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Curtains

 Curtains
type
TVTItem
 Curtains
label
Curtains
 Curtains
page
Curtains
 Curtains
comment
Curtains is a 1983 Canadian horror film directed by Richard Ciupka (credited as "Jonathan Stryker") and starring Samantha Eggar, John Vernon, Linda Thorson, Lynne Griffin, Anne Ditchburn, Lesleh Donaldson, Sandee Currie, Deborah Burgess, and Maury Chaykin.A slasher film centered on theater and filmmaking, its plot focuses on a group of actresses targeted by a masked killer at a prestigious director's remote mansion where they are auditioning for a role in a movie.The film suffered from a very messy production, the result of Creative Differences between Ciupka and producer Peter Simpson. This eventually led to the director quitting production and taking his name off the finished product, leaving Simpson having to finish the shoot. Over the next year or so, numerous rewrites and re-shoots were made, resulting in a choppy, disjointed film.Despite this, the film has since developed a small cult following.
 Curtains
fetched
2023-09-08T16:29:39Z
 Curtains
parsed
2023-09-08T16:29:39Z
 Curtains
processingComment
Dropped link to MalevolentMaskedMan: Not a Feature - UNKNOWN
 Curtains
processingComment
Dropped link to OffWithHerHead: Not a Feature - UNKNOWN
 Curtains
processingUnknown
MalevolentMaskedMan
 Curtains
processingUnknown
OffWithHerHead
 Curtains
isPartOf
DBTropes
 Curtains / int_1237828f
type
Anyone Can Die
 Curtains / int_1237828f
comment
Anyone Can Die: The young actresses are murdered in no particular order or fashion, heightening the stakes of who will survive, or if any of them will survive whatsoever.
 Curtains / int_1237828f
featureApplicability
1.0
 Curtains / int_1237828f
featureConfidence
1.0
 Curtains
hasFeature
Curtains / int_1237828f
 Curtains / int_21bf4878
type
Decapitation Presentation
 Curtains / int_21bf4878
comment
Decapitation Presentation: After killing Christie, Patti places her severed head in Brooke's toilet to scare her.
 Curtains / int_21bf4878
featureApplicability
1.0
 Curtains / int_21bf4878
featureConfidence
1.0
 Curtains
hasFeature
Curtains / int_21bf4878
 Curtains / int_27725a69
type
Nice Character, Mean Actor
 Curtains / int_27725a69
comment
Nice Character, Mean Actor: Stryker, behind his respectable exterior, is a shameless sleazebag. Likewise, Patti is all smiles and giggles on the surface, but in reality is a cold-blooded Serial Killer.
 Curtains / int_27725a69
featureApplicability
1.0
 Curtains / int_27725a69
featureConfidence
1.0
 Curtains
hasFeature
Curtains / int_27725a69
 Curtains / int_32976084
type
Destination Defenestration
 Curtains / int_32976084
comment
Destination Defenestration: After being shot repeatedly by Samantha, Stryker falls to his death from the fourth-floor window.
 Curtains / int_32976084
featureApplicability
1.0
 Curtains / int_32976084
featureConfidence
1.0
 Curtains
hasFeature
Curtains / int_32976084
 Curtains / int_405f6f52
type
Recycled Soundtrack
 Curtains / int_405f6f52
comment
Recycled Soundtrack: Parts of the score are re-used from Prom Night (1980). Both films share the same composer, Paul Zaza.
 Curtains / int_405f6f52
featureApplicability
1.0
 Curtains / int_405f6f52
featureConfidence
1.0
 Curtains
hasFeature
Curtains / int_405f6f52
 Curtains / int_4063acfd
type
Woman Scorned
 Curtains / int_4063acfd
comment
Woman Scorned: Samantha, who is abandoned by Stryker in an asylum, only to escape.
 Curtains / int_4063acfd
featureApplicability
1.0
 Curtains / int_4063acfd
featureConfidence
1.0
 Curtains
hasFeature
Curtains / int_4063acfd
 Curtains / int_41eab669
type
Daylight Horror
 Curtains / int_41eab669
comment
Daylight Horror: The infamous ice-skating scene and subsequent forest murder take place in broad daylight.
 Curtains / int_41eab669
featureApplicability
1.0
 Curtains / int_41eab669
featureConfidence
1.0
 Curtains
hasFeature
Curtains / int_41eab669
 Curtains / int_44606d14
type
Becoming the Mask
 Curtains / int_44606d14
comment
Becoming the Mask: The final scene has Patti, now committed in mental institution, performing a monologue from Audra to other patients in the mental institution.
 Curtains / int_44606d14
featureApplicability
1.0
 Curtains / int_44606d14
featureConfidence
1.0
 Curtains
hasFeature
Curtains / int_44606d14
 Curtains / int_4e3d253b
type
Downer Ending
 Curtains / int_4e3d253b
comment
Downer Ending: All of the actresses except Patti are dead, and Patti herself effectively becomes Audra.
 Curtains / int_4e3d253b
featureApplicability
1.0
 Curtains / int_4e3d253b
featureConfidence
1.0
 Curtains
hasFeature
Curtains / int_4e3d253b
 Curtains / int_506bf16a
type
Sex Signals Death
 Curtains / int_506bf16a
comment
Sex Signals Death: Averted, then played straight. Amanda and her boyfriend are immediately killed after having sex. While Tara is shown having sex with Matthew in the jacuzzi early in the film, she is the actress who survives the longest. However, Brooke and Stryker are quickly dispatched by a gun-toting Samantha after having sex.
 Curtains / int_506bf16a
featureApplicability
-1.0
 Curtains / int_506bf16a
featureConfidence
1.0
 Curtains
hasFeature
Curtains / int_506bf16a
 Curtains / int_55180ce
type
Snow Means Death
 Curtains / int_55180ce
comment
Snow Means Death: In the film's most celebrated scene, Christie notices a small hand protruding out of the snow while ice skating at the edge of a pond, and uncovers a porcelain doll. She is then attacked and decapitated by someone (later revealed to be Patti) in a grotesque hag mask.
 Curtains / int_55180ce
featureApplicability
1.0
 Curtains / int_55180ce
featureConfidence
1.0
 Curtains
hasFeature
Curtains / int_55180ce
 Curtains / int_5c0fc07b
type
Nightmare Sequence
 Curtains / int_5c0fc07b
comment
Nightmare Sequence: Just prior to her audition, Amanda has a dream that while driving to the audition, she is stopped by a large porcelain doll standing in the middle of the road. When she leaves her car to move it, she is run over.
 Curtains / int_5c0fc07b
featureApplicability
1.0
 Curtains / int_5c0fc07b
featureConfidence
1.0
 Curtains
hasFeature
Curtains / int_5c0fc07b
 Curtains / int_6941e30b
type
Room Full of Crazy
 Curtains / int_6941e30b
comment
Room Full of Crazy: Not really a room, but the props warehouse where the killer chases Tara is filled to the brim with a collection of mannequins, neon signs, and fake weaponry, all from Stryker's films, making it the perfect place for a cat-and-mouse chase sequence.
 Curtains / int_6941e30b
featureApplicability
1.0
 Curtains / int_6941e30b
featureConfidence
1.0
 Curtains
hasFeature
Curtains / int_6941e30b
 Curtains / int_6b2b3b59
type
The Reveal
 Curtains / int_6b2b3b59
comment
The Reveal: Patti, unhinged by her obsession with the role of Audra, viciously murders the other actresses in an effort to get the part, before killing Samantha in retaliation for the murder of Stryker, which destroyed any chance she had to play the role.
 Curtains / int_6b2b3b59
featureApplicability
1.0
 Curtains / int_6b2b3b59
featureConfidence
1.0
 Curtains
hasFeature
Curtains / int_6b2b3b59
 Curtains / int_78fde6df
type
Removing the Rival
 Curtains / int_78fde6df
comment
Removing the Rival: In order to ensure she wins the role, Patti decides to murder the other five auditioning actresses.
 Curtains / int_78fde6df
featureApplicability
1.0
 Curtains / int_78fde6df
featureConfidence
1.0
 Curtains
hasFeature
Curtains / int_78fde6df
 Curtains / int_8bff32a8
type
Creepy Doll
 Curtains / int_8bff32a8
comment
Creepy Doll: One such doll appears during Amanda's nightmare, and later during the ice skating sequence. It even appears on the poster!
 Curtains / int_8bff32a8
featureApplicability
1.0
 Curtains / int_8bff32a8
featureConfidence
1.0
 Curtains
hasFeature
Curtains / int_8bff32a8
 Curtains / int_8ed5c6e4
type
Asshole Victim
 Curtains / int_8ed5c6e4
comment
Asshole Victim: Brooke, who is an arrogant veteran actress, who sleeps with Stryker to get the coveted role, and Stryker, who already has pinpointed who he wants to play Audra, invites the other women to his mansion to sleep with them, under the ruse of having them audition for the role. He also abandons Samantha, his longtime partner and friend, in an insane asylum under the guise of her researching for the role of Audra.
 Curtains / int_8ed5c6e4
featureApplicability
1.0
 Curtains / int_8ed5c6e4
featureConfidence
1.0
 Curtains
hasFeature
Curtains / int_8ed5c6e4
 Curtains / int_95b875b1
type
Not Me This Time
 Curtains / int_95b875b1
comment
Not Me This Time: A two-sided example. At the film's ending, Samantha delivers a Motive Rant to an initially perplexed Patti, revealing that she fatally shot both Stryker and (mistakenly) Brooke in retaliation for the former's betrayal, but that Patti and her remaining friends would be safe from her wrath since she had no quarrel with them. However, Samantha is confused when Patti unexpectedly reveals that all of the others are also dead, before brandishing a butcher knife and stabbing Samantha to death.
 Curtains / int_95b875b1
featureApplicability
1.0
 Curtains / int_95b875b1
featureConfidence
1.0
 Curtains
hasFeature
Curtains / int_95b875b1
 Curtains / int_970c790a
type
Big Bad
 Curtains / int_970c790a
comment
Big Bad: Patti, desperate to break into more dramatic work, is the main killer, while the more obvious suspect Samantha turns out to be the Big Bad Wannabe.
 Curtains / int_970c790a
featureApplicability
1.0
 Curtains / int_970c790a
featureConfidence
1.0
 Curtains
hasFeature
Curtains / int_970c790a
 Curtains / int_974b47a7
type
Men Are the Expendable Gender
 Curtains / int_974b47a7
comment
Men Are the Expendable Gender: The majority of the women in this film are shown struggling with the killer and given graphic kill scenes, while Stryker is easily offed by being shot and knocked out of an upstairs window, and Matthew is murdered off-screen by Patti, having a knife driven into his back.
 Curtains / int_974b47a7
featureApplicability
1.0
 Curtains / int_974b47a7
featureConfidence
1.0
 Curtains
hasFeature
Curtains / int_974b47a7
 Curtains / int_9c5e78d0
type
Kill the Cutie
 Curtains / int_9c5e78d0
comment
Kill the Cutie: Innocent and mousy ice skater Christie is decapitated by the killer.
 Curtains / int_9c5e78d0
featureApplicability
1.0
 Curtains / int_9c5e78d0
featureConfidence
1.0
 Curtains
hasFeature
Curtains / int_9c5e78d0
 Curtains / int_ad4c74ed
type
Final Girl
 Curtains / int_ad4c74ed
comment
Final Girl: Subverted, then averted. Tara, who is sexually active, appears as though she is going to fulfill this role, discovering the bodies of her fellow actresses and fighting off the killer more than once, before Patti brutally murders her with an axe. The climax of the film suggests Samantha is the killer and Patti will survive, only to reveal Patti murdered everyone besides Stryker and Brooke before she then kills Samantha with a kitchen knife.
 Curtains / int_ad4c74ed
featureApplicability
-0.3
 Curtains / int_ad4c74ed
featureConfidence
1.0
 Curtains
hasFeature
Curtains / int_ad4c74ed
 Curtains / int_ad806839
type
Sexual Extortion
 Curtains / int_ad806839
comment
Sexual Extortion: Samantha knows that Stryker is only using the other actresses for their bodies and that the whole audition is just a ploy for him to have sex with them. Stryker ultimately sleeps with Christie, which leaves her visibly shaken and causes her to quit the shoot in disgust - but not before being murdered by Patti.
 Curtains / int_ad806839
featureApplicability
1.0
 Curtains / int_ad806839
featureConfidence
1.0
 Curtains
hasFeature
Curtains / int_ad806839
 Curtains / int_bb067aba
type
Cool Mask
 Curtains / int_bb067aba
comment
Cool Mask: The grotesque hag mask worn by the killer; it's especially unsettling when they confront Christie during her ice skating practice on the frozen pond.
 Curtains / int_bb067aba
featureApplicability
1.0
 Curtains / int_bb067aba
featureConfidence
1.0
 Curtains
hasFeature
Curtains / int_bb067aba
 Curtains / int_c2d978fe
type
Car Fu
 Curtains / int_c2d978fe
comment
Car Fu: Amanda is murdered in her nightmare by being hit by her own car.
 Curtains / int_c2d978fe
featureApplicability
1.0
 Curtains / int_c2d978fe
featureConfidence
1.0
 Curtains
hasFeature
Curtains / int_c2d978fe
 Curtains / int_c3c18143
type
Hope Spot
 Curtains / int_c3c18143
comment
Hope Spot: Tara is chased into the props warehouse by the killer, where they play cat-and-mouse. After incapacitating the killer three times, Tara appears to be in the clear but is soon caught and hacked to death with an axe.
 Curtains / int_c3c18143
featureApplicability
1.0
 Curtains / int_c3c18143
featureConfidence
1.0
 Curtains
hasFeature
Curtains / int_c3c18143
 Curtains / int_c6c5ce4
type
Bedlam House
 Curtains / int_c6c5ce4
comment
Bedlam House: The asylum where Samantha is committed by Stryker, and where Patti is committed following the murders.
 Curtains / int_c6c5ce4
featureApplicability
1.0
 Curtains / int_c6c5ce4
featureConfidence
1.0
 Curtains
hasFeature
Curtains / int_c6c5ce4
 Curtains / int_c93a6560
type
Impaled with Extreme Prejudice
 Curtains / int_c93a6560
comment
Impaled with Extreme Prejudice: Patti kills Tara by impaling her in the back with an ax. Later, she kills Samantha by impaling her with a kitchen knife.
 Curtains / int_c93a6560
featureApplicability
1.0
 Curtains / int_c93a6560
featureConfidence
1.0
 Curtains
hasFeature
Curtains / int_c93a6560
 Curtains / int_dbca2c99
type
Red Herring
 Curtains / int_dbca2c99
comment
Red Herring: The audience is led to believe that Samantha is the killer, having returned to take revenge on Stryker for having abandoned her in an asylum. While she is gunning for Stryker and accidentally shoots one of the other actresses as well, she is not the main antagonist.
 Curtains / int_dbca2c99
featureApplicability
1.0
 Curtains / int_dbca2c99
featureConfidence
1.0
 Curtains
hasFeature
Curtains / int_dbca2c99
 Curtains / int_df410b77
type
Decoy Protagonist
 Curtains / int_df410b77
comment
Decoy Protagonist: Samantha is introduced as the protagonist before the narrative switches to Amanda, an inexperienced actress and one of the hopefuls for the role of Audra, only to be murdered in her apartment by Patti. The film then frequently delights in focusing on each actress, rather than just one of them. By the climax, only Tara, Patti, and Samantha are left, and you can guess which one is the killer.
 Curtains / int_df410b77
featureApplicability
1.0
 Curtains / int_df410b77
featureConfidence
1.0
 Curtains
hasFeature
Curtains / int_df410b77
 Curtains / int_dfe687c9
type
Alone with the Psycho
 Curtains / int_dfe687c9
comment
Alone with the Psycho: After the killer murders Tara, Samantha is left alone with Patti, who reveals she killed the other girls to get the role of Audra.
 Curtains / int_dfe687c9
featureApplicability
1.0
 Curtains / int_dfe687c9
featureConfidence
1.0
 Curtains
hasFeature
Curtains / int_dfe687c9
 Curtains / int_e1d1a06
type
Colliding Criminal Conspiracies
 Curtains / int_e1d1a06
comment
Colliding Criminal Conspiracies: Samantha's murderous revenge plot against Stryker ends up conflicting with the even more unhinged Patti's own efforts to kill the other contenders for the part in Audra and anyone else who stands in her way, making the former an additional target of the latter.
 Curtains / int_e1d1a06
featureApplicability
1.0
 Curtains / int_e1d1a06
featureConfidence
1.0
 Curtains
hasFeature
Curtains / int_e1d1a06
 Curtains / int_ed68bcc9
type
Dwindling Party
 Curtains / int_ed68bcc9
comment
Dwindling Party: The actresses become this as the murders progress.
 Curtains / int_ed68bcc9
featureApplicability
1.0
 Curtains / int_ed68bcc9
featureConfidence
1.0
 Curtains
hasFeature
Curtains / int_ed68bcc9
 Curtains / int_name
type
ItemName
 Curtains / int_name
comment
 Curtains / int_name
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1.0
 Curtains / int_name
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 Curtains
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Curtains / int_name
 Curtains / int_name
itemName
Curtains

The following is a list of statements referring to the current page from other pages.

 Curtains
hasFeature
B-Movie / int_8060fd9b
 Curtains
hasFeature
Canadian Movies / int_8060fd9b
 Curtains
hasFeature
Colliding Criminal Conspiracies / int_8060fd9b
 Curtains
hasFeature
Destination Defenestration / int_8060fd9b
 Curtains
hasFeature
Menacing Mask / int_8060fd9b
 Curtains
hasFeature
Removing the Rival / int_8060fd9b
 Curtains
hasFeature
Snow Means Death / int_8060fd9b
 Curtains
hasFeature
These Gloves Are Made for Killin' / int_8060fd9b