The movie is very well made. It's a quality picture, it's just that I didn't particularly find it enjoyable. I found it transfixing, which is proof of its quality. But I didn't particularly like what I was seeing. Which I guess was the point of the film, you're supposed to be horrified. But I didn't like being that horrified. Plus, I found Carole Kane's character to be more grotesque than I was expecting. I thought she would be far more likable than she was. This is not commentary on her really, so much is the character. I just thought the character should have been committed at the beginning of the film, after her first horrible act was made clear! So, that's one of the frustrating things about this movie is that the sister of her character protected her in a way that actually ended up hurting both of them. If she had committed her early on, then she wouldn't have been so guilty later.
Carol's character reminded me of the girl in recent Amazon prime miniseries called Swarm. So, just to give you an idea, that's almost the level of insanity and viciousness we're dealing with here. In fact, there were times when I couldn't figure out whether or not her character was the victim of her own insanity and she was basically innocent in all of it, or if she was downright intentionally cruel most of the time. It's so hard to tell, and that's another part of this movie that I found very frustrating. But again, it's not about how the movie was made, it's very engrossing and good. It's more about the story being just a very frustrating one!
This is what Whatever Happened to Baby Jane would be if it was a gross out film. The grossest thing in that movie was the dinner scene where Joan Crawford takes the lid off and finds a dead rat on her plate or something. But other than that, Whatever Happened to Baby Jane is mild and simply entertaining because of the two leads. It isn't disturbing, it's just engrossing and surprising - and yes, by the end, rather shocking, but again, not in a gross out way. That's what I was hoping this movie would be, but it wasn't. Although, make no mistake, this film definitely feels like Whatever Happened to Baby Jane, but if that movie was made over to be an actual horror film rather than just suspense.
So, by my review, you probably think it's a good movie, it did what it set out to do. And yes, by that measure, it's a good movie- if you like that sort of thing. I just didn't. But then again, I had an inkling that I wouldn't because I usually don't like anything that focuses heavily on animals, africa, tribal things, and I don't watch Animal Planet, so that was my first clue. Oh wow, it wasn't a waste of almost 2 hours. I did enjoy seeing it, but I didn't enjoy it - if you know what I mean.
Carol's character reminded me of the girl in recent Amazon prime miniseries called Swarm. So, just to give you an idea, that's almost the level of insanity and viciousness we're dealing with here. In fact, there were times when I couldn't figure out whether or not her character was the victim of her own insanity and she was basically innocent in all of it, or if she was downright intentionally cruel most of the time. It's so hard to tell, and that's another part of this movie that I found very frustrating. But again, it's not about how the movie was made, it's very engrossing and good. It's more about the story being just a very frustrating one!
This is what Whatever Happened to Baby Jane would be if it was a gross out film. The grossest thing in that movie was the dinner scene where Joan Crawford takes the lid off and finds a dead rat on her plate or something. But other than that, Whatever Happened to Baby Jane is mild and simply entertaining because of the two leads. It isn't disturbing, it's just engrossing and surprising - and yes, by the end, rather shocking, but again, not in a gross out way. That's what I was hoping this movie would be, but it wasn't. Although, make no mistake, this film definitely feels like Whatever Happened to Baby Jane, but if that movie was made over to be an actual horror film rather than just suspense.
So, by my review, you probably think it's a good movie, it did what it set out to do. And yes, by that measure, it's a good movie- if you like that sort of thing. I just didn't. But then again, I had an inkling that I wouldn't because I usually don't like anything that focuses heavily on animals, africa, tribal things, and I don't watch Animal Planet, so that was my first clue. Oh wow, it wasn't a waste of almost 2 hours. I did enjoy seeing it, but I didn't enjoy it - if you know what I mean.