Flowers in the Attic

I was going to subtitle this post "Guilty Pleasures" but that really goes without saying.  To girls of a certain age the novels of V.C. Andrews were as important to their development as Seventeen Magazine or the original Degrassi.  Well, maybe just to girls like me.  Andrew's Gothic novels served as a "gateway" for me into proper horror.  I will always hold them in my heart with affection, much like I will the film version of Flowers in the Attic that was released in 1987.

I chanced upon a Video Store going out of business sale.  Most of the good stuff was gone but they did have copy of Flowers available for 5 bucks.  What a joy to watch it again!!  The bad acting, the overacting, the stunt people that look nothing like the actors!  Kristy Swanson!!  Academy Award winner Louise Fletcher as Grandmother!!  Queen Bitch Victoria Tennant (on film, I am sure she is a lovely person) as Mother!! 

The four Dollanganger children, Chris, Cathy, Cory and Carrie are taken to their Grandmother's house after their Father dies in an accident.  Their Mother is going to try to win back her Father's love after royally pissing him off by marrying his Brother (this is V.C. Andrews, this kind of thing happens often.)  The children are locked in a room upstairs.  If Grandfather knows they exist, he will cut their Mother out of the will.  What the children don't know is that Mother has no intention of ever letting them leave that room. 

As I said, I was going to subtitle this "Guilty Pleasures."  But, upon research, the more appropriate subtitle would have been: "What could have been..."  Wes Craven was planning to direct this film, and he wrote a script that was so violent and "incest-laden" that V.C. Andrews herself rejected it.  The Producers ended up giving directing duties to Jeffrey Bloom.  I WANT TO SEE CRAVEN'S VERSION!!!!!!  They remake everything, why not remake this?