Curfew

USA, 1989  

This time you shouldn't come home.

** 1/2

Directed by: Gary Winick 

Starring: Kyle Richards, Wendell Wellman, John Putch, Frank Miller, Jean Brooks, Peter Nelson, Niels Mueller, Nori Morgan, Peggy Rea, Christopher Knight, Robert Romanus

Choice dialogue:  "Can I offer you a pair of pants?"

AMAZON US AMAZON UK

Slasher Trash with Panache?

Review: JA Kerswell


CURFEW starts roughly with a barely coherent preamble that seems to suggest one of the brothers accidentally kills a girl with an axe (quite how you accidentally kill someone with an axe is a question for the ages). It then shows the brothers in prison, where they have been inexplicably housed in the same cell together. Then, without explanation, they are free and on their deadly rampage, which starts with the psychiatrist who testified at their trial (we know he’s a shrink because he has a huge Rorschach print behind him). They bash his head against some ‘metal’ gargoyle wall art (pay attention because it is obviously rubber as it deflates and pings back into shape!). The first third of the movie features a series of poorly staged murders that usually are off-screen or shown in the aftermath. They are usually pretty on the nose, too—with the judge being beaten to death with his gavel as an example.
 
The film veers between a slasher movie and a home invasion saga throughout but more-or-less settles on the latter for its second half (although some obnoxious teenagers wander in during the closing act to get offed in the grand tradition). Director Gary Winick seems more comfortable with the home invasion angle, as the film does achieve some suspense as Stephanie and her parents try to escape the clutches of the murderous duo. Putch and Wellman are pretty good once they have settled into their roles—with the latter especially effective as the more sinister of the pair. Although not especially gory, CURFEW features a number of scenes where the parents are humiliated and tortured, which was likely the reason why it troubled the BBFC. However, although unpleasant viewing at times, the poor performances of these victims undercut any genuine pathos or tension it might have created.
 
Previous child actor Kyle Richards—who also appeared in genre films such as EATEN ALIVE (1976) and THE CAR (1977)—is marginally better as the menaced teenage girl, but it is pretty clear why she failed to carve a sustained acting career as an adult. However, special mention should go to her voluminous eyebrows, which deserved their own spin-off (or at least an appearance on LOVE BOAT). CURFEW was something of a family affair. Rick Hilton (Paris’ father and husband to Richards’ half-sister and fellow HOUSEWIFE Kathy Hilton) executively produced it. Richards reprised her role as Lindsey Wallace in HALLOWEEN KILLS (2021) and HALLOWEEN ENDS (2022). Christopher Knight—who plays the amiable but rather useless cop—was another refugee child star from the 1970s and is best remembered as middle son Peter Brady in the long-running THE BRADY BUNCH TV show. Gary Winick didn’t show much potential with CURFEW but went on to make some award-winning dramas and comedies and work with the likes of Sigourney Weaver and Parker Posey. 
 
Filmed independently in and around Los Angeles, CURFEW was shot on 35mm and has a 1.85: 1 aspect ratio, suggesting it was intended for a theatrical run (and some promotional 1-sheets exist). However, it doesn’t appear that it got a cinema release in North America, but New World released it directly to home video as a pickup in April 1989. The BBFC rejected the film for video in the UK in 1988, but it was passed uncut in 2002 for a DVD release.
 
Not cheesy enough to be really fun and not well-made or disturbing enough to give Krug Stillo sleepless nights, CURFEW remains a curio—and one that Kyle Richards probably never mentions during her confessionals on HOUSEWIVES

BODY COUNT 16: 
Female 6 / Male 10

  1. Female is killed with an axe (off-screen)
  2. Male killed (method unseen)
  3. Male killed (method unseen)
  4. Male is garrotted
  5. Female killed with a sword (off-screen)
  6. Female seen stabbed to death
  7. Male has his head bashed against a gargoyle
  8. Female has her throat cut with a razor
  9. Male hit over the head with a gavel
  10. Female seen dead
  11. Male is stabbed in the stomach with a knife
  12. Male has his neck snapped
  13. Female killed (method unseen)
  14. Male is impaled on an electric drill
  15. Male is shot dead
  16. Male is shot in the forehead



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CURFEW trailer

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