The Attic

Probably because people are expecting slasher horror and this is more subtle than that, at a time when horror stopped being subtle at all.

This tells the story of a repressed librarian in Wichita (Carrie Snodgrass) who's about to lose her job. She lives with her domineering, crippled father (Ray Milland) in a mansion. It seems she was left at the altar 20 years before when the groom just up and disappeared. She devotes her time to her job and to daddy, but daddy tries to control her every waking moment. He's even jealous of her friendship with a fellow librarian who lives with a domineering mother.

When Carrie comes home with a chimp one day, daddy goes into a tizzy. The chimp up and disappears one day while she's at work. Daddy isn't as pitiable as we think, when we learn he's not crippled at all; it's just act to keep the daughter under his control. What else why daddy have been capable of doing? Well, there's that attic....

Louise is a poor lonely middle-aged librarian prone to odd behavior, outrageous daydreams and suicide attempts. For the last 19 years she has taking care of her abusive wheelchair bound father and hopes beyond hope that her fiancée, who seemingly stood her up at the altar, returns to take her away. I thought that the story was interesting and in many ways parallels Psycho, there's even a nod in the movie. The acting is passable and the leads seem to mesh well. The direction is a bit plain and simple with little or no pizzazz. The biggest drawback is the music. Half the time the music distracts you away from the scene and the rest of the time it lulls you to sleep. Dig that crazy chimp music. The editing draws many of the scenes out for far too long. I kept thinking to myself that the story interested me but the script needed to be fleshed out some more and a bit of the fat trimmed coupled with a decent music score and a little vision, they could have pulled off something interesting.I even liked the obvious twists. Remake anyone?

Okay, the storyline here is pretty interesting. Louise is a lonley librarian who is developing a drinking habit which is about to get her fired. But if anyone has GOOD reason to be sneakin hooch its Louise. 19 years ago she was left at the altar by her true love who she's never heard from since (she calls Missing Persons on a regular basis and they are at a point where they dont think this man EVER existed anywhere but in Louise's mind!). She lives with her evil nasty belittling father who is in a wheelchair due to an accident he had trying to escape a building Louise set on fire during one of her "Crazys" episodes. Since then Louise has had to bathe him, feed him and wait on him hand and foot.As you can imagine its a real downer and Louise has even known to slit a wrist or two over it (which her father points out is just to get attention!) Louise makes freinds with a new younger girl at the library and they start a friendship that at least brings Louise a little bit of joy. Her father cant stand it. "Where were you?" he likes to yell when she comes home at night. (He listens to phone calls too.) From the point were Louise is gifted a monkey....yes, a monkey!.....the twists start hitting. Are they fast and furious? No, the movie moves slowly ...which is unfortunate because all-in-all it IS an interesting story with some cool plot twists. I really think this movie needs a re-make with quicker pacing and maybe a few more surprises thrown in. The first time I saw this movie I was a little kid who caught the last 20 minutes on TV and thought "Wow! What a mind-f***!". Renting it and watching it in full I now see that most of the action takes place in those last 20 minutes.

Well-done psychological thriller is slow in going, but ultimately a rewarding and emotional character study.

Lonely spinster has been living under the eye of her over-bearing father ever since her beloved fiancé disappeared years earlier. But now that she is gathering her will power, will she be able to take control of her life and uncover the secrets from her past?

While many have billed this film as a horror movie, it's really not. The Attic is a highly tense drama that builds to some good thriller qualities, especially toward its climax. Director George Edwards creates a feeling of intrigue and mystery with this film, while adding some occasional Gothic touches. The musical score and theme song also add to the film's over all shut-in mood.

The true highlight of this movie though is its great cast. Veteran actor Ray Milland is appropriate and menacing as the heroine's invalid old father. His performance is quite good and this stands out as one of his better B film roles. However the true star of this film is the late Carrie Snodgrass. Snodgrass gives a stirring, heart-felt performance that makes her character truly sympathetic. In fact, she is so good in her role that she gives the entire film a bit of a solemn, moving note. This is perhaps one of Snodgrass's best roles ever.

The Attic has became a some what lost film over the years and it shouldn't be. It's a rare thriller that actually reaches an emotional level with its audience.

*** out of ****

It was not a horror movie, this movie was more of a case study. Snodgress's acting is brilliant and she definitely deserved an Oscar for it. The movie is definitely creepy and depressing, probably the most depressing movie i've seen. the best part about the movie is that it stays in your head for a long long time. Makes you think about the other side of parenting and how cruel humans can be. It does get boring in between, i wont lie about that. But that can be completely ignored when you look at the movie as a whole. It is not a Horror movie but if you watch it with concentration, you will get scared. After the movie has ended too, just thinking about it.