Flowers in the Attic (1987)

Children are hidden away under an 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

Did You Know?

Trivia

Author Virginia C. Andrews died shortly before the film's release.

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Goofs

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

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Quotes

Grandmother: Sinners!

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Connections

Referenced in Chelsea Lately: Episode #8.10 (2014)

User Reviews

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.

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