Staunch Test FAIL.
Flowers in the Attic (Jeffrey Bloom, 1987)
After the death of their father Chris (Jeb Stuart Adams), Cathy (Kristy Swanson), Cory (Ben Ryan Ganger), Carrie (Lindsay Parker) and their mother Corinne (Victoria Tennant) are forced to go to the house of their religious grandparents. Corinne was disinherited because she married her father’s half-brother but now she needs money and in order to be in her father’s will again, he must not know about the children. They will have to be locked away in the attic of their mansion as if they were never born. Her parents bullwhip Corrine for what they see as her incestuous relationship with her half-uncle.
Corinne, their mother, and Olivia (Louise Fletcher), their grandmother, abuse the children in every possible way. Corinne gradually stops visiting them until Cory and Carrie, the youngest ones, don’t recognise her anymore. She also starts putting arsenic on the food she gives them. Meanwhile, their grandmother abuses them physically, especially the girls. At some point Cathy gets punished because her brother is talking to her while she is taking a bath, Olivia beats her repeatedly and cuts her hair short. Why does she gets punished? Wouldn’t her brother Chris be the one to blame? As the years roll on, the older children enter puberty and become attracted to her. Eventually, Chris rapes Cathy. Jeffrey Bloom’s 1987 version is the second film adapted from a very successful novel, but seems to be predicated on the abuse of children and sexual interest in adolescents. Nice.
Flowers in the Attic is another #StaunchTestFail.
Simona Columbano
