It is with great sadness that I have to report some unfortunate findings regarding CURTAINS. I know a lot of you have asked about the "alternate" original version of CURTAINS, with the original director, ending, alternate death scenes and before some of the actors were replaced. Obviously, this version existed in some form, at some point, and we were very hopeful because many early tape elements from 1981-82 appeared on an inventory list I had received. Unfortunately, it seems that all the original 3/4" UMATIC work tapes of the original rough cut, and a few other edits have been ordered destroyed by whoever controlled the library a few years ago. All the original film elements for the original version are long gone from the vault, as well, with no clue as to where they went (it was over 30 years ago, after all). There was evidence of a 105 minute version from 1982, split onto two tapes... it was destroyed in 2009, along with outtakes and even the original TV spot elements. This kind of thing SICKENS me. The fact that there were tapes that contained additional footage all the way up to August of 2009, then unceremoniously chucked into the garbage, just makes be shake my head. The items were originally stored at Bonded Toronto, then someone ordered all the "obsolete" 3/4" UMATIC tape elements that were taking up space in the vault (and costing money) to be thrown out. The remaining elements were then moved to Iron Mountain Toronto. Neither Bonded, nor Iron Mountain now have these tapes. (sigh) I know this sort of thing is very common in the industry. License holders who have NO idea that these "obsolete" tape elements may hold a potential gold mine of material (or even a different version of a film they could exploit for profit) just toss it away like a used Kleenex. Anyway, just so you can see what was destroyed, Here is a rather long list. It is very despressing:
3/4" CASSETTE MCLAVERTY #1 PART 1 OF 2, #82 - 03 FEB 22 1982, 1174'
3/4" CASSETTE MCLAVERTY #1 PART 2 OF 2 #82 - 03 FEB 22 1982, 1174'
3/4" CASSETTE PART 1 FINAL ROUGH CUT REEL 1 - 6 JULY 14 1982, 1174'
3/4" CASSETTE PART 2 FINAL ROUGH CUT REELS 1 - 6 JULY 14 1982, 1174'
3/4" CASSETTE PART 1 105 MIN #83 - 11C 1174'
3/4" CASSETTE PART 2 105 MIN #83 - 11C 1174'
3/4" CASSETTE DON'T PUT YOUR DAUGHTER ON STAGE BURNING PHOTOGRAPHS 15 MIN
3/4" CASSETTE PART 1 FEB 26 1981, 1174'
3/4" CASSETTE PART 2 FEB 26 1981, 1174'
3/4" CASSETTE FINAL ROUGH CUT PART 1 OF 2 JULY 14 1982, 1174'
3/4" CASSETTE FINAL ROUGH CUT PART 2 OF 2 JULY 14 1982, 1174'
3/4" CASSETTE MCLAVERTY #1 PART 1 OF 2 #82 - 03A FEB 22 1982, 1174'
3/4" CASSETTE MCLAVERTY #1 PART 2 OF 2 #82 - 03A FEB 22 1982, 1174'
3/4" CASSETTE PART 2 OF 2 90 MIN #82 - 15A 1174'
3/4" CASSETTE PART 1 OF 2 90 MIN #82 - 15A 1174'
3/4" CASSETTE SPOTS 1 - 5 ENG VERSION , MAY 24 1983 , 610'
1" VTR SUBMASTER SPOTS 3X :30 , 2X :10 267'
1" VTR EDITED MASTER TV SPOT 1 , 2 ENGLISH VERSION 531' MAY 24 1983
1" VTR EDITED MASTER 3X :30 SPOTS 531' FEB 16 1983
1" VTR EDITED MASTER 2X :10 SPOTS 531' FEB 23 1983
1" VTR MASTER ENGLISH VERSION TV SPOT 1 - 5 3170' MAY 24 1983
The treasure trove of footage and material these tapes probably held would've been a fantastic find for CURTAINS fans, and the horror community. All gone. Obviously destroyed by some person who had absolutely NO idea what they were getting rid of.