Grotesque hijinks aside, the 90-minutes really amounts to a Winters showcase. But it's not the bitchy, brazen type role she was so good at. Instead, she's sweetly cunning, hiding her demented obsession with a dead daughter behind a smiling, generous concern for local orphans. If Aunti Roo is a witch, it's hiding somewhere deep inside. The flick itself builds toward the end, but is otherwise mainly a series of mild episodes strung out inside the mysterious mansion. The acting's good enough; instead, the difficulty's with a screenplay which appears unsure how to fill out the run-time. So we get side-episodes like Albie's phony seance, which is okay in itself, but unfortunately does little to drive the plot or overall suspense. Clearly, the real suspense revolves around the two vulnerable kids, Katy and Chris. Aside from the white-knuckle ending, it's that aspect that needs more suspenseful development, including more tension-building camera close-ups. Anyway, even in its lesser status, the film reminds me of two horror classics: Night of the Hunter (1955) where a innocent-seeming pastor menaces two kids, and Psycho (1960) where another obsessed nut-case preserves his dead mother in skeletal form.
Anyway, the horror flick's a decent time passer, but something of a disappointment given the talent involved.
Anyway, the horror flick's a decent time passer, but something of a disappointment given the talent involved.