Grande Dame Guignol Cinema
by michaelgosullivan | created - 15 Mar 2015 | updated - 22 Nov 2020 | PublicGrande Dame Guignol cinema also referred to as hagsploitation, hag horror and Psycho-biddy is a subgenre of horror/thriller movies that features a formerly-glamorous older woman who has become mentally unbalanced and terrorizes those around her. The genre officially began in 1962 with the film What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? and lasted through its heyday of the 1960s, 1970s and beyond
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1. Sunset Blvd. (1950)
Passed | 110 min | Drama, Film-Noir
A screenwriter develops a dangerous relationship with a faded film star determined to make a triumphant return.
Director: Billy Wilder | Stars: William Holden, Gloria Swanson, Erich von Stroheim, Nancy Olson
Votes: 236,434
2. What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? (1962)
Passed | 134 min | Drama, Horror, Thriller
A former child star torments her paraplegic sister in their decaying Hollywood mansion.
Director: Robert Aldrich | Stars: Bette Davis, Joan Crawford, Victor Buono, Wesley Addy
Votes: 61,882 | Gross: $4.05M
3. Lady in a Cage (1964)
Not Rated | 94 min | Drama, Horror, Thriller
A woman trapped in a home elevator is terrorized by a group of vicious hoodlums.
Director: Walter Grauman | Stars: Olivia de Havilland, James Caan, Jennifer Billingsley, Rafael Campos
Votes: 3,822 | Gross: $1.85M
4. Hush...Hush, Sweet Charlotte (1964)
Not Rated | 133 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
An aging, reclusive Southern belle plagued by a horrifying family secret descends into madness after the arrival of a lost relative.
Director: Robert Aldrich | Stars: Bette Davis, Olivia de Havilland, Joseph Cotten, Agnes Moorehead
Votes: 16,044 | Gross: $7.63M
5. Dead Ringer (1963)
Approved | 116 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
The working-class twin sister of a callous, wealthy woman impulsively murders her out of revenge and assumes her identity. But impersonating her dead twin is more complicated and risky than she anticipated.
Director: Paul Henreid | Stars: Bette Davis, Karl Malden, Peter Lawford, Philip Carey
Votes: 6,433
6. Die! Die! My Darling! (1965)
Not Rated | 97 min | Horror, Thriller
A young woman is terrorized by her deceased fiancé's demented mother who blames her for her son's death.
Director: Silvio Narizzano | Stars: Tallulah Bankhead, Stefanie Powers, Peter Vaughan, Maurice Kaufmann
Votes: 2,958
7. Strait-Jacket (1964)
Approved | 93 min | Drama, Horror, Thriller
After a twenty-year stay at an asylum for a double murder, a mother returns to her estranged daughter where suspicions arise about her behavior.
Director: William Castle | Stars: Joan Crawford, Diane Baker, Leif Erickson, Howard St. John
Votes: 6,657
8. The Night Walker (1964)
Passed | 86 min | Horror, Mystery, Thriller
A woman is haunted by recurring nightmares, which seem to be instigated by her late husband who supposedly was killed in a fire.
Director: William Castle | Stars: Robert Taylor, Barbara Stanwyck, Judi Meredith, Hayden Rorke
Votes: 2,473
9. I Saw What You Did (1965)
Approved | 82 min | Crime, Horror, Thriller
Teenagers Libby and Kit innocently spend an evening making random prank calls that lead to murderous consequences.
Director: William Castle | Stars: Joan Crawford, John Ireland, Leif Erickson, Sara Lane
Votes: 3,441
10. The Nanny (1965)
Unrated | 93 min | Mystery, Thriller
There's just something not quite right when Bette Davis stars as an English nanny. And is her 10-year-old charge an emotionally disturbed murderer or just an insolent brat?
Director: Seth Holt | Stars: Bette Davis, Wendy Craig, Jill Bennett, James Villiers
Votes: 6,783
11. The Witches (1966)
Not Rated | 90 min | Horror
Following a horrifying experience with the occult in Africa, a schoolteacher moves to a small English village, only to discover that black magic resides there as well.
Director: Cyril Frankel | Stars: Joan Fontaine, Kay Walsh, Alec McCowen, Ann Bell
Votes: 3,250
12. Picture Mommy Dead (1966)
Unrated | 82 min | Horror, Thriller
Teenage Susan Shelley is released from an asylum where she's been confined after the shock she suffered from her glamorous socialite mother Jessica's fiery death. Her father has a new wife,... See full summary »
Director: Bert I. Gordon | Stars: Don Ameche, Martha Hyer, Susan Gordon, Zsa Zsa Gabor
Votes: 729
13. Games (1967)
Not Rated | 100 min | Thriller
A young couple who are into kinky "mind games" get more than they bargained for when a mysterious woman comes into their lives.
Director: Curtis Harrington | Stars: Simone Signoret, James Caan, Katharine Ross, Don Stroud
Votes: 1,504
14. Berserk (1967)
Approved | 96 min | Horror, Mystery, Thriller
A scheming circus owner finds her authority challenged when a vicious killer targets the show.
Director: Jim O'Connolly | Stars: Joan Crawford, Ty Hardin, Diana Dors, Michael Gough
Votes: 2,652
15. The Anniversary (1968)
Approved | 95 min | Comedy, Drama, Thriller
Three sons who work in the family construction business help their overbearing mother celebrate her anniversary to her late husband.
Directors: Roy Ward Baker, Alvin Rakoff | Stars: Bette Davis, Sheila Hancock, Jack Hedley, James Cossins
Votes: 2,847
16. Eye of the Cat (1969)
M | 102 min | Horror, Mystery, Thriller
A man and his girlfriend plan to rob the mansion of the man's eccentric but wealthy aunt. However, the aunt keeps dozens of cats in her home, and the man is deathly afraid of cats.
Director: David Lowell Rich | Stars: Michael Sarrazin, Gayle Hunnicutt, Eleanor Parker, Tim Henry
Votes: 1,273
17. The Big Cube (1968)
PG | 98 min | Drama, Mystery, Thriller
A former actress clashes with her wealthy and spoiled stepdaughter over their inheritance after the death of their protector.
Director: Tito Davison | Stars: Lana Turner, George Chakiris, Richard Egan, Dan O'Herlihy
Votes: 836
18. What Ever Happened to Aunt Alice? (1969)
M/PG | 101 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
An aging widow hides a deadly secret which she will do anything to keep buried.
Directors: Lee H. Katzin, Bernard Girard | Stars: Geraldine Page, Ruth Gordon, Rosemary Forsyth, Robert Fuller
Votes: 2,785
19. Hollywood Horror House (1970)
R | 91 min | Horror, Thriller
An aging actress living in her Hollywood mansion with a retinue of elderly servants employs a new, mentally disturbed, personal assistant who schemes to take over the large estate.
Director: Donald Wolfe | Stars: Miriam Hopkins, David Garfield, Gale Sondergaard, Virginia Wing
Votes: 536
20. Trog (1970)
GP | 93 min | Horror, Sci-Fi
A sympathetic anthropologist uses drugs and surgery to try to communicate with a primitive troglodyte who is found living in a local cave.
Director: Freddie Francis | Stars: Joan Crawford, Michael Gough, Bernard Kay, Kim Braden
Votes: 3,210
21. What's the Matter with Helen? (1971)
R | 101 min | Crime, Horror, Musical
Two middle-aged women move to Hollywood, California after their sons are convicted of a notorious murder and open a dance school for children eager to tap their way to stardom.
Director: Curtis Harrington | Stars: Debbie Reynolds, Shelley Winters, Dennis Weaver, Micheál MacLiammóir
Votes: 2,300
22. Whoever Slew Auntie Roo? (1972)
PG-13 | 91 min | Horror, Thriller
A demented widow lures unsuspecting children into her mansion in a bizarre "Hansel and Gretel" twist.
Director: Curtis Harrington | Stars: Shelley Winters, Mark Lester, Chloe Franks, Ralph Richardson
Votes: 2,534
23. Scream, Pretty Peggy (1973 TV Movie)
Not Rated | 74 min | Drama, Horror, Mystery
A sculptor hires young college girls to take care of his elderly mother and his supposedly insane sister, both of whom live in the old family mansion with him.
Director: Gordon Hessler | Stars: Ted Bessell, Bette Davis, Sian Barbara Allen, Charles Drake
Votes: 1,187
24. Night Watch (1973)
PG | 99 min | Horror, Mystery, Thriller
Elizabeth Taylor plays a woman who is a witness to murder...but whose?
Director: Brian G. Hutton | Stars: Elizabeth Taylor, Laurence Harvey, Billie Whitelaw, Robert Lang
Votes: 2,153 | Gross: $1.26M
25. Persecution (1974)
PG | 95 min | Drama, Horror, Mystery
A crippled woman takes pleasure in tormenting her son, blaming him for her condition. Years later, the son returns home with his wife and newborn only to find himself still under her influence and twisted from her prolonged mental abuse.
Director: Don Chaffey | Stars: Lana Turner, Trevor Howard, Ralph Bates, Olga Georges-Picot
Votes: 366
26. Death at Love House (1976 TV Movie)
Unrated | 74 min | Horror, Mystery
Donna and Joel Gregory are researching a book about long dead Hollywood goddess Lorna Love. They are staying at Lorna's estate while interviewing old "friends" of Lorna. Joel, whose father ... See full summary »
Director: E.W. Swackhamer | Stars: Robert Wagner, Kate Jackson, Sylvia Sidney, Marianna Hill
Votes: 418
27. The Sentinel (1977)
R | 92 min | Horror
A young woman moves into an apartment in a building which houses a sinister evil.
Director: Michael Winner | Stars: Cristina Raines, Ava Gardner, Chris Sarandon, Martin Balsam
Votes: 11,919
28. The Dark Secret of Harvest Home (1978)
300 min | Drama, Horror, Mystery
A young couple moves to a quiet New England village, only to soon find themselves mixed up in mysterious rituals.
Stars: Bette Davis, David Ackroyd, Rosanna Arquette, Rene Auberjonois
Votes: 1,382
29. Dominique (1979)
PG | 100 min | Horror, Thriller
A millionaire, who drove his wife to commit suicide, starts believing that he is being haunted by her spirit.
Director: Michael Anderson | Stars: Cliff Robertson, Jean Simmons, Jenny Agutter, Simon Ward
Votes: 1,177
30. Mommie Dearest (1981)
R | 129 min | Biography, Drama
The abusive and traumatic adoptive upbringing of Christina Crawford at the hands of her mother, screen queen Joan Crawford, is depicted.
Director: Frank Perry | Stars: Faye Dunaway, Diana Scarwid, Steve Forrest, Howard Da Silva
Votes: 18,342 | Gross: $19.03M
31. Flowers in the Attic (1987)
PG-13 | 93 min | Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Children are hidden away under an attic by their conspiring mother and grandmother.
Director: Jeffrey Bloom | Stars: Louise Fletcher, Victoria Tennant, Kristy Swanson, Jeb Stuart Adams
Votes: 11,269 | Gross: $15.15M
32. Hush (1998)
PG-13 | 96 min | Drama, Thriller
Newlyweds move to the family thoroughbred horse ranch, where the husband's obsessive mother resolves to get rid of her new daughter-in-law.
Director: Jonathan Darby | Stars: Jessica Lange, Gwyneth Paltrow, Johnathon Schaech, Nina Foch
Votes: 13,286 | Gross: $13.51M
33. Die, Mommie, Die! (2003)
R | 90 min | Comedy
An ex-pop singer kills her much-hated husband to be with her young lover. Her daughter plots Electra-like revenge.
Director: Mark Rucker | Stars: Charles Busch, Natasha Lyonne, Jason Priestley, Angela Paton
Votes: 2,137
34. The Skeleton Key (2005)
PG-13 | 104 min | Drama, Horror, Mystery
A hospice nurse working at a spooky New Orleans plantation home finds herself entangled in a mystery involving the house's dark past.
Director: Iain Softley | Stars: Kate Hudson, Peter Sarsgaard, Joy Bryant, Gena Rowlands
Votes: 122,990 | Gross: $47.81M
35. Notes on a Scandal (2006)
R | 92 min | Crime, Drama, Romance
A veteran high school teacher befriends a younger art teacher, who is having an affair with one of her fifteen-year-old students. However, her intentions with this new "friend" also go well beyond a platonic friendship.
Director: Richard Eyre | Stars: Cate Blanchett, Judi Dench, Andrew Simpson, Tom Georgeson
Votes: 84,573 | Gross: $17.51M
36.
The Dollanganger Saga (2014– )
Episode:
Flowers in the Attic
(2014)
TV-14 | 89 min | Drama, Mystery, Romance
After the sudden death of their father, four children face cruel treatment from their ruthless grandmother.
Director: Deborah Chow | Stars: Heather Graham, Ellen Burstyn, Kiernan Shipka, Mason Dye
Votes: 10,099
37.
The Dollanganger Saga (2014– )
Episode:
Petals on the Wind
(2014)
TV-14 | 85 min | Drama, Mystery, Romance
In 1970, 10 years after the attic, the 3 siblings' adoptive dad dies; their bio mom still rejects them. Ballerina Cathy moves in with a ballet dancer in NYC to start a life away from her med-student brother/lover.
Director: Karen Moncrieff | Stars: Heather Graham, Rose McIver, Wyatt Nash, Bailey De Young
Votes: 4,774
38.
The Dollanganger Saga (2014– )
Episode:
Seeds of Yesterday
(2015)
TV-14 | 86 min | Drama, Mystery, Romance
The Sheffield family deals with home truths as their middle child inherits the Foxworth mansion with the family's ghosts ever-looming. The curse lives on and more tragedies are in store.
Director: Shawn Ku | Stars: Rachael Carpani, James Maslow, Jason Lewis, Anthony Konechny
Votes: 2,058
39.
The Dollanganger Saga (2014– )
Episode:
If There Be Thorns
(2015)
TV-14 | 100 min | Drama, Mystery, Romance
Christopher and Cathy are happily living with their loving family when their past comes to haunt them as their mother Corrine moves in next door.
Director: Nancy Savoca | Stars: Heather Graham, Rachael Carpani, Jason Lewis, Mason Cook
Votes: 2,435
40. Greta (2018)
R | 98 min | Drama, Mystery, Thriller
A young woman befriends a lonely widow who's harboring a dark and deadly agenda toward her.
Director: Neil Jordan | Stars: Isabelle Huppert, Chloë Grace Moretz, Maika Monroe, Jane Perry
Votes: 38,055 | Gross: $10.52M
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