Flowers in the Attic (1987)

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

Director:

Jeffrey Bloom

Writers:

Virginia C. Andrews (novel) (as V.C. Andrews), Jeffrey Bloom (screenplay)

Stars:

Louise Fletcher, Victoria Tennant, Kristy Swanson

1 win & 1 nomination.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Louise Fletcher	...	Grandmother
Victoria Tennant	...	Mother
Kristy Swanson	...	Cathy
Jeb Stuart Adams	...	Chris
Ben Ryan Ganger	...	Cory (as Ben Ganger)
Lindsay Parker	...	Carrie
Marshall Colt	...	Father
Nathan Davis	...	Grandfather
Brooke Fries	...	Flower Girl
Alex Koba	...	John Hall
Leonard Mann	...	Bart Winslow
Bruce Neckels	...	Minister
Gus Peters	...	Caretaker
Clare Peck	...	Narrator (voice) (as Clare C. Peck)

Storyline

After the death of her husband, a mother takes her kids off to live with their grandparents in a huge, decrepit old mansion. However, the kids are kept hidden in a room just below the attic, visited only by the grandmother, and their mother, who becomes less and less concerned about them and their failing health, and more concerned about herself and the inheritance she plans to win back from her dying father, to the point of murder...

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Plot Keywords:

incest | uncle niece incest | girl | partial female nudity | bathtub | 

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Taglines:

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.....

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Genres:

Drama | Mystery | Thriller

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Certificate:

PG-13

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

20 November 1987 (USA)

Also Known As:

Flowers in the Attic

Filming Locations:

1960 La France Avenue, South Pasadena, California, USA

Box Office

Opening Weekend USA:

$5,020,317, 22 November 1987

Gross USA:

$15,151,736

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$15,151,736

Company Credits

Production Co:

Fries Entertainment

Technical Specs

Runtime:

93 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Ryder Sound Services)

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Sharon Stone auditioned for the role of Corrine. Jeffrey Bloom showed interest in casting her, but the producers opposed to it.

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Goofs

Cathy is wearing knee pads when she throws herself on the floor in an attempt to catch the ballerina figurine.

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Quotes

Cathy: Why are you just standing there, Mother? Cory needs to be taken to a hospital there is no other decision to make
[the mother just stands there looking and quivering]
Cathy: What's wrong with you mother? Are you going to just stand there and think about yourself and your money while Cory lies there and dies? Don't you care what happens to him? Have you forgotten that you're his mother?
Mother: Always it's you.
[slaps Cathy]
Cathy: [slaps her mother back]
Chris: Cathy!
Cathy: [shouts] Damn you to hell, Mama, if you don't take Cory to a...

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Connections

Referenced in Psych: High Noon-ish (2009)

User Reviews

Example On How Test Audience Can RUIN A FILM

"Flowers" is a film based on the cult novel by VC Andrews. There are secrets Chris (Jeb Stuart Adams) and Cathy (Kristy Swanson) never knew about their parents. After their father dies, the teenage siblings, along with their younger brother and sister, are sent to live with their cruel grandmother, Olivia (Louise Fletcher). Olivia is disgusted by the children -- she knows their mother (Victoria Tennant) and father were actually cousins -- and locks the brood in the attic. The kids then try to keep their spirits high in spite of their bleak situation.

Now this film was re-shot and re-edited without the directors approval. The producers harmed the narrative of the story because the test audience was appalled by the incest theme-however that is what drove the book sales and made it almost mandatory reading for the JR High Set.

Now the original version did "Stick close" to the source material. However when they tested the the film to girls around 13 they hated the scenes with incest themes. THE FILM SHOULD OF BEEN FILMED AS A R RATED FILM. Well that is understandable but the book had already been around for over 5 years and the girls that first read the book were now old enough to see an R RATED FILM.

For years people have wanted to see the original directors cut. What is not known is who owns the film now? New World Cinema? MGM? Now if they own the film do they own the outtakes? Most importantly if a company wants to fund the restoration of the directors cut can they? Is the footage still around?