CURTAIN (2015) aka THE GATEWAY

Curtain, The Gateway (2015)
Directed by: Jaron Henrie-McCrea
Written by: Carys Edwards, Jaron Henrie-McCrea
Starring: Danni Smith, Martin Monahan, Rick Zahn, Tim Lueke

CURTAIN (2015)
aka THE GATEWAY
Directed by Jaron Henrie-McCrea
Available on digital from FrightFrest Presents

A woman moves out of her uncle’s home into her new apartment and discovers something very peculiar about its bathroom. Every time she puts up a shower curtain around her bath, it disappears. After recording the disappearing shower curtain on her phone and showing it to her work colleague Tim, they decide to investigate where the mysterious vortex in the bathroom leads to.

FrightFest presents CURTAIN, a weird mystery horror movie that will have you avoiding a shower like the plague.

The film starts off with a dramatic opener with the apartment’s previous occupant who too has experienced the disappearing shower curtains but it seems that whatever force is at work is a malevolent one. When former hospice nurse Danni moves into the apartment and starts to experience the same thing, we already know that whatever is behind the disappearing shower curtains is something not to be messed with so when she decides to investigate, we gingerly tiptoe behind her just waiting for the horror to be revealed.

The bulk of the movie focuses on the two main characters, Danni and Tim. Danni and Tim both work as campaigners for a “Save The Whale” activist charity which hopes to raise funds and awareness to help stop the brutal culling of whales. As with most street-selling and charity fundraising jobs, they’re not exactly successful in their roles. The mystery of the shower curtain saga in Danni’s bathroom provides more than a distraction for the duo as they attempt to guess where the shower curtains end up. Maybe it’s another dimension or world where whales are safe from harm? Hmmm… not likely.

Tim and Danni’s experiments to discover where the curtains end up is an interesting watch but the ultimate reveal and explanation isn’t as shocking or as effective as I feel it could be. The film in many ways comes off as a comedy. I mean, a film about disappearing shower curtains? You gotta laugh! Little snippets of dialogue are played for laughs too, including Danni’s apartment handyman who keeps a satanic book about other dimensions, which belonged to the previous apartment owner, just because it has crap drawings of titties in it. Unfortunately, it’s not as funny as it would like to think and the scares, what little there are, are predictable.

Whilst the premise is a good one, if not a little crazy, CURTAIN fails to have a solid impact on the viewer. As a bit of light, daft entertainment it works fine but there’s not enough plot dedicated to the depth and origins of the vortex to make it a gripping watch. It almost feels as though the horror element has been rushed through and not well thought out which is a shame as the style of the movie certainly sends a certain shiver down your spine.

Engimatic and a bit of fun, CURTAIN is a great conversational piece but unfortunately doesn’t live up to expectations.

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