07/31/2026
“She never meant for us to leave that attic.” We watched “Flowers in the Attic” (1987) with our friend, the hilarious Michael Morgan and we will Not be eating those cookies. Based on the novel by the prolific V.C. Andrew’s, this film is melodramatic, American gothic and just a little trashy. The Dollanganger children have been locked away in their grandparents mansion by their scheming mother (Victoria Tennant) and uncaring grandmother played by Nurse Ratched herself, the real queen diva Louise Fletcher. Every school kid in the 80s and 90s knew the dark secret the source novel Flowers in the Attic held - but the filmmakers got cold feet when it came to depicting eldest brother and sister Chris (Jeb Stuart Adams) and Cathy (Kristy Swanson) in shall we say, compromising situations. Even without the sensation aspects of the original book, the movie is still a ton of fun with the three female leads trading barbs (and slaps, and whips) every chance they get. Louise Fletcher is iconic as the grandmother you love to hate while Victoria Tennant feels like she may have taken an Ambien and washed it down with her nightly Franzia. While not the most faithful book to screen adaptations ever, it may be all for the better since the source material is a little too cuckoo even for the 80s. We’ll leave the full story of the Dollanganger clan to the Lifetime original movie series. Come for the Hagsploitation, stay for the iconic lines - “Eat the cookie, Mother!”
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