The Dollanganger Family Incest Saga is complete.
“Flowers in the Attic” is an amazing start to the classic tale of family incestual attic happenings. Kiernan Shipka and Ellen Burstyn lift up the acting chops of the first installment. Still, I kinda liked the 1987 adaptation far better. Each adaptation misses out on the gritty details of the book. But, I’m not sure if America is ready for a graphic retelling of those original books.
“Petals on the Wind” is the second chapter in the V.C. Andrews incest saga about the Dollanganger family. So much of the sequel film revels in the worse of what you expect. People marry each other to have revenge babies. Kids are tortured and poisoned again. The incest thing is never dropped, as Cathy decides to take the fight back to her mother. Then, there’s more boning. But, it’s done in a way that will pass on basic cable.
“If There Be Thorns” is the third leg in the Dollanganger incest saga. While the first part is the most memorable, it’s interesting to see the further adaptations sink into the bizarre soap opera period nature of keeping incest alive across the decades. I keep forgetting that there is a generation out there who didn’t get to experience V.C. Andrews a huge genre writer. Now, it feels kinda off just to have these adaptations exist as a limp Lifetime movies. While the kitsch is there, the opportunity to get really gross has gone missing.
“Seeds of Yesterday” is the end of the Dollanganger incest family saga. The fourth and final book of V.C. Andrews’ great paperback smut fantasy has produced something tepid in a TV movie. While the sensuality is there, you don’t get the sense of underlying disgust that was found in the original novels. Now, it plays like a bad soap opera with evil kids and relationship politics. While the stakes were high at one point, it seems like the ground has fallen out from this series.
The stuff with Bart and Cindy wasn’t in the book and it was added poorly. Don’t debate me on this, literary junk scholars. I will smite thee with my knowledge of adaptations of B material. Still, it’s admirable that Lifetime was willing to undertake such a production.
Who would’ve known that incest would become so popular with the Lifetime crowd? This sequel much like the later books became so trashy so fast that I thought Lifetime had finally wised up to what their fans want. Unfortunately, it’s the equivalent of hearing a filthy joke from a kid. They miss most of the details and elements of the story don’t add up. Still, you wonder how they came up with it.
The DVD comes with a digital copy as the sole special feature. The A/V Quality is sharp, but not as sharp as the Lifetime HD broadcasts. The Dolby 5.1 track does what it can. Plus, the transfers work with the standard definition limitations. In the end, I’d recommend a purchase to V.C. Andrews fans.
RELEASE DATE: 11/10/2015