Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.0
Audio		3.5
Extras		3.0
Overall		4.0

Whoever Slew Auntie Roo? Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Brian Orndorf August 13, 2016

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.

Every year, Auntie Roo (Shelley Winters) hosts a special weekend gathering for Christmas, inviting ten of the best-behaved orphans in the area to join the cheery festivities, providing them with attention, sweets, and entertainment. After losing her daughter long ago, Auntie Roo is delighted to see young, happy faces inside her house, though her servants barely tolerate the intrusion. Sneaking into the party are siblings Christopher (Mark Lester) and Katy (Chloe Franks), with the older boy sustaining a reputation for provocative behavior. However, once discovered, Auntie Roo invites the pair to stay, allowing the children to explore her mansion, which is filled with items from her previous life as a married woman. Settling in for the holiday, Christopher discovers Auntie Roo with the skeletal remains of her late daughter, with the lonely woman soon targeting Katy as a possible replacement, comforting her with stuffed bears and a doll-stocked playroom. Careful around a potentially dangerous woman, Christopher equates the survival challenge with scenes from “Hansel and Gretel,” imagining Auntie Roo as an unstoppable, kid-gobbling witch.

While “Auntie Roo” is a horror film, its plot touches on some rather melancholy events that threaten to rob the feature of the escapism it’s trying to offer viewers. After all, the tale inspects the ruined life of the titular character, who watched her daughter die, left to pick up the pieces after her magician husband is also lost, holing up inside a large estate filled with remnants of a life once lived in happiness. There’s heaviness here that Harrington avoids, focusing on the weirdness of the old lady as she tends to her child’s corpse inside an upstairs bedroom, lost in denial and grief. The opening act of “Auntie Roo” doesn’t labor through misery, but it uses pain to power the story, watching Auntie Roo participate in a séance run by charlatan Benton (Ralph Richardson), hearing her daughter’s voice throughout the house, trying to make contact with her desperate mother. In a stronger movie, this morbid situation would likely inspire a sophisticated inspection of life and death. But Harrington is merely crafting an exploitation picture, not interested in exploring deep psychological cuts.

“Auntie Roo” introduces a pack of celebrating orphans and sets a Christmas mood with period festivities, including a song and dance number from the host. Concentration soon turns to Christopher and Katy, two stowaways who invite themselves to the gathering, protected from punishment by Auntie Roo’s love for kids in need. Large sections of the picture are set aside for exploration, following the siblings as they enter forbidden rooms, including one housing menacing magic show equipment, putting lives in danger without the pair ever truly understanding the threat. Christopher eventually catches on to the ambiance of the house, observing Auntie Roo tending to the bones of her dead daughter, trying to protect his little sister when the woman in need targets Katy as a replacement, luring her into submission with gifts and a sampling of domestic stability as the girl is offered playtime in her own room.

Throughout the movie, Christopher’s inner voice recites the “Hansel and Gretel” fairy tale, working himself into a panic when he begins to recognize Auntie Roo’s campaign to win over Katy, making sure the pair never leaves again. However, perspective plays an important role in “Auntie Roo,” with villainy debatable and violence mutually destructive, toying with audience sympathies as true antagonism is blurred. It’s a smart way to play the picture, disturbing expectations to sweeten the grand finale, which finally works toward a boiling point of emotions and chases.

Whoever Slew Auntie Roo? Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

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.

Whoever Slew Auntie Roo? Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

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.

Whoever Slew Auntie Roo? Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Commentary features film historian David Del Valle and film scholar Nathaniel Bell.

• And a Theatrical Trailer (2:14, SD) is included.

Whoever Slew Auntie Roo? Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

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.