Director – Steve Rudzinski (Shingles: The Movie, CarousHELL 3)
Starring – Steve Rudzinski, Aleen Isley (A Meowy Halloween, Amityville Christmas Vacation), and David Dietz (Fetish Dolls Die Laughing, Hauntology)
Release Date – 2024
Rating – 4/5
I’ve been reviewing at Horror Society for over a decade now and during that time I’ve become good friends with actor and director Steve Rudzkinski. He’s responsible for several holiday classics along with several indie productions that I absolutely adore. Many may recognize him as the star and director of the family friendly hits A Meowy Halloween, A Meowy Christmas Vacation, and a few other Meowy films along with his CarousHELL trilogy.
While I’m a huge fan of his and his filmography, he will never be able to top Captain Z and the Terror of Leviathan but that doesn’t stop me from checking out his new projects in hopes that he does. Sometime back Steve reached out to review his newest film Curtains for Christmas. I was quick to agree to it and as soon as I was able to finally check it out I did. I want to thank Steve for sending this one my way!
**Spoiler Alert** The film follows Holly (Isley) who is obsessed with obscure Christmas movies and longs for the perfect companion to spend her idealistic holiday with. She meets the charming Jay (Rudzinski) who is also a huge fan of Christmas. He invites her to spend time with him and she immediately accepts thinking she has just met her soul mate. However, she soon realizes that he is married and is only interested in her platonically. This enrages Holly resulting in her killing Jay’s wife and convincing him that she has left him. She then asks him to go with her to her family’s Christmas party. He reluctantly accepts but that leaves Holly with a big problem. She needs the picture perfect family to seal the deal. She breaks into the home of a gay couple and forcefully convinces them to portray her fathers and when two female burglars break in their home they are forced with portraying her sisters while Jay is there. She has every aspect of the night planned out but when Jay arrives with his daughter in tow she quickly unravels and so does her perfect Christmas. **Spoiler Alert**
I went into Curtains for Christmas knowing very little about the film aside from the cast and crew attached to it. I’m glad I did it that way because I found myself completely enthralled with the story. I loved this film and could see myself adding it to my December horror watch list along with other classics like Black Christmas and Jack Frost.
The acting in this one is fantastic. Isley has needed a horror vehicle for some time now and it was only a matter of time before Steve gave her just that. She is the star of the show and there is no mistaking that. She carries every scene she is in and has a natural talent for being in front of the camera. The fact she is nice to look at only makes it more enjoyable for the viewer. Steve and Aleen are absolutely phenomenal together. I loved their chemistry on screen and how they would feed off each other. It was great to watch them together. The remaining cast is great as well. They do a wonderful job bringing these wonderful characters to the screen.
The story for this one is something I would expect from Rudzinski and Isley. Rudzinski is known for his holiday films and is very vocal about his love of Christmas so a genre film set against Christmas was a give in. The film has a lot of layers to it ranging from the well written characters, to the holiday theme, and the serial killer plot. It’s a lot to unpack but it doesn’t come across as bulky or bloated. It fits very well together and has great pacing.
Finally, the film has a lot of brutal kills with effects that work. The effects are not the most impressive I’ve seen but they fit the film very well and offer up a ton of blood to those with an eye for it. Overall, Curtains for Christmas may not dethrone Captain Z for me but it is a new holiday favorite that I will surely be watching each holiday season. If you love Christmas horror then this one is for you. I highly recommend checking it out.
