SpecialsTarget Disturbing yet enthralling

PiraBit if their story seems completely bonkers, almost like a feverish work of fiction, you ain't heard nothing yet.

Hadrina The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

Allissa .Like the great film, it's made with a great deal of visible affection both in front of and behind the camera.

johnstonjames i probably should have given this perfect little horror ditty a higher rating. it's so perfectly executed (ha horror pun) and well done(ha another pun) that you want to go overboard and give it a ten or a nine, but because of it's light simplicity that might be overstating. i think i was overwhelmed by the stylish perfectionism of this that i wanted to overlook a certain lack of importance in general.a overall sense of development is put aside somewhat in order to achieve a sense of classic, elegant style and perfection. this film may not be as developed or as good as Aldrich's 'Whatever Happened To Baby Jane', but it is less rough around the edges and achieves more dignity and refinement. there is also a slyer sense of subtly to the morbidity here and Winter's performance is less repelling than Davis's all though no less chilling.to say this is comparative to Aldrich or the Hammer greats does not mean that the films of H. Nicholson and Z. Arkoff for American International are anything to dismiss lightly either. and this film proves their taste(ha pun) as film producers once again.this is probably one of the best tellings and updatings of the 'Hansel and Gretel' story ever. the psychological take on the whole thing is blood curdling and a horrifying twist on who is evil and who is a menace. the likely culprit here is everyone. just great. no one is blameless. ain't it the God's truth.this is one of the best ways to present 'Hansel and Gretel'. why stop the paranoia aimed at one individual? as long as we are being paranoid lets take on everything including ourselves? if you truly go into this gingerbread house with a thinking and open mind little ones, this is one gingerbread house you won't come out of so easily.

Scarecrow-88 Rosie Forrest(Shelley Winters), as the film presents in the opening singing to her daughter who is a rotted corpse, is pretty mad you could say. The mansion she lives in was obviously constructed at her late magician husband's command since the daughter's room is so well hidden within secret passageways, if(..and when)the police were to search for someone(or two, to be precise)it's nearly impossible unless you know the right button to push and the specific door to enter. We are presented with two orphans, Christopher and Katy(Mark Lester and Chloe Franks)notorious for their constant attempts at running away and misbehaving(they give their "den-mother" the silent treatment out of protest for having to return to the orphanage). 10 children, the kindest of the orphanage, are selected to spend Christmas with Rosie, and Christopher & Katy are NOT on that list. Yet, they take it upon themselves to hide in the luggage cart of the carriage anyway and are invited into the bosom of Rosie. Rosie often sees a corrupt con-artist, Mr. Benton(Ralph Richardson)who pretends to be a medium who can contact her late daughter Katherine. A child's voice claiming to be Katherine is actually the maid conspiring with the butler scamming cash from Rosie when Benton separates their cut. Albie(Michael Gothard)presents himself quite the loyal butler attending to Rosie's every need until that right moment when he can get a big payday through some sort of blackmail. Albie knows Rosie is bonkers and buys his time. That time may've arrived in the luggage cart for Christopher believes Rosie is a witch and that he and Katy are to be stuffed in an oven and eaten when she's gets a chance(Christopher compares their situation to the dark fairy tale, Hansel and Gretel..an aspect the film tries in every way to exploit throughout even using Christopher's narration parlaying excerpts from the story). What does happen is that Rosie sees Katherine in Katy and really wishes for her to stay..without Christopher who becomes Rosie's arch nemesis. Both scheme against one another as Christopher finds the room where the dead daughter is locked away and sees Rosie singing to her. The final thirty or so minutes is Christopher trying to rescue Katy(..and himself)from the clutches of Rosie who keeps the entire house locked away. Katy is kept locked away in Katherine's old room while Rosie forces Christopher to assist her in everyday chores once Albie and the maid exit the premises with a nice fat check through blackmail(Albie threatens to expose Katy's whereabouts when Rosie informs the orphanage that she must've disappeared). The ending is quite twisted..if you have an understanding of the dark fairy tale mentioned throughout, then you might have an inkling what I'm talking about.I'll be honest, this is really a sick little number. It exploits a mentally woman for comedy using the death of a daughter as the catalyst. It also is quite disturbing as a misunderstanding through the paranoid mind of a boy leads to a horrible tragedy. Even more so twisted is that Christopher understands where Rosie keeps her expensive jewelry and steals it, burying them in a hole within this teddy bear Katy insists on getting(it was Katherine's). If you want me to tell the truth the boy protagonist isn't the kindest, most pleasant kid in the world..anything but. He's just a smaller version of Albie. But, poor Rosie is used by everyone in the film. Everyone preys on her mental weaknesses. The really crazy part is this film plays Rosie's madness for snickers. I think this film works best for those with a macabre sense of humor. Not for all tastes, that's for sure.

Woodyanders Mischievous Christopher (the terrific Mark Lester of "Oliver!" and "Eyewitness" fame) and his sweet little sister Katy (adorable blonde sprite Chloe Franks, who played the daughters of Christopher Lee in "The House That Dripped Blood" and Joan Collins in "Tales from the Crypt") are a couple of orphans living in Great Britian in the 1920's. Christopher convinces Katy that loopy recluse Rosie "Auntie Roo" Forrest (Shelley Winters chewing the scenery with her trademark four-sheets-to-the-wind hambone panache), a former music hall singer who once a year invites a bunch of kids to her huge, crumbling mansion for Christmas diner, is really a witch who plans to fatten Katy up and eat her. Director Curtis Harrington, adapting a fiendishly clever script co-written by veteran Hammer horror film scribe Jimmy ("The Curse of Frankenstein," "The Horror of Dracula") Sangster, whips up a delightfully twisted and darkly amusing Gothic black comedy version of "Hansel and Gretel." The first-rate cast have a ball with their juicy parts: Ralph Richardson as an eccentric charlatan medium, Michael Gothard (the crazed killer in "Scream and Scream Again") as a mean butler, Lionel Jeffries as a friendly, hearty police inspector, Hugh Griffiths as a jolly butcher, and Marianne Stone as a strict orphanage supervisor. Desmond Dickinson's polished cinematography, Kenneth J. Jones' spooky orchestral score, and the marvelously macabre conclusion are all solid and satisfying as well. Good, ghoulish fun.

Coventry I honestly wonder why the entire production crew of "Whoever Slew Auntie Roo?" opted to use such an unusual and revealing narrative structure? Before the opening credits even, it's made distinctively clear that Rosie Forrest (a.k.a Auntie Roo") is mentally disturbed and dangerous, as she sings lullabies to a cradle that holds the mummified leftovers of a young girl's body. Yet, after this bizarre introduction, the film nevertheless attempts to convince us that she's an endearing old lady who throws Christmas parties for poor orphans and even tries to get into contact with the spirit of her deceased daughter through séances. I'm no horror script-writer, unfortunately, but wouldn't it have been much more effective if the macabre secret in Rosie's attic only got mentioned near the end of the movie? Anyway, despite some severely incomprehensible continuity-errors and other flaws, "Whoever Slew Auntie Roo" is an entertaining piece of American 70's horror that features surprisingly great acting performances and some memorable moments of ingeniousness. The story is presented as an adult variation to "Hansel & Gretel", which is definitely one of the eeriest and most gruesome fairy-tales ever told. When a dozen of orphans arrive at Auntie Roo's mansion to celebrate Christmas, she sees in beautiful Katy the reincarnation of her own deceased daughter. She seduces the young girl with toys and privileges, and when the rest of the children returns to the orphanage, Katy stays in the mansion, locked up in a room. Her courageous older brother escapes from the orphanage to search for Katy and discovers Auntie Roo's demented secrets. All the supposedly horrific plot-twists entirely miss their effect, for obvious reasons, and the playful character (as implied already by the silly title) prevents the film from ever getting disturbing. Director Curtis Harrington occasionally succeeds in capturing a tense moment, most notably when Christopher tricks the loony old lady and seizes her keys, and he also sustains a competent pacing. The film definitely also features a lot of atmospheric scenery, such as uncanny rooms full of old dolls and a garden shed filled with a magician's attributes. Shelley Winters is sublime as the crazy old woman and especially the talented child actors are a delight, for a change. The script also should have given some more attention to the interesting supportive characters, like the odd butler Albie and the joyful meat-deliverer Mr. Harrison. "Whoever Slew Auntie Roo?" is by no means a great horror film, but it's fun enough to watch on a rainy Sunday afternoon or during a theme-night with friends.