IMDb > Flowers in the Attic (1987)
Flowers in the Attic
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Flowers in the Attic (1987) More at IMDbPro »

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Overview

User Rating:
4.8/10   3,007 votes
MOVIEmeter: ?
Up 21% in popularity this week. See why on IMDbPro.
Director:
Jeffrey Bloom
Writers:
Virginia C. Andrews (novel)
Jeffrey Bloom (writer)
Contact:
View company contact information for Flowers in the Attic on IMDbPro.
Release Date:
20 November 1987 (USA) more
Genre:
Drama | Horror | Mystery | Thriller more
Tagline:
They have come to a house where secrets are kept....where the future is haunted by the past.....where the innocent live in the shadow of sin.....where a dark legacy awaits to destroy all who defy it..... more
Plot:
Children are hidden away in the attic by their conspiring mother and grandmother. full summary | add synopsis
Plot Keywords:
more
Awards:
1 win & 1 nomination more
NewsDesk:
Kristy Swanson joins the Trinity Of Terrors!
 (From Fangoria. 15 October 2009, 7:38 PM, PDT)
User Comments:
Don't judge it by the book more (136 total)

Cast

  (Complete credited cast)
Louise Fletcher ... Grandmother - Olivia Foxworth

Victoria Tennant ... Mother - Corrine Dollanganger

Kristy Swanson ... Cathy Dollanganger
Jeb Stuart Adams ... Chris Dollanganger
Ben Ryan Ganger ... Cory Dollanganger

Lindsay Parker ... Carrie Dollanganger
Marshall Colt ... Father - Christopher Dollanganger
Nathan Davis ... Grandfather Foxworth
Brooke Fries ... Flower Girl
Alex Koba ... John Hall
Leonard Mann ... Bart Winslow
Bruce Neckels ... Minister

Gus Peters ... Caretaker
Clare Peck ... Narrator (voice)
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Additional Details

Parents Guide:
Add content advisory for parents
Runtime:
93 min
Country:
USA
Language:
English
Color:
Color
Aspect Ratio:
1.85 : 1 more
Sound Mix:
Mono (Ryder Sound Services)
Certification:
Iceland:12 | USA:PG-13 (certificate #28580) | UK:PG (heavily cut) (self applied TV rating) | Australia:M | UK:15 | West Germany:16 (f) | Singapore:PG
Filming Locations:
Castle Hill, Crane Estate - 280 Argilla Road, Ipswich, Massachusetts, USA more
Company:
Fries Entertainment more

Fun Stuff

Trivia:
The cardboard replica of the film poster is included in the Region 1 DVD edition as an insert, and this is a bit of a curiosity. The official credits for the film lists Jeffrey Bloom as the screenwriter and the director, but the poster says that the screenplay was written by Hilary Henkin and Wes Craven and that the film was directed by Wes Craven. At one point, Wes Craven was scheduled to direct the movie and you can read an excerpt from his script in the V.C. Andrews Trivia and Quiz book that was published in 1994. The insert, therefore, wasn't a mistake, it was a rare glimpse at what could have been. more
Goofs:
Continuity: During the party when Corinne and her date are dancing, she is wearing a strapless dress and there are clearly no scars or any indication that she was beaten with a whip. more
Quotes:
Cathy: Why didn't you ever take us to see the grandparents before?
Mother: I suppose because we were never penniless before... many years ago I did something that angered your grandfather, and his punishment was to disinherit me.
Chris: So, why are we going back there if he won't give us any money?
Mother: Because he will. Your grandfather is dying. He's not expected to live much longer, and in that time, I'm going to win back his love... and then, darlings, I'll be an heiress to a fortune beyond your imaginations. And through me, all your wildest dreams will come true.
more
Movie Connections:
Referenced in The January Man (1989) more

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User Comments

   (Comment on this title)
15 out of 22 people found the following comment useful.
Don't judge it by the book, 9 January 2006
7/10
Author: joposa from United States

An earlier review here, one of the few positive reviews of this movie on this site, had one thing wrong, saying that those who read the book would appreciate the movie, and vice-versa. In fact, the opposite seems to be true. Having not read the book, I first saw this movie unjaded, and so was able to appreciate it as the sad and tragic story that it is.

The sudden death of a loving husband and father leaves the family in despair, so the mother takes the children and herself to her filthy-rich parents' mansion, hoping to inherit the estate from her dying father. Just one little thing: she was long-ago disinherited because she entered into a forbidden marriage, and her father will not grant her an inheritance if he knows the marriage resulted in children, so she and her mother, "The "Grandmother", keep the children hidden in an attic as they await the old man's death, and she tries to win back his approval. The Grandmother is like a cruel warden, treating the children, a teenage boy and girl, and two young twins, boy and girl, like convicted criminals, only worse. The waiting goes on and on, during which the mother is consumed by greed, and emerges as the real villain.

Some readers of the book are indignant that the story was cleaned up for the movie, but that was necessary to make it more watchable to a wider audience. It is still a great and haunting story, reminiscent of the black and white horror flicks of the 1960's ("Whatever Happened To Baby Jane", "Hush Hush, Sweet Charlotte", etc.). Audiences of the 1980's were not so jaded as today's, and were not ready for incest, especially among sympathetic characters.

Maybe the acting was not first-rate, and some elements, like the climactic ending, a bit campy, but the compelling storyline easily compensates for it, so long as you don't dwell on the few shortcomings, and can't see the forest for the trees.

And the movie has one thing the book hasn't: a memorably haunting, chilling musical score, a perfect compliment to an equally haunting, chilling story.

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Message Boards

Discuss this movie with other users on IMDb message board for Flowers in the Attic (1987)
Recent Posts (updated daily)User
The Grandmother Was A Good Woman dtyre-2
The ORIGINAL ending... kotrofos
The first time you watched 'Flowers in the Attic' kotrofos
Cast in Possible Remake joocyloocy
Similarly themed movies? mgdln888
What other films by Ms Andrews do you want?? tmbpookie
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