6.5 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 4.0 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
This is a retelling of the old tale of Hansel and Gretel, but set in England in the 1920's. To the children and staff at the orphanage, Auntie Roo is a kindly American widow who gives them a lavish Christmas party each year in her mansion, Forrest Grange. In reality, she is a severely disturbed woman, who keeps the mummified remains of her little daughter in a nursery in the attic. One Christmas, her eye falls upon a little girl who reminds her of her daughter and she imprisons her in her attic. Nobody believes her brother, Christopher, when he tells them what has happened, so he goes to rescue her...
Starring: Shelley Winters, Mark Lester (I), Chloe Franks, Ralph Richardson (I), Lionel JeffriesHorror | 100% |
Thriller | Insignificant |
Holiday | Insignificant |
Drama | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.84:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.85:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 (48kHz, 16-bit)
None
Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region A (B, C untested)
Movie | 3.5 | |
Video | 4.0 | |
Audio | 3.5 | |
Extras | 3.0 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
Maintaining his unique fascination with movie titles punctuated with question marks, director Curtis Harrington follows-up 1971’s “What’s the Matter with Helen?” with “Whoever Slew Auntie Roo?” A period chiller that reteams the helmer with star Shelley Winters, the effort is a largely successful slice of nastiness that merges mystery with fairy tale motivations, watching Harrington search for a way to make the tenderness of Christmastime spent with orphans in need terrifying to the general audience. The feature isn’t entirely successful with big scares, but it carries superb atmosphere and a few surprises, with Winters unleashing her traditional instability to make the film memorable, locating and molesting scripted beats of maternal agony and wide-eyed madness. “Auntie Roo” is unusual in the sense that it highlights children participating in violence and extremity, but Harrington keeps it all tasteful and well-paced, working his way to a third-act payoff that actually delivers intended shock.
The AVC encoded image (1.84:1 aspect ratio) is billed as "newly re-mastered in HD," refreshing "Auntie Roo" for its Blu-ray debut. Detail is perhaps most important here, entering a highly decorated set filled with spooky touches and period ornamentation. The viewing experience is satisfying, handling inviting textures on design accomplishments, ghoulish discoveries, and thespian reactions. Colors are also satisfactory, bringing out holiday hues and defined costuming, with primaries stable. Skintones are natural. Delineation is acceptable with outdoor shots of the house, but interiors fare better, preserving frame information. Speckling is found throughout, but scratches are minimal. Grain is fine and filmic.
The 2.0 DTS-HD MA sound mix isn't balanced to satisfaction, offering crispy highs during dialogue exchanges, keeping louder encounters on the painful side. However, lines aren't lost and dramatic communication is never confused, keeping performances understood. Scoring is thin but acceptable, adding emphasis with passable instrumentation. Atmospherics are agreeable, handling the bustle of children in the house and adventures into the creepy corners of the property. Overt damage isn't detected.
The big draw here is, of course, Shelley Winters, who's never passed on a chance to overact until blue in the face. She reaches customary hysterics in "Auntie Roo," but Harrington finds a way to make nuclear behavior feel organic to the story, keeping his leading lady in the red with Christmas cheer and panicked grief. She's a force of nature here, but a welcome one, urging the rest of the cast to meet her energy, which inspires a few choice confrontations. Young Lester and Franks are also appealing as the meddling kids, carrying an aura of deceptive innocence that helps to fog true intent. The feature is largely dependent on its cast, favoring dramatic encounters over style, which rewards with a pleasingly nutso conclusion. "Whoever Slew Auntie Roo?" certainly won't knock viewers off their feet with twists and turns, but the combination of enigmatic motivations and crazed performances hits enough highlights to pass. It's dark material, but the movie carries itself as entertainment, blessedly making sure to stick the landing after working through a potentially depressing set-up.
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