208) Whoever Slew Auntie Roo? (1971)

"So, she's bad?"

Director
Curtis Harrington

Cast

Shelley Winters - Auntie Roo
Mark Lester - Christopher Coombs
Chloe Franks - Katy Coombs
Ralph Richardson - Mr. Benton
Lionel Jeffries - Police Inspector Willoughby
Rosalie Crutchley - Miss Henley
Judy Cornwell - Clarine
Michael Gothard - Albie

It recently occurred to me that I didn't know for sure what the difference is exactly between a horror and a thriller movie. The term "horror/thriller" confused me. A lot of horror movies are categorized as such. 

A horror movie put simply intends to scare its audience. I knew that much before searching for the difference. 

Evidently, a thriller aims to keep its audience in anticipation. But doesn't a horror movie accomplish the same thing? A thriller movie keeps its audience on the edge of their seat. 

When it comes to characters in thriller movies, they're usually pulled into the scenario or evil plans of the antagonist unwillingly. Think of "Die Hard" when Hans Gruber (Alan Rickman) and his band of nasty terrorists as they decide to take over the Nakatomi building just as John McClane (Bruce Willis) walks in to make up with his estranged wife in time for the holidays. This is a perfect specimen of a thriller.

Horror is a bit of the same thing, but with more dreadful, unsettling imagery and actions. Horror movie characters, who are normally victims, find themselves up against powers and threats that in some way or another fall into the realm of the inexplicable. The horror more often comes to them through circumstances they can't control. And the way out of their nightmare, whatever it may be, is often through a means that's just as dreadful or paranormal as the situation they're up against. 

To put it simply, one genre builds tension, and the other builds suspense. So, it's easy to mix these two genres together. Mystery, crime and action/adventure movies can claim the label of thriller as well. 

I'm sure, if I thought about it for a few minutes, I could name a decent amount of horror/ thriller movies that are a perfect mix of both genres. While watching the 1971 holiday horror/thriller flick "Whoever Slew Auntie Roo?" directed by Curtis Harrington, the topic of horror versus thriller came to mind. 

Shelley Winters with young co-stars
Mark Lester and Chloe Franks in "Whoever Slew Auntie Roo?"

In this movie, Shelley Winters plays the wealthy Rosie Forrest who hosts a fabulous Christmas party every year for a group of children from a nearby orphanage inside her huge estate. 

The kids come over on Christmas eve, celebrate, and spend the night so they can wake up the next morning and see what Santa Claus brought them. 

Only ten kids are selected by the head house mother, Miss. Henley (Rosalie Crutchley), to attend.

And while Rosie, whom the kids affectionately call Auntie Roo, has a warm and welcoming grandmotherly demeanor, what the kids don't know is that she keeps the mummified remains of her deceased daughter, Katherine, inside the nursery hidden away in the attic which is setup as a nursary. 

Roo even holds regular seances to try and contact Kathrine in the afterlife. As far as she knows, these seances work. During the rituals, she can hear her daughter calling out to her from the beyond. The seances are led by Mr. Benton (Ralph Richardson) whom Roo doesn't realize is a fraudulent medium. Roo pays him to hold these seances, and Mr. Benton splits the payments with Roo's butler, Albie (Michael Gothard).

However, two particular orphans, Christopher and Katy Coombs (Mark Lester and Chloe Franks) decide they're going to sneak into the party despite not being among the ten lucky chosen party goers. 

When they're discovered, Roo doesn't mind their presence at all and includes them in the festivities. She also thinks that Katy looks similar to her late daughter. 

During the night, after the children are sent to bed, Christopher sneaks around the house, and eavesdrops on Roo's seance. 

While peaking through a keyhole, he spots the house maid, Clarine (Judy Cornwell), hiding in the pantry pretending to be Catherine from the beyond, all in a continuous effort to fool Auntie Roo. 

After the kids wake up on Christmas morning, open their gifts from Santa, and eventually head back to the orphanage, Roo kidnaps Katy to raise her in place of Katherine. Since his sister is not with the other kids, he secretly stays behind to find her. 

Of course, he's caught rather quickly. Christopher thinks that Roo is a witch who intends to cook and eat him and Katy. So, he takes it upon himself to take her down and rescue his sister by himself. 

The oldest rule, perhaps, in storytelling is to show rather than tell. "Whoever Slew Auntie Roo?" seems to have nailed that rule well. There's little, if any, exposition. The story plays out rather naturally. 

And it's a prime textbook example of a genuine horror/thriller movie. It doesn't rely on much to be precisely that.

It's slightly misguided at first, as though it wasn't sure where to take itself. As the story finds its footing, it seems to realize that its plot is similar enough to the story of "Hansel and Gretel." So, that's what it decides to be - a very loose retelling of Hansel and Gretel.  

By the final act, it's proud of itself for realizing how similar it is that the audience starts hearing Christopher's thoughts in which he compares his and Katy's dilemma to that of Hansel and Gretel. 

The movie feels a little labored, especially as the two children try to escape Roo and her house but are outsmarted by her. The movie really milks the ending for all the trepidation and thrills it can squeeze out. 

It's a thriller that has a satisfyingly decent amount of fear and unsettling elements to make it a horror movie. Though the movie is overall predictable, it still manages to be entertaining. 

"Whoever Slew Auntie Roo?" is also a perfect example of the horror sub-genre known as "psycho biddy horror." I wrote about this subgenre in my review of "Mountaintop Motel Massacre" from 1983. Also often referred to as "hagsploitation," the term refers to horror movies centered on older and often wealthy women, or "old biddies," who are driven to the point of psychotic behavior. 

The genre became popular in the 1960s. Writer Stephen King made his mark in the subgenre with his novel, "Misery" which director Rob Reiner turned into a movie in 1990 staring Kathy Bates. 

"Whoever Slew Auntie Roo?" reminds me of the 2019 psychobiddy horror movie "Ma" which stars Octavia Spencer as an older mother who wins the favor of a group of teens by supplying them with alcohol and throwing them parties, all for nefarious purposes. There are some similarities between both movies. For one thing, they both have Hansel and Gretal vibes, though "Whoever Slew Auntie Roo?" constantly compares itself to the fairy tale as it progresses. 

Shelley Winters puts on an amusingly uncomfortable performance. She's well cast in this role and certainly off-putting to watch, even as she plays the grandmotherly figure to the orphans at Christmas. The way she develops her character is well played. She's likeable, sympathetic, and evil in the end. 

Actor Mark Lester is perhaps better known for his performance as Oliver Twist in the 1968 musical "Oliver!"

And director Curtis Harrington is known for directing some other supernatural and psychological horror flicks such as "The Killing Kind" (1973) and "Ruby" (1977). He also directed Shelley Winters alongside Debbie Reynolds in another psychobiddy horror film, "What's the Matter with Helen?" released the same year as this movie.

The atmosphere carries enough uneasiness to keep me invested. Putting children in harm's way, especially in the looming presence of an otherwise motherly or grandmotherly figure, gives movies like this a unique edge of uneasiness and intensity. Children in a vulnerable scenario at the hands of a mother-figure threatening danger of cruelty is enough for an audience to grasp their seats unable to look away because they need to see the resolution. 

The story may be simple and predictable, but its overall creepiness and unsettling tone makes it a Christmas horror movie worthy of being a cult classic. It's a fun movie despite itself, if the mood calls for such a flick.