Continuity mistake: When Corrine takes off her blouse, she shows her children seventeen scars on her back that she got from being whipped by the grandmother. Later in the movie, when Corrine is dancing at a party, she is wearing a strapless dress and there are no scars or any signs that she was struck with a whip.
Flowers in the Attic (1987)
Directed by: Jeffrey Bloom
Starring: Kristy Swanson, Louise Fletcher, Victoria Tennant, Jeb Stuart Adams
Other mistake: When Christopher is in the bathroom stupidly "dabbing" Cathy's back as she's taking a bath there is a glass block window behind them. The window makes no sense. It doesn't match the era or architecture of the bathroom or the home, first of all, but probably more importantly - what's behind it? Where is the light coming from? It's just this random, standing glass block window with an equally-random light source. (00:34:53 - 00:56:49)
Trivia: Victoria Tennant hated the scene where her character was to be killed off so much that she refused to film it and walked off the set. The scene then had to be done by a stunt double.
Trivia: Flowers in the Attic author V.C. Andrews has a cameo appearance in the film as a window-washing maid.
Trivia: Victoria Tennant plays Jeb Stuart Adams' mother in the film, even though in real life she's only 11 years his senior.
Cathy: Christopher, what is it?
Chris: A copy of Grandfather's will. It's 2 months old. It says if it was ever proven Mom had children from her first marriage, even after he's dead, she'd be disinherited.
Cathy: Mother's known all this time that we could never be found.
Chris: She never meant for us to leave that attic.
Question: Who laced the cookies that were given to the children with arsenic? It's never shown who applies it, only who takes the cookies to them.
Question: It's been established that the grandfather has no knowledge of Corrine's children. When they come across a copy of his will, it states that if it was ever discovered that Corrine had children from her first marriage, she would lose everything. Since he never knew he had grandchildren why was this clause ever added?
Answer: Because Connie and her husband were related (he was her uncle) and any children would be a product of incest. And if it was ever found out they had children, it would bring shame and disgrace to the family name.
Question: There were rumors years ago that "Flowers in the Attic" was based on a true story. Is there any factual evidence to back this up?
Answer: Short answer, possibly, but we'll never know to what extent if it was. The film is based on the novel written by Virginia Andrews (V.C. Andrews) in 1979. In her pitch to publishers, she said it was not truly fiction. Her claim is the story is based on the life story of a doctor she met when she was younger. The name of the doctor was never revealed. She also wrote sequels to the original book which would have most likely been complete fiction, and there was a prequel ghost-written that most certainly wouldn't have been based on true events.
Supposedly, the doctor told her that he and his siblings were locked in an attic for six years to preserve family wealth. This is according to "an unidentified relative" of VC Andrews. Source: Wikipedia. As you say, we will never know how much was true.
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Answer: When the children discover the cookies had been poisoned (revealed by the death of their pet mouse which ate part of one of the cookies), they suspect their grandmother. After all, she was the one who had been cruel to them all along. But eventually, they realise that it was in fact, their mother, Corinne, who was lacing the cookies with poison. She was doing so with the hope that the children would eventually die, seemingly from disease. In doing so, she would secure the family inheritance which was contingent upon her never having had children from her first marriage. They eventually confront their mother on the day of her second wedding, and a struggle ensues which ultimately leads to Corinne falling to her death from a balcony.
Michael Albert