{"id":19498,"date":"2019-11-16T02:14:03","date_gmt":"2019-11-16T10:14:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.cinemastance.com\/?p=19498"},"modified":"2019-11-16T02:14:03","modified_gmt":"2019-11-16T10:14:03","slug":"blasts-from-the-past-blu-ray-reviews-flowers-in-the-attic-1987","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/?p=19498","title":{"rendered":"Blasts from the Past! Blu-ray Review: FLOWERS IN THE ATTIC (1987)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

This Special Edition Blu-ray is currently available from\nArrow Video.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Enjoy gothic melodrama? If you do, then you might already be\nfamiliar with Flowers in the Attic<\/em>, the film adaptation of the very\npulpy 1979 bestseller by V.C. Andrews. Produced by independent production\ncompany New World Pictures (owned by Roger Corman), this feature was a box office\nhit but didn\u2019t earn particularly complimentary reviews during its original release.\nThis week Arrow Video has released an impressive Special Edition Blu-ray of the\nfeature that gives a detailed account the picture and explains all of the\nissues that plagued the production (many of which this reviewer never knew\nabout). It\u2019s a super disc and those who appreciate the movie\u2019s exaggerated\nelements will certainly enjoy this edition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The story involves a very happy family (some might say too\naffectionate) who face tragedy after the family patriarch dies in a traffic\naccident. His surviving wife (Victoria Tennant) informs teenage daughter Cathy\n(Kristy Swanson) and son Chris (Jeb Stuart Adams), as well as infants Cory (Ben\nGanger) and Carrie (Lindsay Parker) that they\u2019ll be moving in with their Grandmother\n(Louise Fletcher). The kid\u2019s mom warns them that their stern relative won\u2019t be a\nray of sunshine, but that she\u2019ll soon win the family matriarch over to her side\nand be able to provide the family the resources and support they need. Of\ncourse, this doesn\u2019t happen at all. Their grandmother is horrible, the children\nare then separated from their parent and forced to live in an attic. As time\npasses, even mom acts more and more distant towards the kids. The reasons for\nthe family\u2019s strange treatment soon becomes evident as secrets are revealed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Admittedly, the movie isn\u2019t a masterpiece. It\u2019s far from\ngreat, but it is a fun and often over-the-top adaptation of, well, a crazy and\nover-the-top novel. There is some serious melodrama presented as the kids are\nabused horribly by their relatives and fight to survive and escape. Fletcher is\na great actress who is perhaps most famous for winning an Oscar playing Nurse\nRatchet in the classic, One Flew Over the Cuckoo\u2019s Nest<\/em>. Her character in\nthis picture is even more exaggerated, regularly berating and even striking the\nkids. There\u2019s no subtlety present here, nor is there anything even remotely\nkind about her.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Another one of the major background elements that plays out actually involves hints of incest. There\u2019s certainly strange family history revealed and a rather consistent and continuing closeness between Cathy and Chris (including a scene in which one is bathing as their sibling washes their back). Truthfully, there\u2019s nothing explicit presented here between the two characters, and in a strange way the avoidance of dealing with the issue at hand ends up making these elements all the more striking and prominent. Naturally, for many this unexpected behavior will actually result in a few moments of unintentional humor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Yet that\u2019s what many find fascinating about the picture. As\nmentioned, there\u2019s not much subtlety present here and the cast, while talented,\nare forced into delivering some pretty cheesy material. At least the movie\nmanages to embrace these wild and crazy qualities by the close as the children\ndecide to confront their mother and relatives at a very public wedding ceremony\n(which naturally ends in an appropriately violent and silly manner).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One aspect of the film that is unquestionably strong is the\nproduction design and cinematography. I can recall watching the picture on VHS\nand DVD and thinking that the image was a little soft and grainy. This new\nBlu-ray changes all that. The picture looks quite crisp and detailed, and the old,\nenormous and dusty attic rooms filled with strange antiques and musty hallways do\nmake an impression. One can honestly say that the gothic vibe is effectively built\nupon here and the new disc displays the talent displayed behind the scenes at a\nlevel never seen before.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Besides the excellent image quality, there are tons of great\nextras to pour over as well. Perhaps the most interesting is the original ending\nthat was rejected by the studio. Yes, the ending you see now was not what was\ninitially filmed. In fact, they reshot the climax with a different director. Amazingly,\nthe first version is presented here on the disc for the first time. It\u2019s\nsourced from old production video and features plenty of wobbles and lines running\nthrough the picture, but finally shows what was originally intended. Admittedly,\nit is a little too low-key and reserved for its own good, but is fascinating to\nfinally witness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another plus is a commentary from Kat Ellington, an author\nand expert on gothic horror who is a fan of the feature and sheds production\ninsights as well as a history of both this flick and the entire subgenre. She\u2019s\nclearly a fan (admitting that it was one of her introductions to the type of\nfeature) and forgiving of its flaws, but offers of plenty of interesting\ndetails about the somewhat troubled production. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Apparently, writer\/director Jeffrey Bloom (Blood Beach<\/em>) had conflicts with the studio who wanted less of a psychological thriller. There are numerous interviews with cast members (Jeb Stuart Adams offers some memories of the shoot) and crew members (including cinematographer Frank Byers, production designer John Muto and composer Christopher Young) who share Bloom\u2019s issues with New World Pictures. Those spoken to thought the screenplay was phenomenal, but state the studio wanted a B-movie horror picture and that various executives undermined the director. Footage detailing the unusual relationship between brother and sister was completely excised and many unfortunate changes were made. There\u2019s also a brief commentary track from the man who directed the revised ending and describes why he felt changes were necessary (and he certainly makes some good points).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The disc also includes fun anecdotes from cast and crew\nabout other personality clashes. Apparently, most were impressed by the young\nstar\u2019s work ethic, while Tennant was described as difficult and not very cooperative.\nMost surprisingly, everyone on set loved Fletcher, who played one of the film\u2019s\nmost memorable villains. She was extremely helpful, kind and encouraging to everyone\non set when the cameras weren\u2019t filming her nasty tirades. And despite the\nnegative critical reception, some of the participants also note that the film\nwas remarkably successful, with Muto suggesting it grossed a hefty profit\nworldwide against a very slim budget. One imagines they couldn\u2019t figure out why\nthere wasn\u2019t a sequel. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

No, this film is not a classic, but the movie does provide\npulpy fun for those who enjoy exaggerated and ridiculously pulpy gothic\nmelodrama. No one can say that Flowers in the Attic<\/em> doesn\u2019t deliver that\nmuch in spades. Arrow Video has given the film a great transfer and are presenting\nit with all kinds of enjoyable extras that will truly inform viewers and help\none get a sense of what exactly was going through the minds of those\nresponsible from this amusingly demented little hit. This Special Edition\nBlu-ray will most certainly please any fans of the feature and encourage them\nto lock themselves in and pour over all of the extras presented.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This Special Edition Blu-ray is currently available from Arrow Video. Enjoy gothic melodrama? If you do, then you might already be familiar with Flowers in the Attic, the film adaptation of the very pulpy 1979 bestseller by V.C. Andrews. Produced by independent production company New World Pictures (owned by Roger Corman), this feature was a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":19502,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[120,1836,7686,8544,9319,11916,12676,14763],"class_list":["post-19498","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-dvdblu-ray-reviews","tag-120","tag-arrow-video","tag-flowers-in-the-attic","tag-gothic-melodrama","tag-horror","tag-kristy-swanson","tag-louise-fletcher","tag-new-world-pictures"],"blocksy_meta":{"styles_descriptor":{"styles":{"desktop":"","tablet":"","mobile":""},"google_fonts":[],"version":8}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19498","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=19498"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19498\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=19498"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=19498"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=19498"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}