The Dollanganger children - the elder Cathy (Kristy Swanson) and Chris (Jeb Stuart Adams), and young twins Cory (Ben Ryan Ganger) and Carrie (Lindsay Parker) - live an idyllic life with their photogenic mother (Victoria Tennant) and caring, successful father (Marshall Colt). That is until the day of their father's birthday brings the devastating news that he has been killed in a car accident, leaving the four kids without a father figure and their mother with dwindling savings. When their money runs dry, Mother takes them to their grandparents' mansion in the country, where she hopes to reconnect with her dying father in the hope of being written back into his will. When they arrive, they are met with disdain by Grandmother (Louise Fletcher), who has long felt that her daughter's marriage and family was an abomination. As Mother attempts to crawl back into her parents' good books, the children must be locked away unseen in the attic to be told over time by their only remaining parent to endure the isolation just a little while longer.V. C. Andrews' novel Flowers in the Attic was incredibly successful when it was released in 1979, selling over 40 million copies worldwide, gathering a huge following of young readers, and spawning no fewer than three sequels. The author wisely insisted on script approval when selling the rights for a film adaptation, turning down a number of screenplays before settling with Jeffrey Bloom's version. The producers had already turned down Wes Craven's violent and disturbing vision, deeming it too disturbing for a mainstream audience, despite the director's recent success with A Night on Elm Street. Bloom's script stayed true the novel's controversial themes of incest, but the final product, also directed by Bloom, did not play well with test audiences, who were freaked out by the sexual activity between the two oldest siblings, and unsatisfied with the climax.The production was a notoriously troubled one. When the producers got nervous after the test screenings and insisted on re-shooting the ending, Bloom stepped away, and an unknown replacement was brought in to helm the new scenes. The result has one salivating at the thought of a juicier, more harrowing version with Craven behind the camera, as Flowers in the Attic is a tame, frustrating and ultimately boring affair. It is a film completely disinterested in detail, choosing instead to force us into accepting the children's predicament with no real understanding of how they took so long to figure it all out, and why don't simply make a run for it. Cathy and Chris come across as idiotic, irresponsible and weak, despite the best efforts of Swanson and Adams. Fletcher, evoking her intimidating presence from One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, gives it her very best, but she can't save this damp squib from instantly fading from memory.www.the-wrath-of-blog.blogspot.com

Although this adaptation of Virginia Andrew's dark series has not done justice to her writing, the film is still dark, eerie and captures the main essence of the book.Although it lagged action at times and drags, the story is unique and captivating. The acting of the Grandmother is freaky and it is definitely a film I would watch again.I am interested in the 2014 remake, I am sure with the quality of films made these days we are in for a treat.However, this is the classic adaptation and I think the children were conveyed well and their stories were told in this film.Even if you are not a V.A fan, still a good film to watch.

A bad summary of the book. Yes the book and that is what this movie is based upon: the book! The "Flowers in the Attic" movie is a very poor take on the Dollanganger family story written by Virginia Andrews, period! It was massacred and summarized to produce a poor movie. So many things were changed and not to produce a better movie, the movie was stripped of the soul of the characters. I don't want to mention all the things that were butchered to make this ragged movie. Too many details missing. Was the movie that tight on budget that they couldn't afford to make the scenes flow more realistically? Like teaching the twins in the attic on those old desks in the attic and teaching them crafts with all the gifts Corrine would bring. Not once did I see her bring any gifts, they mentioned them, they mentioned many things but why weren't they portrayed in the movie? What happened to the Attic? It did not fit the description of the book in the least. Let me stress the title of the this story is: Flowers in the Attic and that is where the young Dollangangers spent most of their days, where Cathy grew into puberty. They should of focused more about that. Not implement so many things in the movie that didn't exist in the book. I missed the twins sitting on the small desks and the blackboard, I miss Cathy impersonating the grandmother or dancing? All I saw was Cathy doing stretching exercises. I did not see her putting on old records and dancing, dancing, dancing. Oh and what about Cathy's hair that got cut off? Grandmother put tar in her hair, not cut it...the story is wrong beyond belief. I hope the next movie will pay tribute to the story because this one is a huge disappointment.

Flowers In The Attic could have been a great film, unfortunately it had several problems. First, is that it was written to be an x rated film, or an r....It was shot as an r rating. Then the producers fumbled around and cut the best footage out to release this to a general audience, leaving everybody confused. The writer was so upset, she wrote a scathing letter to producer Sy Levin. The second problem is that Sy Levin was involved. Sy no longer can show his face in Hollywood. He was a friend of O.J. Simpson's and was cut of the same cloth as O.J., his friends were involved in the distribution of hard drugs, and had bragged to me about how much fun it was to stab somebody... Sy was interested in producing the O.J. Simpson court documentary that would prove he was innocent. Meanwhile, I was threatened by them, and had to call the police hot line to save my life. Sy's friends got 25 to life for their other crimes, Sy always gets off without charges, but can no longer show his face in Hollywood. It's a shame that the best footage of some fine actors went on the cutting room floor. Gus Peters gave an excellent performance. This film should be re-edited as an x, although the footage is probably lost forever. I would look forward to the sequel, perhaps Fries can do it properly now that Sy Levin is no longer associated with anybody, and can no longer destroy anybody's life.