Whoever Slew Auntie Roo?

I hadn't seen Whoever Slew Auntie Roo? before, and the one-sentence synopsis sounded interesting, so I recorded it. It's available on DVD, so I watched it to do a full-length post here.

Shelley Winters plays Mrs. Forrest, a woman living alone in a big house in 1920s England. She's alone because she's a widow and because her young daughter died, as we discover in a creepy opening scene. She still misses her daughter to the point that she routinely holds seances with medium Benton (Ralph Richardson) and her servant Albie (Michael Gothard).

Christmas is coming up, and Forrest has an annual tradition of inviting ten good little children from the local orphanage over to her stately house on Christmas Eve to enjoy a real Christmas and not whatever they'd get at the orphanage. Christopher (Mark Lester) wants to go with his kid sister Katy (Chloe Franks), but apparently he has a reputation for being less than well-behaved, as he and Katy aren't selected. No matter: they'll hide in the trunk of the car!

Christopher and Katy eventually show up at the party unannounced, with the head of the orphanage being irritated, but Mrs. Forrest is OK with it. First, she's got a big enough house that she can handle two extra children. More importantly, however, she sees Katy and has flashbacks to her dead daughter, specifically when Katy tries to slide down the banister: the dead daughter had died falling off the banister and bashing her head in.

Still, it gives Forrest an idea: she'll adopt Christopher and Katy. Christopher doesn't like the idea, since he has the strange belief that Forrest is like the wicked witch in "Hansel and Gretel" and is only adopting them with the intention of fattening them up and cooking them. One would think that's a bit extreme, but Forrest isn't doing anything to allay his fears, especially once she locks Katy up.

Whoever Slew Auntie Roo? is an immensely entertaining movie, even if it's not particularly great. Shelley Winters way overacts, but that's part of what makes her character fun. The movie isn't overly frightening, largely because it's based on something children can understand in "Hansel and Gretel". There's certainly some violence, but it's relatively cartoonish as befits what is at heart a children's story. I also liked the fact that the story is a bit ambiguous, as for a long time it's kept close to the vest whether Forrest is evil or just going insane. Christopher is also, like the children in The Innocents, somebody with more going on than it seems on the surface.

Despite the flaws, I can certainly recommend Whoever Slew Auntie Roo?