Review of Curfew

Curfew (1989)
6/10
Home-invasion exploitation.
25 September 2008
I bought this film as part of a '5 movies on 2 discs' pack, and was fully expecting it to be bottom-of-the-barrel stinker (my expectations were set way low having recently watched Bachelor Party Massacre and The Choke, two other awful efforts in the same set); I am happy to report, however, that although this late-80s home-invasion flick might not be the most offensive or sleazy movie in the genre (see 70s classic Fight For Your Life or Ruggero Deodato's House On The Edge of The Park for more extreme examples), it does provide enough dubious fun to warrant a watch.

Kyle Richards plays Stephanie Davenport, the big-haired, big breasted (but not really that attractive) teenage daughter of a district attorney. After a night out fending off the amorous advances of her high-school quarterback boyfriend, young Steph returns home to find that her parents have been taken hostage by two violent escaped convicts, Ray Perkins and his younger brother Bob (played by Wendell Wellman and John Putch), who are seeking revenge on those responsible for putting them behind bars. Having already murdered the judge and psychiatrist involved in their case, the vicious psychos now intend to dish out their own brand of justice to the Davenports.

After humiliating and torturing the family (including spraying the mother with paint and forcing the father to walk on broken glass), the two thugs decide to execute their prisoners; however, the appearance of Stephanie's drunk school pals, and the unexpected arrival of a policeman makes finishing the job harder than they expected.

A pretty tasteless film packed with assorted moments of gratuitous nastiness (and a little bit of nudity for good measure), Curfew might not be to everyone's taste, but if you like exploitation, then you could certainly do a lot worse. Admittedly, the story is occasionally too clichéd (Stephanie working her womanly charms on younger brother Bob was very predictable) and some moments are rather questionable (the victims are locked in a cellar full of tools, yet fail to arm themselves), but as low-budget trash goes, this one's really not that bad.
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