This week back in 1987, we were brought the strange and mysterious Flowers in the Attic.
This was a first watch for me, and I had gone in completely blind. It started off with some questionable moments, first between the father and daughter, then later with the two teenage kids. However, these scenes (thankfully) never went where I thought they would, so I wasn't sure if I had got it wrong and they were just a very, very close family. If you've seen this, I'm sure you know what I'm talking about.
It was driving me crazy who the teenage daughter was! I knew that face and that voice, but just couldn't put my finger on it. I ended up turning to Google to help me figure it out, and of course, it was Buffy! A very young Kristy Swanson from the Buffy movie that is. The acting in this was nothing fantastic, but Louise Fletcher (who most will know as Nurse Ratched from One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest) was perfect for the part of the strict and abusive grandmother!
I didn't really feel this was a horror film, though the subject matters were pretty horrifying. This film made me feel a little bored as it is quite slow and not very exciting. It also had me feeling annoyed and angry. For starters, the teenage boy, played by Jeb Stuart Adams looked about 18 and could have easily taken down that grandmother. It bothered me that they never once tried to break out, not until they were starting to get very sick, but we'll put that down to the trust they had in their mother.
The thought of any mother allowing that to happen to her children, let alone taking part in it, was quite sickening. I'm not really sure why all of a sudden a life of money and luxury was worth more than the lives of her children? Was the lifestyle really that tempting? Did the abuse she suffered herself at the hands of her own mother play a part? Or was she always a horrible person that never loved her kids, and now the dad was not in the picture she could do something about it? Who knows. But I am glad she got her comeuppance!
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