Thursday, June 15, 2023

Movie review - "Whoever Slew Auntie Roo?" (1972) **1/2

 Love the grammatically correct title. It was originally called The Gingerbread Man  a more direct allusion to its Hansel and Gretel origin, with Mark Lester and Chloe Franks as two youngies who are captured by Shelley Winters.

Despite some names having worked on it - Jimmy Sangster, Robert Blees, Gavin Lambert - the film doesn't have quite enough story for a feature. It needed a murder or another significant character or something. Like for Ralph Richardon's part of to be bigger - or someone else's.  (Judy Cornwell is wasted.) It definitely needed Winters to kill someone so she's more of a threat.

Curtis Harrington handles it well. Though I did wish for some full on baroque Tim Burton handling. 

Winters gives it her all. The kids are good. Hemdale, who represented Mark Lester, produced this.

US version called it Who Slew Auntie Roo? for the Americans.

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