Flowers in the Attic (1987)

User Rating:

4.8/10   

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 | Children | Mansion | Grandmother | House

Awards:

1 win & 1 nomination

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: Very obvious wig on Cathy as she gets a haircut from Chris in the bathroom.

Quotes:

Chris: [about the mother] She never meant for us to leave that attic.

Movie Connections:

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

Why isn't anyone else ripping their hair out at this movie?!

I had been debating with myself for years about watching this movie. Having been an avid fan of the entire series of "Flowers in the Attic" books, I knew there was a strong possibility the film would do nothing but irritate me by way of poor acting and even poorer script-writing. What I didn't realise, was how much of a massacre the film was going to make of such a beautifully written book.

First off, and I'm sorry - but it is a shallow comment to make: Those kids; Chris, Cathy, Carrie and Cory are supposed to be stunning. "The Dresden dolls" because they are *that* striking. Whoever cast the film seemed to have sorted through the "Village of the Damned" rejects in order to find the two youngest (scariest looking couple of children I have ever seen) Chris was, I'm sorry - just nothing like the original character and while Kristy Swansen is very pretty - she just didn't cut it as Cathy.

Which brings me to my next point - Cathy's thing is ballet - she's an excellent dancer - and aside from a couple of pathetic scenes involving Swansen trying to get her leg higher than her hip-bone, they ignored the one thing that the entire character centres around.

And just out of interest - where was the relationship between Cathy and Chris? I know having an incestuous relationship played out in film has got to be controversial - but don't bother even picking up a pen to write a script for a story if you have absolutely no intention of keeping the central story-lines. And if you do, don't have the audacity to pass it off as the film version of a highly acclaimed book just by giving it the same title.

"Flowers in the Attic" was based on a true story. (As stated in the prologue of the copy I have anyway). How - HOW is it OK to just butcher such an awesome piece of work? It's like passing Pokemon off as the Mona-Lisa; sick and entirely wrong. They have completely missed the point of the story: It wasn't about 4 kids sitting in an attic waiting to die or be let out; it was about four children adapting to a situation wherein they have to become adults long before their time. It was about how the relationships between the siblings evolved, and the psychological consequences of losing one parent through death and another through greed.

For anyone who has watched the film and is ready to dismiss the books because of it - seriously; don't be fooled by such an obvious lacklustre attempt at a book adaptation. There are not enough words in the English language to explain how wrong this film is - how utterly and completely pathetic the script, setting, acting, casting, directing and the 101 other ways in which the movie sucks beyond belief.

And just... just don't get me started on the ending. Every time I think about it I just want to do nasty things involving pointy objects to the script-writer.

Please tell me someone agrees with me?