Blu-ray Review – Whoever Slew Auntie Roo?

Maintaining his unique fascination with movie titles punctuated with question marks, director Curtis Harrington follows-up 1971's "What's the Matter with Helen?" with "Whoever Slew Auntie Roo?" A period chiller that reteams the helmer with star Shelley Winters, the effort is a largely successful slice of nastiness that merges mystery with fairy tale motivations, watching Harrington search for a way to make the tenderness of Christmastime spent with orphans in need terrifying to the general audience. The feature isn't entirely successful with big scares, but it carries superb atmosphere and a few surprises, with Winters unleashing her traditional instability to make the film memorable, locating and molesting scripted beats of maternal agony and wide-eyed madness. "Auntie Roo" is unusual in the sense that it highlights children participating in violence and extremity, but Harrington keeps it all tasteful and well-paced, working his way to a third-act payoff that actually delivers intended shock. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com