Depression surrounds poor Louise as she battles taking care of her abusive father who holds some sinister secrets in The Attic.
Louise is a very sad and lonely person who was stood up at the altar by the love of her love. almost 20 years ago, something she has not been able to get past. In the midst of her depression involving that, she is also being forced into retirement at the library she works in and is being replaced by a "younger model". On top of ALL of this, she has to take care of her tyrannical wheelchair-bound father who verbally abuses her at every turn. He attacks her appearance, the way she speaks, the job she has, etc.
Throughout the film, we see Louise fantasizing of killing her father in different ways. She also starts obsessing over the young person replacing her at the library named Emily. Emily has it all. Youth, a new position at the library, and a fiancee she is madly in love with. When a younger guy shows interest in Louise, things start to take a positive turn for her and her passive ways. But it isn't long before her father makes things worse for her and reveals some dark secrets of his own. All this leads to Louise breaking down further and a satisfying ending.
The compelling thing about this movie is the character of Louise. It is her mental health and overwhelming sadness that drew my attention throughout and kept me interested to see where it was going. I think we can all relate to a time when things weren't going well for us in our lives, and her general depressed mood definitely made me feel for her. Carrie Snodgress delivers a very emotional and powerful performance as Louise, the lonely and timid librarian who seems to have a dark cloud constantly hanging over her head.
The Attic is a very effective horror film. Extremely slow moving at times, but I never lost interest in following Louise's journey. It's only available on VHS at this point making it virtually impossible to find, but if you get the chance it is a recommended watch for sure!
7/10
