Flowers in the Attic

1987 "Home sweet home is murder."
5.7| 1h33m| R| en| More Info
Released: 20 November 1987 Released
Producted By: Fries Entertainment Films
Country: United States of America
Budget: 0
Revenue: 0
Official Website:
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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 their mother who becomes less and less concerned about them and their failing health, and more concerned about herself and the inheritence she plans to win back from her dying father.

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Director

Jeffrey Bloom

Production Companies

Fries Entertainment Films

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Flowers in the Attic Audience Reviews

Scanialara You won't be disappointed!
Afouotos Although it has its amusing moments, in eneral the plot does not convince.
Merolliv I really wanted to like this movie. I feel terribly cynical trashing it, and that's why I'm giving it a middling 5. Actually, I'm giving it a 5 because there were some superb performances.
Zandra The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.
tomgillespie2002 The Dollanganger children - the elder Cathy (Kristy Swanson) and Chris (Jeb Stuart Adams), and young twins Cory (Ben Ryan Ganger) and Carrie (Lindsay Parker) - live an idyllic life with their photogenic mother (Victoria Tennant) and caring, successful father (Marshall Colt). That is until the day of their father's birthday brings the devastating news that he has been killed in a car accident, leaving the four kids without a father figure and their mother with dwindling savings. When their money runs dry, Mother takes them to their grandparents' mansion in the country, where she hopes to reconnect with her dying father in the hope of being written back into his will. When they arrive, they are met with disdain by Grandmother (Louise Fletcher), who has long felt that her daughter's marriage and family was an abomination. As Mother attempts to crawl back into her parents' good books, the children must be locked away unseen in the attic to be told over time by their only remaining parent to endure the isolation just a little while longer.V. C. Andrews' novel Flowers in the Attic was incredibly successful when it was released in 1979, selling over 40 million copies worldwide, gathering a huge following of young readers, and spawning no fewer than three sequels. The author wisely insisted on script approval when selling the rights for a film adaptation, turning down a number of screenplays before settling with Jeffrey Bloom's version. The producers had already turned down Wes Craven's violent and disturbing vision, deeming it too disturbing for a mainstream audience, despite the director's recent success with A Night on Elm Street. Bloom's script stayed true the novel's controversial themes of incest, but the final product, also directed by Bloom, did not play well with test audiences, who were freaked out by the sexual activity between the two oldest siblings, and unsatisfied with the climax.The production was a notoriously troubled one. When the producers got nervous after the test screenings and insisted on re-shooting the ending, Bloom stepped away, and an unknown replacement was brought in to helm the new scenes. The result has one salivating at the thought of a juicier, more harrowing version with Craven behind the camera, as Flowers in the Attic is a tame, frustrating and ultimately boring affair. It is a film completely disinterested in detail, choosing instead to force us into accepting the children's predicament with no real understanding of how they took so long to figure it all out, and why don't simply make a run for it. Cathy and Chris come across as idiotic, irresponsible and weak, despite the best efforts of Swanson and Adams. Fletcher, evoking her intimidating presence from One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, gives it her very best, but she can't save this damp squib from instantly fading from memory.www.the-wrath-of-blog.blogspot.com
apioneer I thought it was a good movie. The acting was flawless. I thought the children did a great job of portraying the characters very well. Louise Fletcher was strong but I just kept thinking that if she was that religious then the director should have developed her character a little more and show us why she became what she was. I wanted to know more about her character. Also the mother's character changes and we don't really get to understand why she became just like her mother. The story itself was strong and I could sympathize for the children who were really powerful and totally believable. Very few films like these are being made now. The sets were historic and cinematography beautiful.
SnoopyStyle After the death of their father, teenagers Chris (Jeb Stuart Adams) and Cathy (Kristy Swanson), the twins Cory and Carrie, and their mother Corrine Dollanganger (Victoria Tennant) are forced to return to her parents' home. Their religious grandparents Malcolm and Olivia Foxworth (Louise Fletcher) had disinherited their mother a long time ago but she intends to win back her inheritance. The kids are locked away in the attic. Olivia reveals that their father is actually their mother's uncle. Even their mother visits them less and less as time goes on.There are changes from the book but none of them actually makes the movie better. It's questionable that the book would make a great movie anyways. I think it's possible to turn it into a good horror movie. Also the movie probably needs a mystery to be revealed. Olivia reveals the secret right away. It's a bland telling that hints at something more sexualized. It isn't thrilling or scary. The dialog is a bit clunky. The actors seem able but the script just isn't willing.
dawsonswenson6 Where to start. Lets start with the kids, for one Cathy and Chris are Way.... Older in the movie then the novel, and I found that to be a big disappointment because they start out so innocent in the Attic that after three and a half years, their innocence has been shattered to pieces. Plus Kristy Swanson and Jeb Stuart Adams were not at all how I pictured Cathy and Chris, don't know why that were chosen. And the grandmother! She is so evil, and I just do not like it one bit. In the novel it practically stated that she is evil, but there is a sense of humanity in her. Which the movie completely leaves out and just makes her so you wish her dead every minute. Changing the poison doughnuts to poison cookies was just ridiculous! Them changing the time in the Attic to one year instead of three I found unnecessary. The ending was the second biggest hit to the gut, because instead of just leaving they accidentally kill there mother, leaving absolutely no possibility for a sequel! They just screwed themselves over with that decision. And the last thing is they leave out the incest. I'm not stating that I enjoyed the incest cause I did not. I am stating that it was a huge part of the novel, which is what shocked and captured millions of people and when they take that out... The film is hollow. No passion. I find it to destroy the whole film all together. I am very disappointed by this adaption and give this a 1 out of 10, I do not recommend this movie.