I believe I have seen the original Flowers In The Attic film but its been years! Its been even longer since I read the book. However, I know the story well and it is truly a brilliant and gripping story with underlying tones of incest, abuse and religious fanaticism. I think the story is due for a re-telling and under the right direction and writing should be a stone cold success. Lifetime decided they could do it and you know I won't lie...the film is watchable. Somehow I found it gripping enough to stay with it and I didn't hate it. Some reviewers have called it "watered down" and I think that's a huge understatement. It is very watered down and still covers some very taboo areas but the performances, nearly all of them, are so cheesy and "Little Theater"-esque that its hard to say the film "good" necessarily. I think its just the original story that makes this so watchable. VC Andrews was a brilliant writer and its easy to become enamoured with her stories. The film goes from a story about children being held captive to a Blue Lagoon type romance between brother and sister that is simply hard to believe or accept. This rendition of the story is full of holes that make little sense and they do nothing to paint over.
I will start with Heather Graham who I have always been sort of indifferent towards. She is a decent actress that I've never really liked nor disliked. Honestly, she's sort of awful in this. She seems ridiculous and delivers her lines with such excruciating blandness that she literally is laughable in a very dark, serious film. Not to be outdone, I'm afraid to say the older children are not much better. Kiernan Shipka and Mason Dye have some good scenes (and believe me it gets awkward) but they just seem so stiff and cheesy in their line delivery. I don't suppose its a great script but they don't do anything with it that's for certain. The only thing I can say is that they're campy performances make the entire film seem even more awkward which actually works in the favour of making this more watchable. Odd but true. Ava Telek and Maxwell Kovach are actually pretty good in small roles as the younger siblings. Thankfully they always manage to keep them out of the more awkward and abusive scenes. Ellen Burstyn should really be the saving grace to this film. She is a legend and I will say she easily gives the best performance but that isn't saying much amongst this cast. I actually found they underused Burstyn in a lot of ways but she definitely gives an edge to the role but I still think it could have been more.
There is so much content here to this story and I think Lifetime spent FAR too much time focusing on the incestuous relationship between Chris and Cathy. I know they were purposely trying to be shocking and water cooler type viewing but it stumbles and misses the mark with so many other great things in this story. The musical score for the film is really good, haunting and noticeable and drives the story forward. The redeeming qualities of this film are not unnoticed. Towards the end there is a lot of emotion, the campier performances get slightly better and some of that original story that rips your heart out is certainly present. At times I thought this would be a total laughable write off and then I would find myself being shocked and on the edge of my seat. Somehow, they pull it off but the missed potential should not go unmentioned. I think its good they got a woman director, Deborah Chow, but someone with more experience would have helmed a much better film. There are a lot of unanswered plot holes, and things they rush over far too quickly but it is what it is and this is what we have. I'm actually anxious to go back and watch the original film now. And to prove this wasn't a total write off...for some unknown reason I was pleased to hear Lifetime was doing the sequel film in a month or so. Maybe this film will find a place in cult history after all. 7/10
I will start with Heather Graham who I have always been sort of indifferent towards. She is a decent actress that I've never really liked nor disliked. Honestly, she's sort of awful in this. She seems ridiculous and delivers her lines with such excruciating blandness that she literally is laughable in a very dark, serious film. Not to be outdone, I'm afraid to say the older children are not much better. Kiernan Shipka and Mason Dye have some good scenes (and believe me it gets awkward) but they just seem so stiff and cheesy in their line delivery. I don't suppose its a great script but they don't do anything with it that's for certain. The only thing I can say is that they're campy performances make the entire film seem even more awkward which actually works in the favour of making this more watchable. Odd but true. Ava Telek and Maxwell Kovach are actually pretty good in small roles as the younger siblings. Thankfully they always manage to keep them out of the more awkward and abusive scenes. Ellen Burstyn should really be the saving grace to this film. She is a legend and I will say she easily gives the best performance but that isn't saying much amongst this cast. I actually found they underused Burstyn in a lot of ways but she definitely gives an edge to the role but I still think it could have been more.
There is so much content here to this story and I think Lifetime spent FAR too much time focusing on the incestuous relationship between Chris and Cathy. I know they were purposely trying to be shocking and water cooler type viewing but it stumbles and misses the mark with so many other great things in this story. The musical score for the film is really good, haunting and noticeable and drives the story forward. The redeeming qualities of this film are not unnoticed. Towards the end there is a lot of emotion, the campier performances get slightly better and some of that original story that rips your heart out is certainly present. At times I thought this would be a total laughable write off and then I would find myself being shocked and on the edge of my seat. Somehow, they pull it off but the missed potential should not go unmentioned. I think its good they got a woman director, Deborah Chow, but someone with more experience would have helmed a much better film. There are a lot of unanswered plot holes, and things they rush over far too quickly but it is what it is and this is what we have. I'm actually anxious to go back and watch the original film now. And to prove this wasn't a total write off...for some unknown reason I was pleased to hear Lifetime was doing the sequel film in a month or so. Maybe this film will find a place in cult history after all. 7/10