Curtains is a 1983 Canadian slasher from the makers of the successful 1980 slasher Prom Night that aspires to pretenses above its raisin' and resultingly has a lot of compelling scenes and ideas that never mesh with the basic slasher plot it's trying to make its bread on.
It's essentially a classic Grand Guignol, with shady doin's in a "haunted" house, of sorts, blending source elements as disparate as All About Eve, Three Little Indians, Valley of the Dolls and…
Part prison melodrama, exploitation flick, noir, exposé and comedy ... Fast-Walking does a lot of things, and does them right. Ribald, gritty, fearless, theatrical, literary, inventive, hilarious, electric and inspired in the manner of a robust little B-movie or novella, it's what you want in an unjustly obscure '70s and '80s gem. Based on a novel, The Rap by Ernest Brawley, which I absolutely must read now, James B. Harris' movie loves the written word and life's quirks, and actors…
(Reviewed as part of a "joke challenge" with Letterboxd user, Trolleyfreak; prompted by discussion of the works of Michael Winner...)
It's debatable as to when Old Hollywood decisively died, but the infamous 1970 MGM auction -- when the company decided to concentrate on Las Vegas gambling -- took a lot of the soul as well as the wind out of Tinseltown's sails. When Dorothy's ruby slippers went on the block, it was like Hollywood selling off its magic.
Hollywood in…
I went into this movie cold. No reading of any reviews in advance. Nor will this review adhere to any kind of rigor. I don't see any great value in commenting to any deep degree on a new film that is already generating voluminous comment and which would require more time to pass to allow more thoughtful and considered assessment. First reactions are inherently suspect.
First of all, bravo to Quentin Tarantino for making a movie that got me back…
