The Attic

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0><tr> <td valign="top" colspan=2 height=125 BGCOLOR="#990000" TEXT="#F7F7FF" bgproperties="fixed" background="043467d1dvldzz.png"> <div> <FONT SIZE="7" COLOR="#FFFFFF" FACE="Book Antiqua" ><B>YikesHorror.com</B></FONT><B>     </B><B>|     </B><FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#FFFFCC" FACE="Book Antiqua" ><A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="YikesHorror.com"><U><B>home</B></U></A></FONT></div> <div> <A HREF="id19.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Horror beginning with A"><U>Horror beginning with A</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id21.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="The Abominable Dr. Phibes"><U>The Abominable Dr. Phibes</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id22.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="After Midnight"><U>After Midnight</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id25.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="The Alchemist"><U>The Alchemist</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id26.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Alice, Sweet Alice"><U>Alice, Sweet Alice</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id30.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Alligator"><U>Alligator</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id27.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="The Alien Dead"><U>The Alien Dead</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id31.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Alligator II: The Mutation"><U>Alligator II: The Mutation</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id32.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Alone in the Dark"><U>Alone in the Dark</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id29.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Alisons Birthday"><U>Alison's Birthday</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id28.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Alien Prey"><U>Alien Prey</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id34.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="An American Werewolf in London"><U>An American Werewolf in London</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id33.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="American Gothic"><U>American Gothic</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id20.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="The Amityville Horror"><U>The Amityville Horror</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id35.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Amityville 1992: Its about Time"><U>Amityville 1992: It's about Time</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id36.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="The Amityville Curse"><U>The Amityville Curse</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id42.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Amityville 4: The Evil Escapes"><U>Amityville 4: The Evil Escapes</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id37.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="The Amityville Horror"><U>The Amityville Horror</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id39.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Amityville 3D: The Demon"><U>Amityville 3D: The Demon</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id40.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Amityville: A New Generation"><U>Amityville: A New Generation</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id38.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Amityville II: The Possession"><U>Amityville II: The Possession</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id43.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Andy Warhols Dracula"><U>Andy Warhol's Dracula</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id44.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Andy Warhols Frankenstein"><U>Andy Warhol's Frankenstein</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id45.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Angel Heart"><U>Angel Heart</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id46.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Anguish"><U>Anguish</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id47.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Ants!"><U>Ants!</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id48.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="The Appointment"><U>The Appointment</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id57.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="The Appointment"><U>The Appointment</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id58.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Appointment with Fear"><U>Appointment with Fear</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id59.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Apprentice to Murder"><U>Apprentice to Murder</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id60.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="April Fools Day"><U>April Fool's Day</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id61.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Arachnophobia"><U>Arachnophobia</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id62.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Are You in the House Alone?"><U>Are You in the House Alone?</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id63.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Army of Darkness"><U>Army of Darkness</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id64.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="The Asphyx"><U>The Asphyx</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id65.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Asylum of Satan"><U>Asylum of Satan</U></A>   |   <B>The Attic</B>   |   <A HREF="id67.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Audrey Rose"><U>Audrey Rose</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id68.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="The Awakening"><U>The Awakening</U></A></div> <div> </div> </td> </tr><tr> <td valign="top" width=190 BGCOLOR="#990000" TEXT="#F7F7FF"> <div> <B> <IMG SRC="http://service.bfast.com/bfast/serve?bfmid=2181&sourceid=39400659&categoryid=dvd_scifihor2" BORDER="0" WIDTH="1" HEIGHT="1" NOSAVE > <A HREF="http://service.bfast.com/bfast/click?bfmid=2181&sourceid=39400659&categoryid=dvd_scifihor2" TARGET="_top"><IMG SRC="http://a1204.g.akamai.net/f/1204/1181/24h/www.affiliate.net/affnet/images/vid_dvd120X90C.gif" BORDER="0" WIDTH="120" HEIGHT="90" ALT="Check Out Our Horror Collection"></A>  </B></div> </td> <td valign="top" height=355 BGCOLOR="#FFFF99" TEXT="#080000"> <div> <B>The Attic</B></div> <div> <B>(Father/Attic/Secret)                          6******skulls</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>*Blood* *Not Particularly Violent* *No Strong Language* *No Nudity* *Sexual Situations (Masturbation)* *Not Gory*</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>1980/Color/Min./Monterey Home Video & Manson International & Forum Productions Ltd. & The Attic Associates/Not Rated</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>Director.............George Edwards</B></div> <div> <B>Screenplay.......Tony Crechales & George Edwards</B></div> <div> <B>Music................Hod David Schudson</B></div> <div> <B>Producer...........Raymond M. Dryden & Phillip Randall</B></div> <div> <B>Executive Producers.....Robert H. Becker & Mel Edelstein</B></div> <bR> <div> <B><U>Dramatis Personae</U></B></div> <div> <B>Louise Elmore...Carrie Snodgress (</B><I><B>Pale Rider, Trick or Treat</B></I><B>)</B></div> <div> <B>Wendell Elmore..Ray Milland (</B><I><B>Cruise into Terror, Frogs, The Uncanny</B></I><B>)</B></div> <div> <B>Emily Perkins...Ruth Cox </B></div> <div> <B>Mrs. Perkins....Rosemary Murphy (</B><I><B>Ben, George Washington, Walking Tall</B></I><B>)</B></div> <div> <B>Dickie..........Angel</B></div> <div> <B>The Librarian...Francis Bay</B></div> <div> <B>Mrs. Mooney.....Fern Barry</B></div> <div> <B>Mrs. Fowler.....Marjorie Eaton</B></div> <div> <B>Agent...........Dick Welsbacher</B></div> <div> <B>Secretary.......Joyce Cavarozzi</B></div> <div> <B>Sailor..........Michael Rhodes</B></div> <div> <B>Young Robert....Ron Luce</B></div> <div> <B>Travel Agent....Phil Speary</B></div> <div> <B>David Perkins...Patrick Brennan</B></div> <div> <B>Marty...........Mark Andrews</B></div> <bR> <div> <B><U>Critique</U></B><B>: The package is a bit deceiving; "13 steps to terror". We never find out how many steps there are as the attic is never problematized and Louise seems completely unaware there is an attic until she finds the key. In fact, until the last five minutes, the film more closely resembles a depressing "relationship" movie, in which the protagonist learns to stand on her own, than an "attic" movie. The arrival of the monkey marks a bizarre change in tone from depressing to mischievous which lasts longer than you might expect. Indeed, the action takes a long time to develop, although the film redeems itself with a strong attic finale. Ray Milland is steady as always and Carrie Snodgress is engaging as the prisoner Louise. The gossip and acting are enough to get the viewer through the horrorless first half, granted - the smell of Louise's decomposing friends hovers over the inaction much like the roses in the film's literary inspiration. The ending and the entire missing lover motif are conscious allusions to Faulkner's "A Rose for Emily" as evidenced by the naming of Louise's friend. Coincidentally in this "Emily and Louise" (nine years before Thelma and Louise) the theme of two female friends, their dissatisfaction and abuse make this a sort of "Thelma and Louise" for repressed librarians. On a related note, feminists will enjoy Louise's comment about the poor men surrendering their institutions to liberated females.</B></div> <div> <B>Memorable Line: The truth is, nobody ever throws you one (a line), you save yourself.</B></div> <bR> <div> <B><U>Plot Summary</U></B><B>: A woman with an extensive collection of stuffed monkeys watches a film of happier times when she frolicked with an handsome young man and weeps pitifully, and slashes her wrists. Soon she is back at work as a librarian in Wichita, explaining she had an accident, but hitting the bottle on the job. one of the visitors, Mrs. Fowler confides in co-worker (actually, replacement in training, Emily that Louise Elmore has had accidents before "in her intoxicated condition". A fire they say she set, and another accident years ago she burned down her father's department store causing her father Wendell Elmore to leap from the second floor, crippling her father. Lonely Louise invites Emily to a movie but she has a date with a college boy. Louise confides she was prepared to hate Emily, her replacement after holding down the fort for 19 years, but she considers her a friend. On her lonely walk/ride home, Louise reflects on disappointments and dreams of trips to exotic places. At home with her bitter father, a vegetarian who allows no meat in the house, "At least you can walk!" Women he snarls, "weak, manipulating, vindictive!", all that is except his deceased wife. In a fantasy, Louise pours him his poisoned tea (potassium Ferrocyanide) and gleefully watches him suffocate. Then, obviously sickened, she massages his legs and then his lower back as he complains of dreadful pain getting worse. In a discussion with Emily about her fiance, , Louise reveals that her own fiance, Robert Orin Farnsworth disappeared the day they were to be married nineteen years ago. She tells of the first fire when she had a that the books were her enemies and show she felt victorious when she had burned the library and after lunch goes home and masturbates, but she is interrupted by her father shouting. He's had a chocolate fudge cake delivered, her favorite, but she announces its stale and fantasizes she jams it in his face and leaves for the movies. In the cinema, a handsome blonde sailor sits beside her, shares his popcorn, and takes her to the Hotel Eaton. It's her first time in a hotel. She insists his name is Robert and it's 1960, but he has sex with her anyway. Her father is roaring when she comes home. It's late and he smells liquor! "Getting laid!" she proclaims when he asks where she was. She begins to taunt him with her newfound independence but he seems. In front of a pet store, Louise tells Emily how she loves monkeys, "They never betray you like humans do". Secretly, Emily buys her a chimp ($150) and Louise brings it, Dicky, home and keeps him despite her father's insistence she get rid of it. She calls Mr. Farley at the Bureau of Missing Persons and asks about Robert, but he tells "the nut" there's nothing new. Mr. Luster, the travel agent is equally terse when she announces for the umteenth time she's ready to take a trip. Curious Dicky breaks daddy's glasses, finds where he hides his money, and finds a key daddy keeps on a chain. Emily invites Louise bike-riding and insists it's important even though Sunday is Wendell's day in the park. It appears that Emily is suffering a parental relationship similar to Louise. Parents: selfish, opinionated, and prejudiced. Emily's mother has her little brother stuttering and hides messages from boyfriend Dennis. Louise tells her to leave now or she never will. Emily invites Louise to dinner, yet another indignity for her father. In a new fantasy, Dicky is a giant Gorilla and kills Wendell. At dinner, Mother proves to be as disagreeable as advertised, and Louise breaks one of her knickknacks to aggravate her. Everyone gets drunk at Louise's retirement party. Louise asks her father for $500 to which he answers no, and throws her her mail, which includes a severance check for $631. When She goes out to buy Emily a one way ticket to LA, her father gets out of a wheelchair and gives Dicky a banana. When Louise returns, Dicky is gone. Wendell admits he was out in the garden, but doesn't remember whether he closed the door or not. Wendell hires a young blonde muscleman to mow the lawn, Louise thinks it's Robert and approaches him in her nighty and scares him when she hugs him and insists he's Robert. Wendell calls her a tramp and wants to play cards. "I'm the only one you have!" he cries. When Emily receives Louise's gift, she takes off to get married. She realizes for the first time that Wendell listens to her calls which prompts a vicious showdown between Louise and Wendell, but in the end she can't stand up to him and agrees to take him to the park the next day. Both are in unusually high spirits as they head up the hill in the park. Wendell's wheelchair tips during an argument over his hidden money and he absentmindedly stands up on his own. Enraged after years of enslavement, Louise pounds him until he falls from the hill, bashing his head on a rock. Louise searches the house and finds his money, as well as the key to the attic where a few more surprises await her.</B></div> <bR> <div>  <IMG SRC="http://service.bfast.com/bfast/serve?bfmid=2181&sourceid=39400659&categoryid=dvd_scifihor2" BORDER="0" WIDTH="1" HEIGHT="1" NOSAVE > <A HREF="http://service.bfast.com/bfast/click?bfmid=2181&sourceid=39400659&categoryid=dvd_scifihor2" TARGET="_top"><IMG SRC="http://a1204.g.akamai.net/f/1204/1181/24h/www.affiliate.net/affnet/images/vid_dvd468X60C.gif" BORDER="0" WIDTH="468" HEIGHT="60" ALT="Check Out Our Horror Collection"></A>  </div> </td> </tr></table></body>