While not every slasher will hit the heights of Halloween or Friday the 13th, but many of the cult classics of the 1980s and beyond, have a classic scare or sequence that are still talked about today.
For the first in a series of articles, we will look at a classic icy sequence from 1983 Canadian slasher Curtains.
Location
A secluded icy lake.
What Happens?
One of our girls is looking to practice her ice skating, with some music to boot. What she doesn’t know is that she is being watched.
After putting down her ghetto blaster she sees a hand in the ice, fearing the worst but it is revealed as a doll. As she recovers the doll, we see the feet of a mysterious person who takes to the ice. Tension rises as the mystery skater closes in on the girl, and she finally notices seeing a twisted, distorted face approaching.
What she doesn’t see is a sickle behind the killer’s back as she approaches, breathing heavily under a hag mask.
The scene now becomes a chase on the ice, as the killer hunts down the girl wielding their weapon, ready to strike. The killer swipes and decapitates the doll’s head, with the girl falling down and being struck with the sickle.
After hiding behind a tree, thinking she has escaped, the killer pops ups behind and slits her throat with the sickle.
Why is it so effective?
Mainly due to the haunting hag mask and how the scene builds nicely with its tension. It’s Hitchcock’s ‘bomb under the table’ approach as the audience knows about the killer but their victim is largely oblivious until it’s too late. Plus, the slow-motion approach of the killer is quite jarring for viewers until they realise what is going on.
Where can I watch the film?
Curtains is available to stream on Amazon Prime plus on Blu-Ray from Synapse Films.
Bloody Flicks 