Flowers in the Attic
Short description
When Corrine Dollanganger's husband dies, she is left with no money and four children to raise. She returns to the grand but decaying family mansion where she grew up, from which she was estranged after her parents disapproved of her marriage. Her wealthy, stern father is dying, and Corrine hopes to be restored to his will. To that end she hides her children in a locked room on the upper floor, telling them they must stay out of sight while she works to win back her father's favour.
The children wait for a promised return to normal life that keeps receding. Their mother's visits grow rarer, and the grandmother who oversees the house treats them with open contempt. As the months pass, the siblings come to understand that their mother's concern for her inheritance outweighs her concern for them.
Jeffrey Bloom wrote and directed this adaptation of Virginia C. Andrews's novel, the second film he directed, following Blood Beach in 1980. Louise Fletcher plays the grandmother, Victoria Tennant the mother, with Kristy Swanson and Jeb Stuart Adams as the two eldest children. The film took about 15 million dollars at the worldwide box office. On IMDb it holds 5.8 out of 10 from around 12,000 votes, and on TMDB 6.3 out of 10 from 221 votes, while the critics' rating stands lower, at 3.4 out of 10 from 11 reviews.
What's left behind the scenes
- A test screening of the film for a focus group in the San Fernando Valley, California, in December 1986, received negative feedback. As a result, the incest scenes and the scene where the mother spanks Corin were cut from the film. The ending, in which the grandmother tries to attack the children with a knife, was also disliked by the audience. The producers then decided to create a different ending where Corin dies, believing the public would want to see a child's revenge. Director Jeffrey Blum refused to shoot this and left the project. Tony Kayden was brought in to rewrite and shoot the film's ending, but his name is not in the credits.
- When Cathy and Christopher run to their room to escape John, Christopher lightly (almost imperceptibly) nudges the rug covering the floor in front of the door. When John reaches the room, the rug is significantly moved away from the door.
- If you pay attention to Corin's shoes when she goes to the hall to begin the wedding ceremony, you can notice she is wearing white shoes with a small heel. But after Corin falls from the balcony, we see her wearing white laced ankle boots.
- During breaks between takes of a scene where Christy Swanson's character rests near a heater, her skirt caught fire. There was only one skirt, so the costume designers had to repair it.
- The film was shot on location in Massachusetts and on soundstages at a studio. George Miller filmed 'The Witches of Eastwick' (1987) on the same location.
Auditions in India
Casting calls in USA
Castingi w Polsce
Кастинги в Україні
