Flowers in the Attic (1987)

User Rating:

4.8/10   

Director:

Jeffrey Bloom

Writers:

Virginia C. Andrews (novel)
Jeffrey Bloom (writer)

Release Date:

20 November 1987 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Horror | Mystery | Thriller

Tagline:

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.....

Plot:

Children are hidden away in the attic by their conspiring mother and grandmother.

Plot Keywords:

Attic | Mansion | Grandmother | Children | Punishment

Awards:

1 win & 1 nomination

Cast

Louise Fletcher	...	Grandmother - Olivia Foxworth
Victoria Tennant	...	Mother - Corrine Dollanganger
Kristy Swanson	...	Cathy Dollanganger
Jeb Stuart Adams	...	Chris Dollanganger
Ben Ryan Ganger	...	Cory Dollanganger
Lindsay Parker	...	Carrie Dollanganger
Marshall Colt	...	Father - Christopher Dollanganger
Nathan Davis	...	Grandfather Foxworth
Brooke Fries	...	Flower Girl
Alex Koba	...	John Hall
Leonard Mann	...	Bart Winslow
Bruce Neckels	...	Minister
Gus Peters	...	Caretaker
Clare Peck	...	Narrator (voice)
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Virginia C. Andrews	...	Window Washing Maid (uncredited)

Directed by
Jeffrey Bloom

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Virginia C. Andrews		novel
Jeffrey Bloom		writer

Produced by
Charles W. Fries	....	executive producer (as Charles Fries)
Thomas Fries	....	producer (as Tom Fries)
Sy Levin	....	producer
Mike Rosenfeld	....	executive producer

Original Music by
Christopher Young

Cinematography by
Frank Byers
Gil Hubbs

Film Editing by
Thomas Fries		(as Tom Fries)
Gregory F. Plotts

Casting by
Penny Perry

Production Design by
John Muto

Set Decoration by
Michele Starbuck

Costume Design by
Ann Somers Major

Makeup Department
Kathy W. Estocin	....	hair stylist (as Cathy Estocin)
Pat Gerhardt	....	additional makeup artist
Dennis Glas	....	additional makeup artist (as Dennis Glass)
Robert Hallowell II	....	key hair stylist
Robin L. Neal	....	makeup artist (as Neal Robin)

Production Management
S. Bryan Hickox	....	co-executive in charge of production
William J. Hole Jr.	....	unit production manager (as William Hole)
William P. Owens	....	executive production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Douglas Dean III	....	second assistant director
Peter Gries	....	first assistant director (as Peter S. Gries)

Art Department
John Ballowe	....	assistant art director
Paul Berglund	....	swing gang
Christine Bodine	....	scenic artist (as Chris Bodine)
Scot Broadus	....	leadman
Richard Dearborn	....	swing gang
William B. Fosser	....	assistant art director
Terry Haskell	....	property master
Kristen Kelly	....	set dresser
Gabrielle Liuzzi	....	swing gang
Marco López	....	swing gang
Craig Newhouse	....	set dresser
Clare Scarpulla	....	set designer
Ray Stoddard	....	construction coordinator

Sound Department
Vanessa Theme Ament	....	foley artist
Bob Beher	....	sound apprentice (as Bob Behr)
Patrick Bietz	....	sound assistant (as Patrick M. Bietz)
Arnold Braun	....	sound mixer
Joseph D. Citarella	....	sound re-recording mixer (as Joe Citarella)
Holly Davis	....	sound editor
Jonathan D. Evans	....	sound engineer
Kevin Hearst	....	adr editor
Kevin Hearst	....	dialogue editor
Grover B. Helsley	....	sound re-recording mixer (as Grover Helsley)
Dave Kulczycki	....	sound effects editor (as David Kulczycki)
F. Hudson Miller	....	sound effects editor
R.J. Palmer	....	supervising sound editor
Sam Perry	....	boom operator
Joan Rowe	....	foley artist
Kelly Tartan	....	sound editor
Ray West	....	sound re-recording mixer
David Lewis Yewdall	....	sound designer

Stunts
Kerrie Cullen	....	stunts (as Kerri Cullen)
Christopher Doyle	....	stunts
Jeannie Epper	....	stunts (as Jeanne Epper)
Emil Farkas	....	stunt coordinator
John Vincent Mason	....	stunt double
Dawn Nallick	....	stunts
Debby Lynn Ross	....	stunts (as Debbie Ross)
Ric Roman Waugh	....	stunts (as Rick Waugh)
David Zellitti	....	stunt coordinator

Camera and Electrical Department
Frank Byers	....	camera operator
Norman Currier	....	gaffer: Massachutes
Lex DuPont	....	first assistant camera
Bobby Ferrara	....	gaffer
Alice Fries	....	still photographer
Robert King	....	electrician
Brian McLaughlin	....	still photographer
Mike Moad	....	dolly grip
Tim Moore	....	key grip (as Timothy Moore)
Richard Osborn Jr.	....	second assistant camera (as Rick Osborn)
Les Percy	....	best boy grip
Stephen Price	....	electrician: Massachutes
Joe Rowan	....	electrician
Bruce Swift	....	grip
Jim Thorpe	....	best boy electric

Casting Department
Jill Alman	....	extras casting
Megan Branman	....	casting associate

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Donna D. Casey	....	costume assistant (as Donna Casey)

Editorial Department
Edward Briggs	....	color timer
David Newhouse	....	editorial consultant
Ed Richards	....	negative cutter

Music Department
Don Davis	....	conductor
John Mick	....	music editor
Susan Mick	....	music editor
Jeff Vaughn	....	score mixer
Paul Francis Witt	....	music consultant
Anne Atkins Young	....	music supervisor

Transportation Department
Bob Hendrix	....	transportation coordinator
Ted Schambers	....	driver co-captain

Other crew
Tom Calderaro	....	synthesizer programmer
Pavel Cerny	....	key location manager
Karen Cohen	....	production accountant
Thomas Farr	....	production assistant
Andrea Goodman	....	production secretary
Jill Gurr	....	script supervisor
Rita Rokisky	....	production coordinator
Joan Stevenson	....	production controller
Paul Van Zyl	....	production assistant
Steve Clayton	....	set security (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Fries Entertainment

Distributors

• Highlight Video (West Germany) (VHS)
• Image Entertainment (laserdisc)
• New World Home Video (USA) (VHS)
• New World Pictures
• Transvídeo (Brazil) (video)
• Umbrella Entertainment (2009) (Australia) (DVD)

Other Companies

• K!SSPROOF Entertainment  cast appearance booking

Runtime:

93 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Ryder Sound Services)

Certification:

Iceland:12 | USA:PG-13 (certificate #28580) | UK:PG (heavily cut) (self applied TV rating) | Australia:M | UK:15 | West Germany:16 (f) | Singapore:PG

Filming Locations:

Castle Hill, Crane Estate - 280 Argilla Road, Ipswich, Massachusetts, USA

Company:

Fries Entertainment

Trivia:

Kristy Swanson's skirt caught fire between scenes while she was resting against a propane heater. As there was only one skirt, the wardrobe department had to fix the damage.

Goofs:

Continuity: During the party when Corinne and her date are dancing, she is wearing a strapless dress and there are clearly no scars or any indication that she was beaten with a whip.

Quotes:

Mother: [Pretending not to know her children] Who's Cory?
Chris: He was your son and my little brother, and you killed him.
Cathy: Just like you tried to kill us.
[Referring to their ragged appearance]
Cathy: Look at us mother. How could you do this to us?

Movie Connections:

Featured in "I Love the '80s Strikes Back" (2003)

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.