Where to Watch Whoever Slew Auntie Roo?

Discover where Whoever Slew Auntie Roo? is available to stream, rent or buy across different platforms and countries.

Why I took it off the list:

Looking for a Christmas-set horror film to review for the season, I remembered Whoever Slew Auntie Roo? from when I was compiling my list of the best Hagsploitation films.

I didn’t include it on that list in lieu of What’s the Matter with Helen?, another psycho-biddy flick from earlier in 1971 also starring the esteemed Shelly Winters. But I decided it was time to give it a proper look.

So, let’s dig in!

Review of Whoever Slew Auntie Roo? (1971)

In the opening shot of Whoever Slew Auntie Roo?, the camera pans around a room of rather disconcerting dolls, as the well-dressed Mrs. Forrest (Winters) merrily sings a sweet lullaby.

She looks in on her daughter asleep in her cot, telling her to be a good girl and to sleep tight, as a reverse shot reveals a cherubic child asleep in her bed.

However, as Mrs. Forrest departs, we pan back over to the crib only to be greeted by a mummified corpse. It’s clear from the outset, then, that this woman is disturbed at best and unhinged at worst.

A dark sky crackling with lightning and thunder, as well as a dramatic orchestral score, then clues us into the gothic tone we can expect from the film. Amid the storm, a car occupied by Mr. Benton (Ralph Richardson) drives up to the imposing mansion Forrest calls home.

It turns out that Benton is a medium of sorts, come to conduct a seance to try to contact Forrest’s dead daughter Katharine. The seance seems to be a success, as an eerie ghostly voice calls out ‘Mummy’ and Forrest begs her daughter to stay with her.

The action then cuts to a ‘Home for Orphaned and Destitute Children’, where 2 young siblings, Christopher and Katy Coombs, forlornly watch the other kids play in the yard.

The other children seem excited to be invited to a grand Christmas party at Forrest Grange, which they dub ‘The Gingerbread House’. But Christopher and Katy are silent, seemingly having maintained this condition since they ran away sometime before.

Unfortunately, they are not among the lucky 10 kids selected to attend the wealthy American’s do, but that doesn’t stop them from sneaking into the trunk of one of the cars bound for the party and slipping into the house.

Although the headmistress is not pleased to see them, Mrs. Forrest gives them a warm welcome, some gingerbread cookies, and urges them to call her ‘Auntie Roo’.

After dramatically reading the kids some Christmas stories and regaling them with tales of having given up a dancing career in Paris to marry a dashing English magician, she packs the children off to bed.

But when Katy innocently slides down a banister, ‘Auntie Roo’ has an adverse reaction, triggering a flashback in which she watches her own daughter fall to her death after attempting the same stunt.

Later, Forrest and Benton attempt another seance, and a curious Katy wanders out of bed and into the room. ‘Auntie Roo’ is convinced it’s Katherine come back to her, starting an obsession with the girl and inviting her to stay permanently.

This invites the envy and suspicion of Christopher, especially after ‘Auntie Roo’ makes a comment about fattening her up, reminding him of the witch in the ‘Hansel and Gretel’ stories he’s been telling his sister.

When the time comes for the children to leave, Katy is mysteriously absent. It seems ‘Auntie Roo’ isn’t quite ready to let go of the child that reminds her of Katherine. And Christopher is determined to get his sister back.

Slight, Bizarre Story with Some Fun Elements

Whoever Slew Auntie Roo? has some stand-out creepy sequences, including one where the children explore a room full of Colonel Forrest’s sinister magician memorabilia.

Another sees Christopher sneaking into a dumb waiter, only to discover ‘Auntie Roo”s secret and almost gets rumbled by the frantic older woman. And the children’s eventual showdown with the ‘witch’ in the kitchen is certainly entertaining.

Christopher’s narration of the ‘Hansel and Gretel’ story over the events of the film is effective and gives the film an innocent, fairy-tale vibe. And the production design of the 1920s house is commendably lavish yet sinister at the same time.

Winters fully throws herself into her role, flipping from distraught to maniacal on a dime, and even literally chews on the scenery (an apple) at one point.

By the end of the film, she’s wonderfully frazzled, bustling around in a mourning gown while wielding a meat cleaver. She even gets a sort of proto-Shining moment where she attempts to chop through a pantry door.

The moral of the story is a bit murky, as the kids come across as more devious than virtuous, and Mrs. Forrest’s behavior perhaps doesn’t deserve her harsh comeuppance. But it’s an entertaining enough thriller.

Final score: 6/10