VividSimon Simply Perfect

Stevecorp Don't listen to the negative reviews

CommentsXp Best movie ever!

Dirtylogy It's funny, it's tense, it features two great performances from two actors and the director expertly creates a web of odd tension where you actually don't know what is happening for the majority of the run time.

Coventry One of the most fun and ingenious temporary trends in horror cinema history undoubtedly were the "horror hag" movies from approximately the mid-sixties until the early seventies. These were bizarre drama/shock flicks starring elderly and most respectable dames in demented roles, such as insane murderers or mad-raving battle-axes. Director/producer Robert Aldrich should be considered the founding father of this trend and, even though there were several obscure but incredibly entertaining imitations (see below for more than just a handful of recommendations), his "Whatever happened to Baby Jane" and "Hush Hush, Sweet Charlotte" are still the only ones that stand as classic efforts nowadays. Aldrich was also responsible for "Whatever happened to Aunt Alice", albeit as a producer instead of a director, and perhaps that's the sole reason why it isn't a classic as well. Or perhaps not at all, because "Aunt Alice" is totally different than "Baby Jane" and "Sweet Charlotte" even though certain sources refer to it as the closing part of the trilogy. Geraldine Page amazes as Mrs. Claire Marrable, a totally bonkers widow whose industrialist husband left her nothing but financial debts and a lousy old stamp collection. Since she doesn't want to give up her luxurious and fancy life-style, she decides to slay a series of poor old housekeepers for their savings. Not a very profitable business, if you ask me, because how rich can you possibly get from the money of a bunch of grannies that have to clean houses to survive? But anyway, Mrs. Marrable buries the bodies under pine trees in her Arizona desert garden and gets away with it. That is, until Mrs. "aunt" Alice Dimmock applies for the vacant housekeeper position. Dimmock (the equally impressive Ruth Gordon) has a hidden agenda, as she undercover wants to find out what happened to her friend Edna Tinsley who mysteriously vanished after working for Mr. Marrable. The big difference with the other Aldrich hag-classics (and simultaneously the main default of this particular film) is that everything solely depends on the dazzling performances of the leading ladies, whereas the other two also feature a sinister atmosphere, dark house settings and black & white cinematography, convoluted plot twists and macabre set pieces. The script doesn't contain any real surprises (except a reasonably good one at the very end) and L.H. Katzin's direction lacks confidence and vision. In spite of some noteworthy sequences, the film honestly isn't that great and only worth seeing for Page and Gordon.As promised, here are some recommendations in case you're interested – and you really should be – in seeing more "horror hag" movies. Following the immense success of "Whatever happened to Baby Jane" and "Hush Hush Sweet Charlotte", the lead actresses obviously became typecast a number of times. Bette Davis appeared in Hammer's "The Nanny", while Joan Crawford went much further over-the-top in delicious camp flicks like "Strait-Jacket" and "Berserk". Hammer Studios also produced the shamefully underrated "Die! Die, My Darling" starring an amazing Tallulah Bankhead. Shelley Winters also became a famous hag thanks to the double feature "Whoever Slew Auntie Roo?" and "What's the Matter with Helen". Last but not least I also warmly recommend a couple of uniquely eccentric titles like "The Beast in the Cellar", "Frightmare", "Homebodies" and "You'll Like my Mother". Happy hunting!

Robert J. Maxwell I've begun to regret that "Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?" was ever made. Two over-the-hill stars and some cheap sets and a lot of psychological horror must have made a fortune otherwise there wouldn't be so many rip offs.I missed the first 15 minutes or so but don't think it matters much. This is pretty sick. It's my own opinion, and I'm pretty perverted myself -- debauched even -- if you ask my so-called friends and my shrink, Dr. Wilbur C. Veruckt. I promise you, Bill, you've seen the last of my checks. And don't think I don't know what's hanging in your closet.Is there anything more depressing than seeing two ladies who might, most generously, be defined as middle aged trying to kill each other by bopping each other over the head with pocketbooks and telephones? No. There is nothing more depressing.Geraldine Page, stage star, I gather has buried the body of her housemaid in the garden to provide fertilizer. An old friend of the housemaid, Ruth Gordon, applies for the position without revealing her identity. This is a big mistake on Gordon's part, a fatal one as it turns out.The next door neighbor is Rosemary Forsythe, pretty but too tall for me. We're talking women's basketball here. She and her son get somehow involved in the fertilizer business because they've adopted a dog who is attracted to Page's garden, drawn presumably by the scent of cadaverine and the prospect of bones. A loose blond roams the periphery of the story and has nothing to do with it. A deep-voiced young man is around too, exhibiting a talent that belongs on the small screen.The musical score is made up of electronically enhanced orchestral sounds that are dissonant, scratchy, distracting, and frankly irritating. The setting is a rather nice Spanish-style house in the Sonoran desert on the outskirts of Tucson, now probably swallowed up in urban sprawl, but no use is made of the location.If you enjoy seeing some snotty ill-groomed chatelaine sitting in a wheelchair flinging insults at her humble housemaid and nurse in what she, the mistress, seems to regard as high-falutin' speech, then this is your movie. Women are much better than men at humiliating and degrading others. Men have a tendency to simply backhand those they dislike. I kept waiting for Page to come up with some really lethal insult -- "Hence, horrible villain, or I'll spurn thine eyes like balls before me; I'll unhair thy head, Thou shalt be whipp'd with wire, and stew'd'in brine, smarting in lingering pickle." It might have fit the character but the lines never appeared. The writer must have been a dull and muddy-mettled rascal.

JasparLamarCrabb Light years better than you'd expect given that this was released amongst the glut of horror films featuring faded leading ladies. Ruth Gordon is hired on as Geraldine Page's maid in an attempt to locate a missing friend. She's very quickly on to the macabre shenanigans of her new employer. Suffice to say, Page has an inordinately beautiful garden (for someone living in the desert of Tucson)! Director Lee Katzin creates a really creepy movie, utilizing two great actresses, cinematography by Joseph Biroc and a perfectly malevolent music score by Gerald Fried. The acting is excellent, with Page really running wild. Gordon, surprising in a purely dramatic turn, is every inch her equal. The supporting cast is fine and includes Robert Fuller, Mildred Dunnock and Rosemary Forsyth as one of Page's few curious neighbors. Produced by Robert Aldrich, this is a terrific companion piece to his earlier WHATEVER HAPPENED TO BABY JANE & HUSH, HUSH SWEET CHARLOTTE.

Greatornot This film was better than I expected. Just a delightful film. The acting was top notch. Aunt Claire was a demented, unhappy lady that was left with very little after her husband passed on. Perhaps the most unlikely demographic for a serial killer.. The rules were changed. Along came Aunt Alice. Geraldine Page and Ruth Gordon as Aunt Claire and Aunt Alice respectfully, had a chess match for most of the film that was simply brilliant. In the style of Hitchcock this film flowed from start to finish. The intensity through out this film was constant. Twists upon twists, made for an energetic, entertaining film , that one had to pay close attention. The side characters were OK for the most part; Make no mistake , Page and Gordon were the whole film. There was a wonderful dog in this film that truly was an important cog. Overall, a very good film but housekeepers might want to watch their backs.