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A Passion For Horror
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__ Flowers In the Attic 27" x 40" Movie Poster Print __ B&W Still Photos __
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Flowers in the Attic (1987)Directed by Jeffrey Bloom
Flowers in the Attic did not get the best of reviews when it first came out in 1987 and a lot of people criticized the film for the drastic alterations that had been made to the plot in an attempt to avoid some of the controversial elements found in the book. At the point of writing this review I have not as yet read the book, and so I can only call it as I see it, and I must say that I really do like the film. It is a dark masterpiece that is, perhaps, almost depressing, but none the less riveting. Flowers in the Attic is the story of a happy family that is torn apart when the father dies and leaves them not just broken hearted, but broke. Fortunately (or unfortunately) the mother, Corinne Dollangangers, comes from a wealthy family and heads on home to her old mom and pop and that huge old mansion of theirs, where she gets a frosty welcome from mom and finds that pop is languishing in his death-bed. If Corinne receives a frosty welcome though, the welcome that her four children receives is positively arctic and their grandmother locks them up in one of the house's many bedrooms while Corrine goes about the arduous task of trying to work her way back into her parents good books, and in particular her father's will. Nothing quite like a family reunion is there? So, what is the problem in this unhappy little family? Apparently Corrine and her husband were related and -- as dear, old Gran takes such pleasure in telling the kids -- they are the product of sin. Of the four children Chris is the eldest and he hopes to be a doctor one day. If he were not kept under lock and key in grandma's house he is certainly intelligent enough to fulfil his ambitions. Cathy is the second eldest. She was her daddy's favourite, when she still had a daddy, and she hopes one day to be a dancer. The two remaining children Carrie and Corey are much too young to be thinking so far ahead and Corey, it must be said, with his angelic face and curly, blond hair looks very little like a product of sin. Corinne visits the children less and less, but she tells them of a secret passage that leads from their room, up into the attic. The children then spend a lot of their time up in the attic, but with no fresh air and a poor diet their health begins to suffer. Grandmother walks about brandishing the good book as if it provides an excuse for her barbaric behaviour. She is a hard taskmaster with many rules for the children to follow and woe betide the child who crosses this mean, old bitch. Of course the children do get on the wrong side of her from time to time and her punishments include starvation and, in Cathy's case, a new hairdo courtesy of grandma's scissors. She couldn't have made a worse mess if she's used a hedge clipper. One of the most startling things about Flowers in the Attic is the way that the children's complexions alter as the film progresses, and they change from being normal healthy kids into grey-skinned shadows of their former selves. Chris sticks up for his absent mother as much as he can but his sister Cathy is quick to say: "Mother has forgotten us." Forgotten might not be the right word, but it is fair to say that some of grandmother's bitch has rubbed off on her and it is not until the end of the film that the viewer gets to see for certain just how shockingly far each of them are willing to take their talent for bitchdom. When I watched this film, and saw the servants going along with everything that was happening in the house, I found it scary because something like this is conceivable in real life. You can tell yourself that it isn't, but if will be telling yourself lies. Who knows what secrets a big house in its own grounds could hide? And if, as in this film, the servants have all sold their very souls to their employers for that big ol' pay check, then who is there to tell the outside world what is happening? No one. Meanwhile the grounds man seems to be digging four big holes in the woods and I don't think he's looking for moles.
CAST
Louise Fletcher
... Grandmother (Olivia Foxworth)
Clare Peck ... Narrator
Flowers in the Attic Stereo 2.0 DTS Trailer Biographies Film notes
Special Features: Widescreen presentation (1:66:1) - enhanced for 16 X 9 TVs Optional 5.1 Subtitles for the hard of hearing HOME |
