© FAKESHEMP.NET
  • Home
  • Reviews
  • Podcasts
    • Podcasts
    • Good Movie Monday
    • WTF was that?
  • MEDIA
    • Videos >
      • Photos
  • GLG
  • Blog
  • Interviews
  • About

PETALS ON THE WIND

7/11/2015

0 Comments

 
Picture
2014 / Director. Karen Moncrieff.
Review by Glenn Cochrane.

PETALS ON THE WIND is the follow up to FLOWERS IN THE ATTIC and it is infinitely worse (and yet so much more enjoyable). I actually watched it in a constant state of disbelief and a fair amount of shame. The fact that it was nighttime only added to the confusion considering the striking resemblance it bears to daytime soap.
 
It is the second instalment in the Lifetime network’s Dollanganger saga, which of course began with FLOWERS IN THE ATTIC. I watched it with an unnatural curiosity. The novels aren’t exactly the type of trash that I would read and yet I have a weird fascination with the story and was keen to see where it went. Of course I could have just read the synopsis on Wikipedia but wheres the fun in that? I am indulging the “car crash” factor… or at least that’s what I’m running with.
 
The story picks up 10 years following the events of the first film and we are reunited with the Dollanganger children. The eldest brother is now a med student. The middle girl is an up and coming ballerina and the youngest girl is in her final years of secondary school. It’s convoluted story of intertwined relationships that’s mostly strung together by themes of sex, incest, revenge and family secrets. When the traumatic memories of the attic persistently affect their lives they scheme a plot of revenge against their mother, the likes of which belongs in the sordid episodes of the trashiest soaps.
 
From the opening scene with its clunky sound design and shonky production values the film begins with the promise of mediocrity and delivers on that promise in spades. To give it some credit, in a step up from the first film the acting here is slightly better. Heather Graham, who was appalling in the previous instalment, steps up her game and delivers a half decent turn as the psychotic mother, although her screen time is limited. Ellen Burstyn returns as the evil grandmother, however her appearance is little more than a cameo (despite being the focal point of the promotional campaign). The rest of the cast are so-so and do their best with a script that can only be described as incredible…
 
Incredibly bad, that is!
 
Having not read the book I watched the film constantly wondering how faithful it was and whether it was making shit up as it went. I later read the synopsis of the original novel online and discovered that the film was almost entirely comprised of liberties. Very little of the book found its way onto the screen and the film’s narrative hop-scotched from one scenario to another, without any character or plot development and almost no resolution. It is essentially a patchwork of polarising scenes from the book, stitched together without any cohesion. What a steaming pile of shit.
 
And yet part of me enjoyed it. What the hell is wrong with me? The perpetual facepalms that were tenderising my forehead became a masochistic ritual and the worse the film became, the more pleasure I got. Now I know why so many house-wives (and house-husbands, for PC sake) become so obsessed and addicted to the bullshit television that rapes their daytime viewing.
 
There’s two more instalments in this series…. Stay tuned! 
​

Picture
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.


    OUR WRITERS
    GLENN COCHRANE
    JARRET GAHAN
    SHAUN CRAWFORD
    ALEX MAYNARD
    CHRIS THOMPSON​
    Picture

    RSS Feed

    Archives

    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012
    April 2012
    March 2012
    February 2012
    January 2012
    December 2011
    November 2011
    October 2011
    September 2011
    August 2011
    July 2011
    June 2011
    May 2011
    April 2011
    March 2011
    February 2011
    January 2011
    December 2010
    November 2010
    September 2010
    April 2010

    RSS Feed

© 2018 FakeShemp.Net    All rights reserved.  FakeShemp.Net Illustrations by MJ Barros. 
  • Home
  • Reviews
  • Podcasts
    • Podcasts
    • Good Movie Monday
    • WTF was that?
  • MEDIA
    • Videos >
      • Photos
  • GLG
  • Blog
  • Interviews
  • About