Whoever Slew Auntie Roo?
She's Taking a STAB at Motherhood!
1972 | 91m | English
Popularity: 2 (history)
| Director: | Curtis Harrington |
|---|---|
| Writer: | Robert Blees, David D. Osborn, Jimmy Sangster |
| Staring: |
| A demented widow lures unsuspecting children into her mansion in a bizarre "Hansel and Gretel" twist. | |
| Release Date: | Feb 11, 1972 |
|---|---|
| Director: | Curtis Harrington |
| Writer: | Robert Blees, David D. Osborn, Jimmy Sangster |
| Genres: | Horror, Thriller |
| Keywords | new year's eve, kidnapping, brother, christmas tree, sister, orphan, house fire, teddy bear, séance, child kidnapping, fake psychic, older brother younger sister, christmas, orphan siblings, magician, death of a child, hagsploitation |
| Production Companies | American International Pictures, Hemdale |
| Box Office |
Revenue: $0
Budget: $0 |
| Updates |
Updated: Jul 30, 2025 Entered: Apr 20, 2024 |
| Name | Character |
|---|---|
| Shelley Winters | Mrs. Forrest |
| Mark Lester | Christopher Coombs |
| Chloe Franks | Katy Coombs |
| Ralph Richardson | Mr. Benton |
| Lionel Jeffries | Police Insp. Willoughby |
| Hugh Griffith | Mr. Harrison, The Pigman |
| Rosalie Crutchley | Miss Henley |
| Pat Heywood | Dr. Mason |
| Judy Cornwell | Clarine |
| Michael Gothard | Albie |
| Jackie Cowper | Angela Barnes |
| Richard Beaumont | Peter Brookshire |
| Marianne Stone | Miss Wilcox |
| Dorian Healy | Reggie Pike (uncredited) |
| Name | Job |
|---|---|
| Robert Blees | Screenplay |
| Kenneth V. Jones | Conductor, Original Music Composer |
| Desmond Dickinson | Director of Photography |
| Tristam Cones | Editor |
| Sally Nicholl | Casting |
| Ken Ritchie | Sound Recordist |
| David D. Osborn | Original Story |
| Gavin Lambert | Additional Dialogue |
| George Provis | Art Direction |
| Sylvia Croft | Makeup Artist |
| Eddie Knight | Makeup Artist |
| Pat McDermott | Hairdresser |
| Joyce James | Hairdresser |
| Donald Toms | Production Manager |
| Colin M. Brewer | Assistant Director |
| Bridget Sellers | Wardrobe Supervisor |
| Norman Jones | Camera Operator |
| Richard Langford | Sound Recordist |
| Peter Lennard | Sound Editor |
| June Randall | Continuity |
| Dennison Thornton | Publicist |
| Curtis Harrington | Director |
| Jimmy Sangster | Screenplay |
| Name | Title |
|---|---|
| James H. Nicholson | Producer |
| Louis M. Heyward | Executive Producer |
| John Pellatt | Associate Producer |
| Samuel Z. Arkoff | Producer |
| Jimmy Sangster | Producer |
| Organization | Category | Person |
|---|
Popularity History
| Year | Month | Avg | Max | Min |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | 4 | 8 | 11 | 4 |
| 2024 | 5 | 9 | 14 | 5 |
| 2024 | 6 | 7 | 16 | 4 |
| 2024 | 7 | 8 | 16 | 4 |
| 2024 | 8 | 7 | 18 | 5 |
| 2024 | 9 | 7 | 11 | 5 |
| 2024 | 10 | 7 | 14 | 3 |
| 2024 | 11 | 6 | 10 | 4 |
| 2024 | 12 | 6 | 17 | 3 |
| 2025 | 1 | 6 | 10 | 4 |
| 2025 | 2 | 5 | 8 | 2 |
| 2025 | 3 | 3 | 7 | 1 |
| 2025 | 4 | 2 | 3 | 1 |
| 2025 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 1 |
| 2025 | 6 | 1 | 2 | 1 |
| 2025 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2025 | 8 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 2025 | 9 | 1 | 2 | 0 |
| 2025 | 10 | 2 | 4 | 2 |
Trending Position
Shelley Winters is super in this oddball horror. She ("Mrs. Forrest") invites ten young children into her mansion-cum-orphanage one Christmas - desperate to fill the void left by the death of her young daughter Katherine. Two children who did not get invited - "Katy" (Chloe Franks) and her brother " ... Christopher" (Mark Lester) decide that they are not going to be left out - but when the girl ends up locked in the attic, it falls to her brother to manage to convince everyone that his sister has been kidnapped, and that the old lady is not of particularly sound mind! A solid cast support the star here - Sir Ralph Richardson, Lionel Jeffries - in a straight (ash) role for a change, and the always engaging Hugh Griffith, but somehow once the film gets going I expected it to turn comedic. There just isn't any menace. Winters' performance is just scatty, never scary. Still, the ensemble delivers a reasonable script well enough and there are just about enough creepy goings on in the house to sustain it before an ending that i found rather sad.