Whoever Slew Auntie Roo?

Probably Shelley Winters' greatest Movie - though I suspect many would disagree.

Many viewers delight in name-calling 'Aunt Roo' as 'nuts' 'crazy' 'evil' etc., but many fail to see the sad and pathetic side to this unfortunate character.

Aunt Roo (played marvellously by the wonderful Shelley Winters) is clearly traumatised by the tragic death of her only child. Left widowed in an isolated mansion to live all by herself, she is taken advantage of, and her 'damaged' mind from the trauma of her loss is cruelly and sadistically abused by her staff who pretend to be her dead daughter come back during false seances.

Many viewers ignore her staff who bleed her white. Despite showing loads of kindnesses to orphaned children, she is further still abused by two of the most ungrateful among them. Consequently, 'Aunt Roo' transforms from just being traumatised to mentally disturbed, and the tragic end to the movie ensues.

I guess this story just goes to prove how cruel society and people can be to traumatised people without trying to understand them, just because they are adults. If the roles of this film were reversed, everyone's sympathy would still lie with the children...

Shelley Winters' performance still brings tears to my eyes when she cries and yearns for her dead child, only to find out she's been made a fool of - enough to drive anyone insane!

A fabulous Movie, and a fabulous story. It's often likened to Hansel And Gretel, but I think it's far more complicated than that - poor 'Aunt Roo'!

This is a well-acted, but thinly plotted addition to the BABY JANE/CHARLOTTE cycle, with Shelley Winters giving an appropriately over-the-top performance as the lonely, crazed woman who lures unsuspecting young children into her creepy old house. Made by horror practitioner Curtis Harrington in England after directing Winters earlier that year in the superb Gothic thriller WHAT'S THE MATTER WITH HELEN?, this film is a bit of a letdown in comparison. However, as is usually the case with Harrington, he milks the threadbare material for all it's worth and manages to create a rich, striking, really quite memorable picture that almost ranks as his best ever. Desmond Dickinson's beautiful cinematography is also a nice touch. The film is intended to be a travesty of sorts of the gruesome HANSEL AND GRETEL tale. Though Shelley's campy performance in the title role is the film's main attraction, the movie boasts an equally impressive supporting cast that includes Ralph Richardson as a phony psychic, Hugh Griffith as an eccentric butcher, and Mark Lester and Chloe Franks as the terrorized young children.

Who Slew Auntie Roo is still one of the most cleverly constructed films of the 70s.

An interesting and fascinating take on the Hansel and Gretel story.

Mrs. Forrest (Shelley Winters) is a rich widow who had been married to a successful British Magician. He died leaving her his fortune and creepy mansion called "Forrest Grange" Their little 7 year old daughter Katherine died after falling off a banister that she was sliding down.

The film opens with Auntie Roo as she is called by the orphans singing a lullabye to what appears to be a child in a cradle. Auntie Roo quietly steals out after we think the child is asleep. The camera slowly pans to the cradle only to reveal a rotted corpse of a child in a nightgown. This sets the scenario for the film.

Auntie Roo is obviously an eccentric. She has constant seances in an attempt to communicate with her dead daughter. Of course her psychic is in cahoots with the servants who stage the seances.

It is now time for Aunt Roo's annual Christmas Party where 10 lucky children from the local orphanage are selected to attend an overnight holiday party at Forrest Grange. Christopher and Katy Coombs, a brother and sister are not selected, but stow away in the back of the car. Auntie Roo sees a resemblance in Katy to her dead daughter Katherine...and of course the movie takes off from here. The children see Auntie Roo as the witch in Hansel and Gretel...and Forrest Grange is the Gingerbread House. I won't give away any more of the plot, but the psychological games between the children and Auntie Roo as their terror mounts makes for an extremely entertaining film.

Aside from Shelley Winter's bravura performance, there are also strong contributions from Sir Ralph Richardson as her psychic; Rosemary Crutchley as the director of the orphanage, Mark Lester (of Oliver fame) as Christopher. The art and set direction are marvelous along with excellent camera work and lighting.

This film makes for a different and offbeat Christmas movie or just a plain "fun" movie to watch anytime!

I had the fortunate circumstance to see this double-billed as a very young child with Bava'a Baron Blood. Some of the scenes remained in my mind - particularly the creepy figure of Shelley Winters. I recently set out to see the film again some 30 years later. I remembered more than I thought I had, and the film came back to me in large part. This is not a bad film nor a good film. As another reviewer noted, it is a pleasant, harmless time-waster - for those of us who enjoy "wasting" time on such things. Mark Lester and Chloe Franks play two orphans at an orphanage. Franks has an uncanny resemblance to the dead daughter of the orphanage's greatest patroness and benefactress, Shelley Winters. Winters is so good to the kiddies that every year she invites them to her sumptuous home at Christmas for yuletide fun. She has virtually no interest in Lester but soon has the keenest of hearts for the young Franks as her dead daughter's look-a-like. Well, Lester is a growing teen rebelling, Winters decays into some form of madness, a cast of stalwart British character actors such as Sir Ralph Richardson, Hugh Griffith, and Lionel Jeffries ably aid the story, and that story degenerates/diffuses into some sinister tale not unlike Hansel and Gretel. Well, the movie has a poor story overall - but Winter's fine performance albeit over-the-top to be sure does add emotional depth to it. Director Curtis Harrington is very able behind the camera if not dazzling.

A great horror movie to watch at Christmas time. It has a creepy old mansion, great child actors. The plot centers around the disappearance of a child years before and some orphans who just happen to end up at the same mansion years later. Shelley Winters is great in this movie. It's really got a classic old british feel to this movie. Definitely a horror holiday classic, creepy, scary and fun to watch.