When I was in college, seating places in class were arranged alphabetically and I had the great fortune to be seated next to one of the sweetest people I’ve ever met. I can only describe her to be elfin – waiflike and extremely slender, with very delicate features and porcelain skin. When I mentioned to her that I liked reading (just reading, mind you) about incest, she didn’t even bat an eyelid and asked me if I’ve read V.C. Andrews’ Dollanganger series. I said that I had never even heard of it and the following day she’s produced a dog eared copy of Flowers in the Attic for me to devour read.
I was shocked that a book with explicit incestuous themes even got published – and during the seventies, no less! – but not as shocked at the fact that this girl who was full of innocent laughter and smiles handed this to me. While it definitely wasn’t the filthiest thing I’ve read (that Harlequin romance book still takes the cake on that field) and the incest was more of a plot point than an actual erotic hook, I was still pretty much blown away by how far the author took the story.
Fast-forwarding to half a decade later and the Lifetime channel decides it’s high time for a remake. I kid you not when I say that the universe literally lead me to this movie; it seemed like all and every random IMDB profile search ended with a cast member involved with the TV Movie that was released last year. I finally decided to get myself a copy late last year and out of boredom only got to watch the whole thing last week.
Director Deborah Chow made do with a mixed cast; on one hand you have heavy hitter Ellen Burstyn playing the scary grandmother and on the other you have acting lightweight Heather Graham playing Corrine. Kiernan Shipka of the Mad Men fame played Cathy and Mason Dye from Teen Wolf plays the older brother Christopher.
I haven’t seen the 1987 version so I have no points of comparison but I have to say that this was an okay movie. With it coming from Lifetime, my expectations were very low. Acting-wise, Ellen Burstyn was a show stealer as the Grandmother, with her steely eyes that surprisingly soften up whenever one the children does something sweet for her. I liked that the treatment of the film stayed true to the book, focusing more on the child abuse and zealousness rather than the actual incest.
Not to say that I didn’t enjoy that particular aspect of the movie, otherwise I wouldn’t even bother writing about this film. I was actually shocked that the movie stayed that true to the book. Although I suppose with shows like Game of Thrones, this was a pretty tame take on the topic.
Kiernan Shipka and Mason Dye have incredible chemistry together and their little nuances really sold the experiences they were portraying. Special props to Mason Dye who, despite having a five-year advantage over Kiernan, was able to portray that pre-pubescent lust that Christopher fought so hard against in the book. For her part, Kiernan Shipka’s ginormous eyes really played well to her advantage because during that part of the story, Cathy Foxworth was at her most innocent. True, Kiernan couldn’t quite portray the character’s anger towards her mother – she was too sweet, but she nailed the parental vibe with the twins.
All in all I was more surprised with the fact that I actually enjoyed watching a Heather Graham movie than anything else. The attic was exactly what I had pictured in my mind when I read the book (although the room wasn’t; I didn’t think that it would actually just be that small) and they didn’t spare any expenses with the wardrobe. I loved all of the outfits that Heather Graham wore in the film. Performances were above TV-movie levels, another nice surprise, and probably my only actual critique of the movie was the fact that the language felt too modern and not like the language from the fifties. Negligible, but without the outfits and the corny hair, I would’ve though that the setting was during present day.
Color me re-obsessed.
*All photos were taken from the Flowers in the Attic’s IMDB Page.
