UK, 1971
87m 39s (UK – video), 91m, 8226 feet
35mm film, colour, 1.37:1
English
Reviewed at The EOFFTV Review
A British horror film directed by Curtis Harrington.
Plot Summary
Rosie Forrest, an eccentric but kindly widow (who keeps the mummified corpse of her daughter in her attic) regularly invites ten young children from the local orphanage for a Christmas dinner. Brother and sister Christopher and Katy gatecrash the party and Rosie becomes obsessed with Katy who resembles her dead child. As their relationship develops, Christopher’s jealousy leads him to suspect that Rosie is a witch and when he tries to lure Katy away from her, she reveals her true colours…
Credits
Crew
Directed by: Curtis Harrington
© American International Productions (England) Ltd. MCMLXXI [1971]
James H. Nicholson & Samuel Z. Arkoff present an American International/Hemdale production
Executive Producer: Louis M. Heyward
Produced by: Samuel Z. Arkoff & James H. Nicholson
Screenplay by: Robert Blees and James Sangster
Original Screen Story by: David Osborn
Additional Dialogue by: Gavin Lambert
Director of Photography: Desmond Dickinson
Film Editor: Tristam Cones
Music Composed & Conducted by: Kenneth V. Jones
Sound Recordists: Ken Ritchie, Richard Langford
Wardrobe Supervisor: Bridget Sellers
Make Up: Eddie Knight, Sylvia Croft
Hairdressing: Pat McDermott, Joyce James
Art Director: George Provis
Cast
Shelley Winters (Rosie Forrest)
Mark Lester (Christopher)
Ralph Richardson (Mr Benton)
Judy Cornwell (Clarine)
Michael Gothard (Albie)
Hugh Griffith as the pigman [Mr Harrison]
Lionel Jeffries as [Inspector] Willoughby
Chloe Franks as Katy
Rosalie Crutchley (Miss Henley)
Pat Heywood (Doctor Mason)
Richard Beaumont (Peter)
Jacqueline Cowper (Angela)
Marianne Stone (Miss Wilcox)
Charlotte Sayce (Katharine)
Alternative Titles
Chi giace nella culla di zia Ruth? – Italy
Dare ga Rû obasan o koroshita ka? – Japan
Fábula Macabra – Brazil
Gingerbread House – shooting title
Kanli balta – Iki kardes – Turkey
Mais qui a tué tante Roo? – France
Pepparkakshuset – vem slog ihjäl tant Roo? – Sweden
Poios skotose tin theia Roo? – Greece
Qui va matar la tieta Roo? – Spanish (Catalan)
¿Quién mató a tía Roo? – Spain
Satanika angeloudia – Greece
Wer hat Tante Ruth angezündet – West Germany
Who Slew Auntie Roo? – USA (advertising)
Production Notes
Production began at Shepperton Studios on 26 April 1971.
References
Periodicals
- Cinema TV Today no.9969 (26 February 1972) p.21
- Filmfacts vol.15 no.2 (1972) pp.30-32
- Films and Filming vol.18 no.7 (April 1972) p.56
- The Hollywood Reporter vol.219 no.11 (16 December 1971) p.3
- House of Hammer vol.1 no.1 (October 1976) p.4 – note (Stop press: Late news)
- Kine Weekly vol.646 no.3312 (3 April 1971) p.13 – note (Production review: Studio round up by Rod Cooper)
- Kine Weekly no.3318 (15 May 1971) p.10
- Monthly Film Bulletin vol.39 no.459 (April 1972) p.82
- Psychotronic no.16 pp.44, 45-46 – review
- Variety 22 December 1971 p.66
- Video Watchdog no.14 pp.39-40, 51 – review
Books
- Aurum Film Encyclopedia: Horror (2nd edition) p.245 – credits, review
- Chopped Meat: British Horror of the 1970s by Eric McNaughton and Darrell Buxton (eds) pp.167-158 – illustrated review (by Dawn Dabell)
- English Gothic: A Century of Horror Cinema by Jonathan Rigby p.218
- Film Review 1972-73 by F. Maurice Speed (ed) p.236
- House of Psychotic Women by Kier-La Janisse pp.428
- The Mummy on Screen: Orientalism and Monstrosity in Horror Cinema by Basil Glynn
- Reference Guide to Fantastic Films by Walt Lee p.540 – credits
- Ten Years of Terror: British Horror Films of the 1970s by Harvey Fenton and David Flint (eds.) p.129 – illustrated credits, review (by Nigel Burrell)
- Uneasy Dreams: The Golden Age of British Horror Films, 1956-1976 by Gary A. Smith p.237
