Les 13 marches de l'angoisse

This is NOT a horror film. Like its "prequel," "The Killing Kind," it's more a psychological study of how nasty parents can really mess up their children's lives, and how ironically nasty life can be.

Louise, brilliantly played by the wonderful, under-utilized and now-departed actress Carrie Snodgrass, is a spinster librarian with a hateful, controlling, wheelchair-bound dad played with unashamed evil glee by Ray Milland. Louise is depressed beyond belief--she's never gotten over the loss of her fiancée who disappeared 19 years ago, or an accident that led to her father being in a wheelchair. She does anything she can to cope: attempts suicide, masturbates, has a one-night stand, plans vacations she'll never have the courage to take, retires from her job and even takes care of a chimpanzee. But she's not a balanced person--she constantly fantasizes about rejecting her abusive and mean father and loses track of reality on occasion. She was admits to being involved in a library arson, and that she'd do it again. She drinks a little too. But things seem to be going her way at last when Louise makes a friend out of a co-worker, a sincere young woman who boosts Louise's confidence, and gives her hope, sets her on the road to recovering her self-esteem and her life.

But, as in "Carrie," happiness is not in the cards for Louise, and it all comes to an end in a series of ironic surprises, and a stormy conclusion in a creepy attic where unpleasant truths are finally revealed.

This is not a horror movie--it's not scary or gory at all. You have to be in the right mood to enjoy this movie. You have to be depressed, and feeling hateful, and old, and grief over the loss of someone or something you love to really get into this movie. You have to feel like the world is an unfair, cruel place to live, and be interested in a movie that confirms your worst fears...the world IS against you! There are some wonderful moments of black humor--the secret Ray Milland has been hiding about his health is somehow so cruel it's almost funny, and listening to Carrie Snodgrass break out of character and scream is a wonderful experience. Some of Louise's fantasies show her screaming or acting sly and seductive in that unusual voice of hers, giving just a hint of what Ms. Snodgrass might have delivered had more roles come her way. Ray Milland's hatred of the "Dicky the chimp" is hilarious, even as it degrades a once great actor in his declining years to be in such a role in, basically, an exploitation film. But I can't stop laughing when he first sees Dickey..."What in God's name is THAT!??"

It's not a great film, and hard to categorize; I have no idea who would have put up money for something like this, let alone how they got the actors they did. It's more sad than scary, and you really have to be in the right mood to watch a character who's life was pretty rotten almost get better, then fall into a bottomless pit of hopelessness.

Or maybe the implication is that Louise went on after this movie, and was able to start her life over, having broken the spell of the past that kept her from moving forward. Somehow, I highly doubt it though...!

"The Attic" is one of the more difficult movies I rated and reviewed in the past couple of years. It's a movie that evokes contradictory sentiments, to say the least. I liked it but wouldn't watch it again anytime soon. It's terribly slow-paced yet atmospheric and foreboding. Half of the storylines that feature in the script are irrelevant, but they nevertheless form good and compelling material. The denouement is incredibly predictable, and yet immensely shocking when it finally comes. One thing's for sure, though, it's a fascinating movie that still spooks through my head several days later, and that alone makes me recommend it.

For starters, and let's get this straight, "The Attic" is not a horror movie. Those who are expecting to find monsters or torture devices in the attic will be sorely disappointed and, in fact, the title remains entirely irrelevant up until the Grand Guignol end-twist. Instead, however, the film is a harrowing drama and psychological character study of a poor woman trapped in her own miserable daily routines. Louise Elmore is about to lose her job as librarian, as she'll be replaced by a younger person, and the only other occupancy she has is looking after her tyrannical, insulting and wheelchair-bound father. Louise was engaged once, and the future looked bright, but her fiance disappeared on their wedding day. She never gave up hoping he'd return, though. Life slightly gets better for Louise when she befriends Emily, her successor at the library, and receives a pet chimp from her. Her father gets becomes increasingly loathsome, though, and genuine tragedies are about to happen.

The movie owes a lot of its emotional impact to the stellar performance by Carrie Snodgress. Unless you have no heart, you will feel sincere empathy for poor Louise who's weak and insecure due to the lifelong mental abuse by her father, and you can't but cheer out loud when fantasizes about murdering him. The character depicted by Ray Milland is arguably the worst type of villain/monster imaginable. He doesn't wear a scary mask or wields a knife, but he emotionally destroys the daughter he's supposed to love. I would say that Milland gives away a phenomenal performance, but he basically has been playing the exact same role throughout the 70s and 80s, namely that of the embittered, and downright despicable old man (preferably in a wheelchair). Check out "Terror in the Wax Museum", "The Uncanny", "Mayday at 40,000ft", "Frogs", and "The House in Nightmare Park" for similar roles of his. Fact remains that Milland remains brilliant, and he has a handful of magnificent scenes, like when he's arguing with the pet chimp Dickie, or when he sits in in his bathtub throwing insults at Louise while wearing a silly and redundant shower cap.

"The Attic" is also a sort of spin-off/sequel to "The Killing Kind", in which the characters of Louise and her father Wendell appeared as well. You don't necessarily need to have seen "The Killing Kind" to enjoy this movie, though.

It was not a horror movie, this movie was more of a case study. Snodgress's acting is brilliant and she definitely deserved an Oscar for it. The movie is definitely creepy and depressing, probably the most depressing movie i've seen. the best part about the movie is that it stays in your head for a long long time. Makes you think about the other side of parenting and how cruel humans can be. It does get boring in between, i wont lie about that. But that can be completely ignored when you look at the movie as a whole. It is not a Horror movie but if you watch it with concentration, you will get scared. After the movie has ended too, just thinking about it.

Depression surrounds poor Louise as she battles taking care of her abusive father who holds some sinister secrets in The Attic.

Louise is a very sad and lonely person who was stood up at the altar by the love of her love. almost 20 years ago, something she has not been able to get past. In the midst of her depression involving that, she is also being forced into retirement at the library she works in and is being replaced by a "younger model". On top of ALL of this, she has to take care of her tyrannical wheelchair-bound father who verbally abuses her at every turn. He attacks her appearance, the way she speaks, the job she has, etc.

Throughout the film, we see Louise fantasizing of killing her father in different ways. She also starts obsessing over the young person replacing her at the library named Emily. Emily has it all. Youth, a new position at the library, and a fiancee she is madly in love with. When a younger guy shows interest in Louise, things start to take a positive turn for her and her passive ways. But it isn't long before her father makes things worse for her and reveals some dark secrets of his own. All this leads to Louise breaking down further and a satisfying ending.

The compelling thing about this movie is the character of Louise. It is her mental health and overwhelming sadness that drew my attention throughout and kept me interested to see where it was going. I think we can all relate to a time when things weren't going well for us in our lives, and her general depressed mood definitely made me feel for her. Carrie Snodgress delivers a very emotional and powerful performance as Louise, the lonely and timid librarian who seems to have a dark cloud constantly hanging over her head.

The Attic is a very effective horror film. Extremely slow moving at times, but I never lost interest in following Louise's journey. It's only available on VHS at this point making it virtually impossible to find, but if you get the chance it is a recommended watch for sure!

7/10

Well-done psychological thriller is slow in going, but ultimately a rewarding and emotional character study.

Lonely spinster has been living under the eye of her over-bearing father ever since her beloved fiancé disappeared years earlier. But now that she is gathering her will power, will she be able to take control of her life and uncover the secrets from her past?

While many have billed this film as a horror movie, it's really not. The Attic is a highly tense drama that builds to some good thriller qualities, especially toward its climax. Director George Edwards creates a feeling of intrigue and mystery with this film, while adding some occasional Gothic touches. The musical score and theme song also add to the film's over all shut-in mood.

The true highlight of this movie though is its great cast. Veteran actor Ray Milland is appropriate and menacing as the heroine's invalid old father. His performance is quite good and this stands out as one of his better B film roles. However the true star of this film is the late Carrie Snodgrass. Snodgrass gives a stirring, heart-felt performance that makes her character truly sympathetic. In fact, she is so good in her role that she gives the entire film a bit of a solemn, moving note. This is perhaps one of Snodgrass's best roles ever.

The Attic has became a some what lost film over the years and it shouldn't be. It's a rare thriller that actually reaches an emotional level with its audience.

*** out of ****