Let me start off by saying that the book "Flowers in the Attic" was absolutely incredible. Perhaps because of how much I enjoyed the book, I absolutely hated the movie. Yes, I mean hated. Abhorred. Despised.
First off, the acting was...oooh how do I put this? CRAP! And that's putting it mildly. Victoria Tennant (Mother) was just purely awful. Not a single line portrayed any realism whatsoever. Louise Fletcher (as Grandmother) is normally quite menacing in her roles, but this time, she was absolutely laughable. Perhaps she simply didn't have much to work with. Kristy Swanson (Kathy)...how on EARTH did they choose her? Every single line was over the top, overly dramatic, and just so plain ridiculously delivered it made me wonder if I was watching an Ed Wood film. Umm, yeah, it was that bad. Jeb Stuart Adams (Chris) was, well, ok I suppose. He wasn't *as* bad as the others, but still had his moments of "Can someone please buy me some acting lessons?" Thankfully, the children playing the twins had few lines as they were already difficult to deal with WITHOUT words.
The screenplay was just downright awful. Now I understand that books cannot always be *perfectly* translated into a movie, but c'mon...FAR TOO MANY changes took place that completely took away from the story itself. Well, at least for those of us that read the book. The dialogue was excrement, to state it lightly.
About the only thing this movie had going for it was the setting. The huge mansion and grounds would have been fantastic for the movie had not the rest of it been so darn awful. It's a shame, this really could have been a great one. Unfortunately, it was nothing but a major dud that left little to enjoy.
Flowers in the Attic (the movie) earns 2 out of 10 stars (and that's for the ability to pick a great setting).
The book, however, earns 10 out of 10 stars and I HIGHLY recommend it to anyone who loves reading.
First off, the acting was...oooh how do I put this? CRAP! And that's putting it mildly. Victoria Tennant (Mother) was just purely awful. Not a single line portrayed any realism whatsoever. Louise Fletcher (as Grandmother) is normally quite menacing in her roles, but this time, she was absolutely laughable. Perhaps she simply didn't have much to work with. Kristy Swanson (Kathy)...how on EARTH did they choose her? Every single line was over the top, overly dramatic, and just so plain ridiculously delivered it made me wonder if I was watching an Ed Wood film. Umm, yeah, it was that bad. Jeb Stuart Adams (Chris) was, well, ok I suppose. He wasn't *as* bad as the others, but still had his moments of "Can someone please buy me some acting lessons?" Thankfully, the children playing the twins had few lines as they were already difficult to deal with WITHOUT words.
The screenplay was just downright awful. Now I understand that books cannot always be *perfectly* translated into a movie, but c'mon...FAR TOO MANY changes took place that completely took away from the story itself. Well, at least for those of us that read the book. The dialogue was excrement, to state it lightly.
About the only thing this movie had going for it was the setting. The huge mansion and grounds would have been fantastic for the movie had not the rest of it been so darn awful. It's a shame, this really could have been a great one. Unfortunately, it was nothing but a major dud that left little to enjoy.
Flowers in the Attic (the movie) earns 2 out of 10 stars (and that's for the ability to pick a great setting).
The book, however, earns 10 out of 10 stars and I HIGHLY recommend it to anyone who loves reading.