Whoever Slew Auntie Roo? (1972)

Shelley Winters plays the heartbroken and distraught widow Mrs. Forrest (Auntie Roo to all the kiddies), who also lost her daughter in an unfortunate accident. I haven't watched very many of her films, but so far this is my favorite and she plays the role of Auntie Roo very well. We see her kind and caring side, who loves children and gives graciously to many of the local orphans during Christmas when she invites them to her mansion for fun, food, candy, presents and a sleepover. But, Auntie Roo also has a dark side and it slowly begins to take over.It seems as though Auntie Roo doesn't want to let go of her loved ones. And reminiscent of Hansel and Gretel, Auntie Roo seems to also have an appetite for children, which turns out to be very bad for an orphaned brother and sister. They are held captive and fattened up as Auntie Roo prepares what may very well be their last meal...7 out of 10

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.

This is the opposite of Psycho. What I mean by that, is that the mom of a child keeps 'said' daughter in secret room, all deceased and no place to go. Auntie Roo is a creepy woman. Mrs. Claus with a dark side. The eccentric 50ish woman , obviously of money, that does neighborhood deeds. One of the traditions is staging a Xmas for local orphans. The parallel story to Hansel and Gretel was unnecessary for my taste. No explanation of what became of 'magician' husband. No explanation of how Katy died. Too many loose ends. What we are left with is 2 kidnapped orphans from the gathering. A suspicious, Danny Radcliffe lookalike aka Harry Potter , without the glasses and an innocent , naive young girl that resembles Roos deceased daughter.Two siblings ultimately fighting off , warped Roos kidnapping . In a nutshell, This movie has many holes in it. Fine acting all around. Just a so so flick to fill the time . Watch it as a CULTISH movie and you wont go wrong.

The first part is as delightful as the cakes,the sweets ,the lollipops and the gingerbread men which the good lady serves to the orphans she welcomes for her Christmas party in her Gothic desirable mansion.This mysterious woman,with a racy past ,was married to a magician (remarkable scene when the two children venture into the old house full of magic props where once more,we are told that children are not necessarily devoid of cruelty.After a seance in the dark with a charlatan medium,Roo (Winters)is quite sure that one of the orphans is her late daughter ,who rose from the dead. She wants to keep her in her house but her brother (Mark "Oliver" Lester ) is not prepared to accept it.He tells his sister about Grimm's sinister fairytale "Hansel und Gretel" in the gingerbread house.The first hour is brilliant:the Christmas atmosphere is perfectly captured.The crepuscular quality of the film is tangible .Few other films of the seventies offer so many associations of guarded privacy and locked rooms,in such dreamlike darkness.Shelley Winters is outstanding particularly in that short scene when she goes from tears to a good laugh.The film obviously loses steam in the last thirty minutes.Winters begins to overact to make up for the poor third of the script which is at once repetitive ,dull and predictable.We do not need Lester's voice over to understand that the children are Hansel and Gretel in the witch's den..As Freud and Bruno Bettelheim showed,fairy tales have an hidden meaning which the children unconsciously comprehend but the demonstration is pretty low brow.Watch it anyway:its incredible several moments make it all worthwhile.Like this?Try these...."Les amants criminels" François Ozon 1996"The night of the hunter" Charles Laughton 1955"The nanny" Holt 1965"Bunny Lake is missing" Otto Preminger 1965