50th movie, Torn Curtain, is considered by many experts to be a major disappointment, but I didn't see it that way. Alfred Hitchcock's espionage thriller Torn Curtain (1966) is a riveting spy caper that sees double agent Michael Armstrong (Paul Newman) having to escape from East Berlin during The Cold War era alongside his devoted fiancee Sarah (Julie Andrews). The story of Soviet cypher-clerk Igor Gouzenko who was posted to the Soviet Embassy in Ottawa,Canada in 1943 and defected in 1945 to reveal the extent … Written by View production, box office, & company info. The movie cheats shamelessly. All in all Curtains is a good movie, certainly rewatchable, but our characters and storyline needed to be padded out a bit more. Patti seems disappointed and angered by Samantha's confession, before revealing she had murdered the other women to win the role of Audra. Was any of "Torn Curtain" actually filmed behind the Iron Curtain. The masked killer with the sickle appears and attacks Christie. There is a story that Hitchcock along with his wife insisted that Newman drink wine with them. “Curtains” is above average for a slasher film, though it ultimately doesn’t seem to make a lot of sense. Keep track of everything you watch; tell your friends. The film's protracted production ended in Ciupka detaching his name from the project. Centered on theater and filmmaking,[2] its plot focuses on a group of actresses auditioning for a role in a movie at a prestigious director's mansion, where they are targeted by a masked killer. The next morning, Christie goes to a nearby pond for ice skating. The … Brian Orndorf of Blu-ray.com noted the film's haphazard construction, but praised its visuals, writing: Curtains isn't a single film, it's a handful of subplots and ideas competing for screentime under the guise of a traditional '80s-style slasher endeavor. Samantha, the uninvited guest, appears at the house during dinner. While Tara and Laurian are practicing, Brooke discovers Christie's severed head in a toilet bowl. The next day, the other five women auditioning for the part of Audra arrive at Stryker's mansion: comedian Patti O'Connor, veteran actress Brooke Parsons, ballet dancer Laurian Summers, musician Tara DeMillo, and professional ice skater Christie Burns. Newman refused, wanting a beer instead and he wanted to drink it from the can! Raising the curtain — Skagit County movie theaters to reopen ... Movie theaters will have fewer films to screen because studios have pushed release dates into next year, he said. [22] Stephen Hunter, writing for The Baltimore Sun, noted that "the most affecting thing about Curtains is its melancholy subtext of failed career and unrealized aspirations," but concluded: "Only the presence of several slick professional actors—Samantha Eggar and John Vernon—and some glossy production values separate this pointless, thoroughly meretricious film from the cruder, rawer teenage hacker melodramas that it so resembles."[23]. In 1953, an innocent man named Christopher Emmanuel "Manny" Balestrero is arrested after being mistaken for an armed robber. "Keanu Reeves" syndrome is when an actor or actress is hugely successful in a role and then is never taken seriously in any other role, especially something radically different, e.g. The fascinating backstory on Curtains is evident throughout the presentation, leaving the picture half-realized, shooing away substance to plow ahead with violence. She frantically informs Stryker of what she has seen, but when they go back to the bathroom, the toilet is empty. The Tortilla Curtain. Bassist / vocalist Will Rahmer has said in interviews that Curtains is one of his favorite films. No official premiere for the film was done, though star Lynne Griffin recalled going to see the film on its opening night at a theater on the Lower East Side in Manhattan. Samantha Sherwood, a beautiful actress and muse for director Jonathan Stryker, has herself committed to an asylum as a preparation for the titular role of a mentally unstable woman in a film called Audra. Whitmer: Let the curtain rise on movie theaters Mitch Albom, Detroit Free Press 8/23/2020 Federal judge blocks Texas … Conceived by producer Peter R. Simpson after his box office hit Prom Night (1980), the film was intended to be an "adult" slasher aimed at older audiences in contrast to the standard genre films of the time, which featured predominately teenaged characters. The New York Times gave Curtains a middling review, saying: "This derivative Canadian thriller plays like a distaff version of Samuel Fuller's cult classic Shock Corridor fused rather crudely to a standard mad-slasher plot. Rotten Tomatoes, home of the Tomatometer, is the most trusted measurement of quality for Movies & TV. After having sex, Brooke and Stryker are both shot dead by a figure in a robe. Brendan Fraser became a movie star thanks to the huge success of The Mummy in 1999, and in addition to returning for two sequels, he also fronted hits like Journey To The Center Of The Earth.His career entered something of a fallow period following the latter 2008 blockbuster, but he's made a comeback … Reeves as Ted in Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure was never taken seriously in movies like Speed, Point Break, etc. Want to share IMDb's rating on your own site? The Action Scene: Alfred Hitchcock’s “Torn Curtain” and the Point of No Return. [10] Eventually, numerous crew members had to be rehired to shoot footage to complete the film. [11][15] According to Michael MacLaverty, film editor for "Curtains, the alternate theater ending was ultimately discarded because Alana Simpson, then wife of producer Peter Simpson, felt it was "too improbable." This scene was intended to show the character's vulnerability when she is rejected again, this time by Stryker. [11] Writer Robert Guza Jr. returned to the project for rewrites under Simpson's supervision. Nevertheless, when filming for that scene commenced, Donaldson tripped on the uneven ice and injured herself, resulting in a stand-in double being used for her long shots. This alternate ending was not used in the final cut of the film. An American scientist publicly defects to East Germany as part of a cloak and dagger mission to find the solution for a formula resin before planning an escape back to the West. Title: Curtains was first released on VHS by Vestron Video in 1984. A French Intelligence Agent becomes embroiled in the Cold War politics first with uncovering the events leading up to the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis, and then back to France to break up an international Russian spy ring. [12], In preparation for the film's ice-skating sequence, actress Lesleh Donaldson was sent for skating practice by the film's producers. Panicked, Tara takes shelter in Stryker's expansive prop shed, where she discovers Laurian's body among the hanging mannequins and is pursued by the killer. Mitch Albom: Hey, Gov. Ciupka envisioned the film as more of an arthouse thriller, whereas Simpson wanted a more commercial slasher film, of the type in vogue at the time. An ailing Poirot returns to Styles with Hastings nearly three decades after solving their first mystery there in order to prevent a serial killer from claiming more victims. Directed by Hettie Macdonald. She had very little prior training in the field and even had fellow actress Anne Ditchburn help with her choreography. I think that this movie suffers from the fact that the 2 main stars were really mismatched for Hitch. The film was made by the American Mutoscope and Biograph Company when it and many other early film studios in America's first motion picture industry were based in Fort Lee, New Jersey at the beginning of the 20th century. "[18] The Hollywood Reporter, however, gave the film a positive review, calling it "the classiest, most chilling thriller to come along in quite a while… rich in surprises of a gripping, sensuous nature. After Harry's body is found in the woods, several locals must determine not only how and why he was killed but what to do with the body. Outwitting the dumb script in Curtains may be the only challenge in this waste. ", "Collecting Life: An Interview with Samantha Eggar", "Curtains Unveiled: An Interview with Peter Simpson", "I, Audra: An Interview with Linda Thorson", "Losing Her Head: An Interview with Lesleh Donaldson", "Six for Her Scythe: An Interview with Lynne Griffin", "Revisiting Curtains: An Interview with Michael MacLaverty", "Blu-ray & DVD Release Details for 1983's Curtains", "It's 'Curtains' for careers: 2 pros are in a horror film", "Exclusive news/art: Canadian cult slasher "CURTAINS" on Blu-ray & DVD", "Dustin Putman's Review: Curtains (1983)", "FANS PETITION FOR DVD RELEASE OF "CURTAINS" AND "PROM NIGHT, "Echo Bridge Entertainment Releases 'The Midnight Horror Collection: Bloody Slashers, "Interview with Will Rahmer, Mortician's Vocalist & Bassist - February 2004", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Curtains_(1983_film)&oldid=996205309, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, This page was last edited on 25 December 2020, at 03:44. From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Torn Curtain is a 1966 American political thriller film directed by Alfred Hitchcock and starring Paul Newman and Julie Andrews. Boom. [14] In this scene, Lynne Griffin's character Patti O'Connor delivers a monologue on a theater stage surrounded by her dead victims.