Flowers in the Attic (1987)

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 | Face Slap

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

• New World Pictures (1987) (USA) (theatrical)
• Anchor Bay Entertainment (1997) (USA) (VHS)
• Anchor Bay Entertainment (2001) (USA) (DVD)
• Anchor Bay Entertainment (2001) (USA) (VHS)
• Anchor Bay Entertainment (2009) (USA) (DVD)
• Highlight Video (West Germany) (VHS)
• Image Entertainment (1988) (USA) (video) (laserdisc)
• New World Home Video (USA) (VHS)
• Transvídeo (19??) (Brazil) (VHS)
• 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:

Cameo: [Virginia C. Andrews]the author of "Flowers In The Attic" appears as a window washer.

Goofs:

Continuity: Even though the children are locked in the grandmother's attic for what amounts to a year, no one's hair seems to grow any longer as time passes.

Quotes:

Cathy: Look at us, Mother! Do we look like you with your rosy cheeks and your bright eyes? Look at the twins, Mother! Cory has stomach cramps almost every day, and Carrie has little sores growing on her skin! Do you know or even care that the grandmother has stopped feeding us for more than a week?
Mother: Stop it! You have no right to talk to me like that! Do you think I've had pleasure while my children have been in pain? You are heartless. When you're ready to treat me with love, I'll be back.

Movie Connections:

Featured in "Troldspejlet: (#1.6)" (1989)

Jeff Bloom did one right thing...he never made a sequel.

That might sound a little harsh. It certainly wasn't the worst movie I have ever seen, but it's down there. The events that transpire throughout the course of the film stay true to V.C. Andrews' novel, in some ways. Four siblings are locked in the northern wing of their grandparents' house by their selfish mother and sadistic grandmother after the death of their father has left the family in debt. The movie does open up before "Daddy's" death, and there is even a scene where the oldest daughter, Cathy, is given a music box by her beloved father, just like in the book. However, the relationship between Cathy and her father seems almost irrelevant to the whole feel of the movie, from what I can remember, because unlike in the book, their relationship is not developed well, not much beyond that one scene in fact. And there were sequels to the book that were able to expand on the effects Chris Sr.'s death had on Cathy, especially seen through her incestuous relationship with her brother, which was cut out of the movie. Then there is the night of the father's birthday party (only in the movie, there are no guests), and the family is waiting for him to come home from work. He never does. Instead, a couple of police officers show up at the door. Cathy screams. Cut to Cathy and Chris in a bus (was it a bus? In the book, they were in a train), on their way to their grandmother's house, or rather, mansion. Blah blah blah. The kids arrive, are locked away in a northern room, and that's where they stay for the next few years. You have to pardon me. I know all about the book. I know it by heart. But I haven't seen this movie for years so I don't remember exactly how long they were imprisoned in the film. In the book, it was like 3 years, four months and 16 days. In the closet of this sequestered room, there are stairs leading up to the attic where they often like to play, and where Cathy practices ballet. Cathy and her brother Chris do not go on to have a love affair, though, like they did in the book. Yet there is still plenty of abuse. Besides the obvious fact that they are being locked away from the world, the grandmother also cuts Cathy's beautiful hair and slaps the children and stuff. And Chris and Cathy do like to take baths with the other one watching. The ending is the worst part of this movie. It strays far from the book's conclusion. It goes for sensation, unlike V.C. Andrews, whom I think knew what she was doing when she had the story end the way it did. She also left room for a sequel. Jeff Bloom really didn't. I read that there was talk of a sequel, but they never got around to it. I'm glad. Petals on the Wind was my favorite in the series, and the rest were really good too, better than the original because the characters were more complex. I shudder to think of what would have been done to them in a film adaptation. Overall, this is not a movie worth seeing. Fans of the book will most likely be disappointed, and those who haven't read it probably won't like it much either. I don't know quite why the movie failed to live up to the book. Well, no movie seems to, just by principle, with rare exceptions. On top of that, the acting wasn't very good, though Kristy Swanson does look like Cathy would. Though perhaps that's because I originally bought the movie tie-in copy of the book, and the kids on the cover were modeled after the actors. There certainly was a vague resemblance between Cathy, Chris and their younger brother Cory, twin of Carrie, on the cover and the actors who played them. On some of the movie covers, it shows the illustrated picture from the book cover. It is cool. It shows four kids standing in the attic doorway as if they are prepared to enter a dangerous other world, looking scared. The main failure though is probably that the way V.C. Andrews wrote the book cannot be duplicated by any director or screenwriter. And the prologue was ten times better than Cathy's voice-over during the opening credits. But mainly, this is the kind of story to be read, especially since I feel that V.C. Andrews was a much better writer than most people give her credit for being, most of all this movie, which by the way, she had a cameo in. She was a window-washer. So if you want the story, read the book. Read the whole series, if you want. I gave the first four books very high ratings on Amazon, though they disturbed me greatly, and in a way, I hate them for that. And it takes a lot to disturb me. Forget this. I give it a 3 out of ten.