Curtains (1983)

Curtains, released in 1983, is a Canadian slasher film directed by Richard Ciupka and written by Robert Guza Jr. The story focuses on a group of six actresses auditioning for a lead role who become targeted by a masked killer in a remote mansion. Samantha Sherwood (Samantha Eggar) is a film actress who’s had much success in the film industry, but because of her age the director John Striker (John Vernon) is no longer is interested in her work. The film she is presently working is a role of a deranged schizophrenic.  In an attempt of method acting, he admits Samantha into a psychiatric ward to learn how to act as if she were actually deranged. After months of being cooped up in an asylum, Samantha slowly begins to deteriorate as the place takes a heavy toll on her and her sanity. She soon finds out that her director John has been using her as a rouse the entire time and was never interested in her as his lead role.  She finally snaps and escapes the asylum with the intent to murder the other actresses being auditioned at the remote mansion.  She hopes of being the only one left to hire for the leading role. Will she succeed in her devious plans to kill all the other actresses?  Attacking her victim with a sickle and wearing a grotesque hag mask, she acts out in rage against the other actresses auditioning the lead role. Has it been Samantha all along or could it be her mysterious friend she trusts?  In this thrill seeking horror, the murders keep you guessing as to who is committing these acts and with a well done twist of the story line at the end, Curtains is not one to miss. Released by Synapse Films it can be purchased on BluRay or DVD directly from their website or from Amazon.

Popcorn (1991)

Popcorn is an American horror film from 1991 directed by Mark Herrier and written by Alan Ormsby. The film revolves around a “Horror-thon” in an abandoned theater, when a mysterious murderer begins killing off the teenagers. The film focuses on a college film student Maggie Butler (Jill Schoelen) who has had recurring dreams about a young girl named Sarah who is being chased by a killer while being stuck in a house fire. Taking notes from her dreams, she plans to make a movie out of her dreams. Recently her mother Suzanne (Dee Wallace), who she lives with, has been receiving strange and threatening phone calls. A friend of the Professor, Toby D’Amato (Tom Villard) a film school student has a plan to throw an all-night “Horror-thon” to raise money for their department. They set up the “Horror-thon” at a now defunct Dreamland theater, an old building that’s about to be demolished in three weeks. Professor Davis (Tony Roberts) head of the film department is concerned about time constraints and has hired an expert on film memorabilia, Dr. Mnesyne (Ray Walston) who chooses the horror props for the festival. While setting up the props, they begin to see a mysterious figure roaming the theater.  The figure turns out to be Toby, who fifteen years-ago was badly burned as a child in a theater, after a showing of a horror movie with his mother, who was killed in the fire.  Now, he still holds a grudge against Suzanne and Maggie for being responsible for his mother’s death. He has deranged thoughts and now plans to exact his revenge on them by re-enacting the film he witnessed with his mother. As he acts out his revenge with murder scenes from the movie, he kidnaps Maggie and Suzanne, eventually finding out that the final cuts of the film end up destroying his plans. The film is thrilling, exciting and has a bit of comedy entwined within the film which made this film a cult classic among many as the film has gone out of print. The film is still very hard to find and expensive to purchase, but for its original plot and ideas coming from the horror culture, this film is a must own for your own horror collection. It still can be found in limited listings on eBay and for purchase on Amazon released by Elite Entertainment on DVD which is now discontinued. A domestic version of the film is planned to be released by Synapse Films on BluRay soon which will make this a well sought release.