I Watch Films: Whoever Slew Auntie Roo?

Whoever Slew Auntie Roo?

Auntie Roo (Rosie Forest) is the widow of a magician who lives in a big house in the woods, known as the gingerbread house. Her daughter Katherine died, and she keeps the mummified body hidden (she was reported vanished). A medium holds seances to contact the daughter; he’s a fraud who is in league with Auntie Roo’s servants.

Christopher and Katy are orphans in a home. They keep running away. Christopher tells stories, about witches and dragons and things, but he’s been told not to and so refuses to talk. He narrates Hansel and Gretel over the film.

Every year Auntie Roo invites children from the orphanage to spend Christmas with her. This year Christopher and Katy have sneaked to be with them. And Katy reminds Auntie Roo of her daughter…

Everything comes to a head. The cast is full of well-known faces, and they’re all doing a good job. Auntie Roo tries too hard at everything, and gets away with it, as we realise it’s a façade over her grief, which in turn conceals her madness.

Watch This: A clever fairytale-inspired horror film, with the horror coming from more than one direction
Don’t Watch This: A weird woman kidnaps some horrid children