Flowers in the Attic (1987)

Director:

Jeffrey Bloom

Writers:

Virginia C. Andrews (novel)
Jeffrey Bloom (writer)

Release Date:

20 November 1987 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Horror | Mystery | Thriller

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.....

Plot:

Children are hidden away in the attic by their conspiring mother and grandmother.

Plot Keywords:

Attic | Mansion | Grandmother | Children | Face Slap

Awards:

1 win & 1 nomination

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)

Runtime:

93 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

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

Company:

Fries Entertainment

Trivia:

According to the director, Victoria Tennant got angry about her "hanged mother" scene and walked off the set.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: Obvious body stocking when the Mother takes off her blouse to show the lashes.

Quotes:

Mother: [Pretending not to know her children] Who's Cory?
Chris: He was your son and my little brother, and you killed him.
Cathy: Just like you tried to kill us.
[Referring to their ragged appearance]
Cathy: Look at us mother. How could you do this to us?

Movie Connections:

Featured in "I Love the '80s Strikes Back" (2003)

feeble adaptation of a powerful book

The original quartet of books (Flowers in the Attic; Petals on the Wind; Let There be Thorns; Seeds of Yesterday) combined to tell a controversial and powerful tale of abuse, incest, betrayal, murder, mental distress and collapse, and hidden family secrets. The characters leapt off the page and the situations were memorable.

This film, I'm sorry to say, is feeble and doesn't get even halfway near to doing justice to Virginia Andrews' work. As the key character, Cathy, Kirsty Swanson is all wrong, while her siblings Chris, Carrie, and Cory (played by Jeb Stuart Adams, Lindsay Parker, and Ben Ryan Ganger) don't engage the interest. Perhaps the most interesting character in the film is Corrine, their mother, played by Victoria Tennant, and given a bit of characterisation.

I just think the material is pretty unfilmable without it veering into pseudo-porn or just becoming a catalogue of violence. Stick to the books and avoid this.