Whoever Slew Auntie Roo?, 1972.
Directed by Curtis Harrington.
Starring Shelley Winters, Mark Lester, Ralph Richardson, Lionel Jeffries, Michael Gothard, Judy Cornwell, Chloe Franks.
SYNOPSIS:
An insane and elderly widow lures two unsuspecting orphaned little children inside her mansion in a bizarre twist of the story of Hansel and Gretel.
Whoever Slew Auntie Roo? is a title meant to evoke nursery rhymes and childlike wordplay, and what could be more apt for a movie that is essentially a horror movie adaptation of Hansel & Gretel?
Don’t get too excited, though, as this is not a gruesome tale of hideous old crones kidnapping young children in a cottage made of sweets deep in the forest. Instead, this movie was inspired by the Brothers Grimm fairy tale but the screenplay was written by regular Hammer contributor Jimmy Sangster, with AIP head honchos Samuel Z. Arkoff and James H. Nicholson hiring Robert Blees and then Gavin Lambert for re-writes. Sangster set his story in the 1920s and at Christmas, where every year the wealthy and seemingly kindly Ruth ‘Auntie Roo’ Forrest (Shelley Winters) opens her huge mansion house for ten lucky children from the local orphanage to come and celebrate Christmas, spoiling them with presents and a huge Christmas dinner.
However, Auntie Roo is really mad as a goose, keeping the mummified remains of her dead daughter Katherine in a child’s bed upstairs and employing the services of Mr. Benton (Ralph Richardson) to hold seances so she can communicate with Katherine. Benton is, in fact, a con man in cahoots with Auntie Roo’s butler Albie (Michael Gothard) and her maid Clarine (Judy Cornwell), who entertain their mentally ill employer’s whims in order to extract money from her.
This year, Auntie Roo hosts 12 children from the orphanage as spirited new additions Christopher (Mark Lester) and Katy (Chloe Franks) Coombs have stowed away with the other ten children, but instead of sending them back Auntie Roo lets them stay as Katy reminds her of Katherine and so she showers Katy with gifts and gives her extra special attention. But when it comes time for all the children to leave Katy is not to be found in the huge house, with Auntie Roo promising she will send Katy back when she finds her as she is probably hiding. Christopher knows Auntie Roo is up to no good and runs away from the orphanage to go and look for his sister back at the house, but the thought of losing Katy sends Auntie Roo over the edge as the children try to escape.
Considered part of the ‘psycho-biddy’ cycle of horror thrillers from the 1960s and ‘70s – a movement that also included The Nanny, Whatever Happened to Baby Jane? and Dead Ringer, all starring Bette Davis – Whoever Slew Auntie Roo? saw Shelley Winters embracing the mad old woman stage of her career and running with it, brilliantly hamming it up like a pantomime baddie and being genuinely terrifying. Auntie Roo is not a witch in the classic fairly tale sense, despite Christopher calling her that, but is really a grieving mother with mental issues who is unable to accept her daughter is gone, and looking at the movie through a modern lens we are perhaps a little more sympathetic to her plight than audiences looking for a horror movie would have been in 1972.
That said, unlike the witch in Hansel & Gretel, we don’t know what Auntie Roo’s ultimate aim is as she clearly has no intention of killing and eating the children, although her keeping Christopher prisoner when he comes looking for Katy has an ominous undertone, as she promises she’ll only keep them both ‘until New Year’ – what happens after that? Thankfully, we don’t find out.
If you know the story of Hansel & Gretel then you know how the movie is going to play out, which is the downside of Whatever Happened to Auntie Roo? as it holds very little in the way of surprises. What is does have, however, is a wonderfully demented central performance from Shelley Winters, who turns from a caring auntie figure to crazed loon with worrying ease, and gorgeous set dressings with a stunning green and purple colour palate for Auntie Roo’s festive decorations, properly evoking the traditional Victorian Christmas vibe that Jimmy Sangster was aiming for.
There are plenty of recognisable faces in the supporting cast, who all seem to be having fun, and the overall tone is surprisingly light given the subject matter, the majority of shocks provided by Shelley Winters every time she jumps into the frame seemingly from out of nowhere and screeches at the children, although Jimmy Sangster’s dark sense of humour hangs over every scene and it is what he didn’t put into his script that is probably the scariest thing about it.
Released by Hammer as part of their Hammer Presents… range, Whatever Happened to Auntie Roo? is a fun and lightweight horror thriller that, given how colourful and playful it is, isn’t a million miles in looks and feel from Mel Stuart’s Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory from the previous year, or any of the family-friendly Disney movies from around the same time. The sinister undertones are perhaps a little too understated for it to really resonate with a harder horror audience, but the disc comes with an audio commentary by film critic Alexandra Heller-Nicholas and a video essay by Heather Wixson that explore the underlying themes within the script and offer contemporary perspectives that suggest the movie is more than just a retelling of an old fairy tale. Whatever you take away from it, Whatever Happened to Auntie Roo? is a welcome addition to the Hammer Presents… range, albeit not an essential one.
Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ ★ ★ / Movie: ★ ★ ★
Chris Ward
