29. RIGHT TOOL FOR THE JOB: An antagonist is just nearly as good as his implements.
Curtains
Maybe I ought to begin by explaining why I selected to observe this largely unknown 1983 Canadian slasher movie. Meditating on in the present day’s immediate, “proper instrument for the job,” I attempted to consider an uncommon homicide weapon. I not too long ago began taking ice skating classes, so naturally, I Googled “film the place particular person will get killed with an ice skate.” The trailer for Curtains got here up. I used to be just about bought instantly from the extraordinarily yonic film poster to the potential for death-by-ice-skate and the premise of actresses actually killing one another for a lead function.
A sleazy Hollywood director named Stryker welcomes 5 younger actresses to his rural New England mansion to audition for the titular function of a mentally unstable girl in his new movie Audra. Shortly after the ladies arrive, Stryker’s former muse—a washed-up, beforehand institutionalized actress named Samantha Sherwood—arrives to steal again the function. One after the other, the younger actresses start to vanish till just one is left standing.
Spoiler alert: There’s, sadly, no ice skate-slashing on this movie. However what occurs is likely to be much more absurd. A younger actress named Christie in a mohair hat and gloves begins her morning by free-skating on a frozen pond whereas an unidentified delicate rock track performs on her growth field. When the tape instantly stops, she skates over to troubleshoot the machine. Then, she notices slightly hand peeking out of the snow. Sweeping the snow apart, she discovers a big doll with lengthy brown hair and a pink costume. She gazes on the doll and laughs earlier than noticing a masked determine wearing black skating in the direction of her with a sickle (that is the precise homicide instrument). Each Christie and the doll are decapitated.
The killer is a weird feminine Michael Meyers-type character carrying a big rubber masks with frizzy orange hair and sagging jowls—described by many of the web as a “hag masks.” In some ways, this movie is a basic who-done-it slasher. Nonetheless, there are absurd components that concurrently make no sense whereas making the seemingly easy movie into one thing particular.
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The Stranger is collaborating in Scarecrow Video’s Psychotronic Problem all month lengthy! Each October, Scarecrow places collectively a listing of cinematic themes and invitations people to comply with alongside and watch a horror, sci-fi, or fantasy flick that meets the factors. This 12 months, Stranger staffers are becoming a member of the enjoyable and we’re sharing our day by day suggestions right here on Slog! Learn extra about Scarecrow’s 2024 problem—and get the watch record—right here. And you may observe our day by day suggestions right here! 💀