Curtains (Special Edition) [Blu-Ray]
Director: Richard Ciupka (Credited as Jonathan Stryker)
Cast: John Vernon, Samantha Eggar, Linda Thorson
Release Date: Now Available on Blu-Ray & DVD
A Review By: Kevin Lovell
Film Rating: 7.5/10
Disc Rating: 10/10
Plot Summary:
Six young actresses auditioning for a movie role at a remote mansion are targeted by a mysterious masked murderer.
‘Curtains’ tells the story of six young actresses who all go out to remote mansion for the weekend in the hopes of obtaining the part of a disturbed young girl and long anticipated film that is just now getting off the ground at long last. Once they arrive, things begin to happen and people begin to disappear as, unbeknownst to them, a masked murderer begins stalking the actresses and systematically removing them one by one. At the same time, the actress originally promised the part, who actually went so far as to get herself admitted to an insane asylum in order to better understand the disturbed role, has escaped after being left to rot by her old friend and co-worker Stryker (who is hosting the casting call to replace her in the role) and has joined the group at the mansion with the determination of keeping the part for herself.
Richard Ciupka directs ‘Curtains’ which is also his directorial debut, although he is credited here as Jonathan Stryker, who for those not aware, is also the name of the director in the film who is hosting the casting call, portrayed in the film by John Vernon. This long almost unattainable 1980’s slasher gem ‘Curtains’ is not a film I had previously had the pleasure of, but I must say I enjoyed it a great deal. It’s a very unique and clever slasher film that really bleeds a hint of style and theater in many ways with the score, the tone and of course the curtain unfolding prior to scene changes which was a pretty clever touch.
Fans of the film as well as fans of the golden era of the Slasher genre in general will certainly want to make sure to pick up a copy of Synapse’s Special Edition release of ‘Curtains’ to add to your collection and on Blu-Ray if you have the capability of course. It is another impressive release form Synapse, who (as many are already surely aware) take great care to make sure their releases are to the highest possible standards, even going so far as to push back the release date on this one a couple of weeks in order to make sure the video presentation was up to the highest possible standards which is a rare feat that only a few company’s truly take such steps to achieve and it really makes a difference, especially to the heartened fans.
VIDEO:
The Blu-Ray release of ‘Curtains’ features a brand new 2K High Definition Transfer from the Original vault materials and is presented here in a full 1080p High Definition presentation utilizing a 1.78:1 Aspect Ratio. The video presentation on this one looks pretty magnificent and it’s quite obvious the care and attention to detail that went into the new 2K transfer. Everything looks solid, detailed and clear, while retaining the grain and overall feel of the 1983 film that it is. I’m pretty confident most will be incredibly pleased with this new High Definition video presentation.
AUDIO:
The Blu-Ray release includes both a 5.1 channel DTS-HD Master Audio surround remix created specifically for this release, in addition to the original 2.0 mono soundtrack, also presented here in the form of a lossless DTS-HD MA soundtrack. I personally opted to watch the film utilizing the 5.1 channel DTS-HD MA track (although I did skip around a bit with the mono soundtrack too for reference) and for a film of this age it sounds quite impressive. In addition to the overall quality, it also keeps the majority of the dialogue and activity to the center channel, while allowing the score and some other mild elements to spread a touch into the other channels, perfectly keeping true to the original mono soundtrack, while making it work just that much better for the modern home theater audio setups. Once again, as with the video presentation, I think most will be incredibly satisfied with the lossless soundtracks offered and even more so by the fact they provide both options to choose from, which is pretty great in itself.
SPECIAL FEATURES:
This Special Edition Blu-Ray release of ‘Curtains’ is absolutely loaded with fascinating, informative and fun bonus content, Synapse once again delivering a truly impressive release in every possible regard. The extras on the release include: ‘The Ultimate Nightmare: The Making of Curtains’ which is an all-new 2014 retrospective created for this release and features new interviews with director Richard Ciupka, as well as a number of the film’s stars and the talented individuals working behind the camera too. Also included is ‘Ciupka: A Film-Maker in Transition’ which is Director Gordon Thorne’s vintage documentary short, featuring rare behind the scenes footage from ‘Curtains’ (note that this feature is a Blu-Ray exclusive) and is incredibly insightful and interesting. Also included is an Audio Commentary Track featuring Lesleh Donaldon and Lynne Griffin, an alternate audio track featuring Vintage Interviews with Producer Peter R. Simpson and star Samantha Eggar. The theatrical trailer for the film is included as well. There is definitely an impressive amount of worthwhile bonus content included on this Special Edition Blu-Ray release that should leave the fans pretty thrilled.
*Please note that the above images are taken from the Blu-Ray and resized. They additionally will suffer quality loss as a result of .jpg compression. Larger versions of each image can be viewed by clicking on the image. All images and content included on this Blu-Ray release are the property of their respective owners.