Likes and dislikes of remake

"4) No friggin Henny at the end! At least I think that was her name, the woman the kids met on the train but maybe that was in the second book."

I'd love to see Gabourey Sidibe as Henny in the Petals On the Wind remake. That's exactly how I pictured her.




SPRING BREAK FOREVER BITCHES!

I haven't read the book in a long time, so I may have left out some key elements (ie. the green dress, the swan bed), but these are my likes and dislikes solely based on the movie (there are also some comparisons to the original):

*LIKES:
- the kids were more age appropriate; they didn't look like adults like they did in the original
- the addition of the "incest"; you see more of it in this version, although it's not quite as depicted in the book
- Christopher during the 2nd half of the movie, once he yelled at Corrinne; he showed more emotion and seemed stronger than during the 1st half, showing his emotional progression (he was actually my favourite character in the WHOLE movie!)
- the beginning scene, although I did miss the creepy music that the original had

*DISLIKES:
- Heather Graham's acting She hardly showed a range of emotion - it was either wide-eyed innocence or wide-eyed craziness! And she talked too fast, making it seem like she was struggling to remember her lines
- the Grandmother was too soft - first she's raising a fist to Cathy's face (what WAS that, BTW???), then she's giving her flowers for their attic garden??? Was she sympathetic or disgusted by them? I didn't understand her. The original Grandmother was more forbidding and intimidating and scary as hell!
- the size of the house; it wasn't as big as in the first movie
- the twins; we hardly saw them and their relationship with Cathy and Christopher seemed almost non-existent...Plus, Cory was cuter in the first movie
- the kids didn't seem as bothered being locked away in this version as they did in the first movie
- the way Corrinne came in and announced that Cory was dead; she seemed so robotic, and I liked how in the original, they showed the empty graves that were meant for when the children died from the arsenic poisoning (a very disturbing scene!)


* For all the hype, I didn't really like the remake. There were several parts that seemed chopped up and stuck together - there was no real segue from one scene to the next. I may be biased, but I prefer the original. Other than the bad acting and the adult-looking Chris and Cathy, the original was creepier whereas this one seemed like it was geared more towards a younger audience. Others have mentioned that some scenes in the book were shown in this version and not in the original, but I'd have to read the book again to see.

Overall, I think I'll stick with the original version. I think all the hype was about the incest part being shown this time. But it was kind of a let down...




"Could you please get your head out of your ass? It's not a hat!" - Pitch Perfect

A lot of what I say will be a repeat of others.

Likes: Followed along a lot closer to the book than the '87 movie. I was surprised they put in details that could have been left out, like those names in the desk. More 50's period costume.

Dislikes: The ending, not like the book at all and way over the top. WTF is with that groundskeeper as they were escaping? TracesofLove commented on this thread that he let them go after Cathy identified themselves as though he knew how messed up the family was.

The mother and children were not beautiful enough. Maybe that's a tall order among choice of cast but only Chris Jr. was perhaps close enough to be as good looking as he was described but his hair didn't match up to the book's description of being blonde and wavy.

Foxworth Hall was not grand enough. The mansion was supposed to have taken your breath away, a la Biltmore. I seem to recall Cathy describing the attic to look as if it went on for miles.

The Green Dress and Swan Bed. Two things I would have loved to have seen in real life as described in the book.

Some details were put in but why couldn't they have put in Cathy's real inscription as they were leaving instead of "Cathy was here".

The twins, just didn't seem to be involved in this production.

Poor delivery of the lines in the movie, wish there was better acting in this all the way around.

I was really disappointed they didn't show Chris slashing his wrist to feed the twins his blood when they were starving.

Likes:

-I liked the casting. Everyone looked the part. People forget things like Bart was supposed to be much younger than Corrine.

-It stayed very true to the book - the few variations were fine for better story-telling on screen. The ending could have been better, but it's better than the other version and at least did point out the grandmother didn't go up into the attic like in the book.

-The incest scene was included.

-It was set in the right era...this was a big thing to me and helped it be more believable that it could happen.

-The added line that the donuts were from Corrine especially when the kids realize the donuts are poisoned - such a perfect way to point out Corrine had completely stopped caring for her children.


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Dislikes:

-The biggest is that Lifetime didn't make this a two-part movie/mini-series. There was so much potential for it and it could have flowed a little better.

-The house simply wasn't big enough to be the Foxworth mansion. The set for the room for the kids was fine (though I imagined more grand of furniture), but the attic was too small. Granted it didn't need to be quite as big as in the book, but definitely more nooks and crannies type of deal. I wish we had seen the swings Chris made for the twins.

-Cathy's hair needed to be much longer. They simply should have either asked the actress to grow her hair out, used extensions, or simply used a wig. The shorter hair-do didn't help the plot point of the grandmother forcing her to get rid of her hair.

-I'll be burned at the stake for this, but I can overlook the swan bed - but I can't overlook the fact none of the expansive wardrobe and jewels were shown. It was the biggest show that Corrine had everything while the kids had nothing.

-The fact the grandmother took Cathy's ring. There wasn't really any reason for it and it didn't add to the storyline.




"It's better to be hated for who you are than be loved for who you aren't."

Likes

- Extremely faithful to the novel. Kudos to the screenwriter, Kayla Alpert, who has actually been a VCA fan since she was 12, and it showed in her work. There are chunks of dialogue and situations lifted directly from the book that were omitted from the previous film version.

- Mason Dye's casting of Christopher was spot on.

- Ending open for a sequel.

Dislikes

- Ellen Burstyn, God bless her, is a wonderful actress but her performance as the grandmother was all wrong. The grandmother (in the novel) rarely, if ever, let her true emotions slip out of the bag, which was exactly what Ellen was constantly doing over and over in the film. Also, her version of the grandmother acted as though she was just merely annoyed by her grandchildren. Plus, she was frail and way too short for the part. Louise Fletcher was tall, stone-faced and intimidating and very unpredictable - you never really knew how far she could get and what she could do. IMO, had she been paired with the kids in this version, all of the problems mentioned above would be resolved. Louise hated her grandchildren with a fervent, inhuman passion and you could sense that by studying her glare. The scene were she berates at the children after Corrine is whipped is priceless.

- Heather Graham as Corrine. I honestly understand Corrine's characterization of being deceptive/fake and completely vague as a human being, but Heather managed to lower all of this into a whole new level. Plus, she was just too over-the-place, which was exactly what Corrine was in the novel, but it doesn't translate well in film. Victoria Tennant was more subtle but more menacing and conniving.

- I didn't really buy Kiernan Shipka as Cathy. She lacked the spunk and spirit that defined Cathy both in the novel and the 80s version, though Kristy Swanson indeed was a little hammy here and there. Nevertheless, Kristy Swanson, both in looks and characterization, really defined Cathy from the books.

- The twins were almost nonexistent in this version. I didn't feel invested in their characters (well, maybe Carrie a little) and we are never really shown their torment. They're just background characters used as plot devices (eg Cory's death). I was more emotionally drawn to the twins in the 80s version.

- The music score was also nonexistent. Christopher Young all the way.

- The attic set and the mansion exteriors were pitiful, to say the least. The attic was supposed to be immense, dark and scary, the same with the house. Again, a win for the 80s version.

- The incest was too sugarcoated for my likes. Too much cuddling and not enough disturbing, strongly suggestive sequences. What made the novel undeniably dark was that when Chris raped Cathy, both were horrified not just by the act, but also by their own lustful feelings. Here, they just seem to be two teenagers goofing around and experimenting with sex.

- The whole film was missing that overwhelming sense of dread and isolation that conquered the novel and was beautifully translated into the original film, which also offered a wonderfully Gothic atmosphere. The kids roamed through the sets as though they had been sent to some boring holidays.

Overall

Despite all the problems I've listed above, I really did like this version and believe that it's a solid, decent effort at adapting the novel. I really hope Lifetime continues with the rest of the books in the series.