Mischievous Christopher (the terrific Mark Lester of "Oliver!" and "Eyewitness" fame) and his sweet little sister Katy (adorable blonde sprite Chloe Franks, who played the daughters of Christopher Lee in "The House That Dripped Blood" and Joan Collins in "Tales from the Crypt") are a couple of orphans living in Great Britian in the 1920's. Christopher convinces Katy that loopy recluse Rosie "Auntie Roo" Forrest (Shelley Winters chewing the scenery with her trademark four-sheets-to-the-wind hambone panache),a former music hall singer who once a year invites a bunch of kids to her huge, crumbling mansion for Christmas diner, is really a witch who plans to fatten Katy up and eat her. Director Curtis Harrington, adapting a fiendishly clever script co-written by veteran Hammer horror film scribe Jimmy ("The Curse of Frankenstein," "The Horror of Dracula") Sangster, whips up a delightfully twisted and darkly amusing Gothic black comedy version of "Hansel and Gretel." The first-rate cast have a ball with their juicy parts: Ralph Richardson as an eccentric charlatan medium, Michael Gothard (the crazed killer in "Scream and Scream Again") as a mean butler, Lionel Jeffries as a friendly, hearty police inspector, Hugh Griffiths as a jolly butcher, and Marianne Stone as a strict orphanage supervisor. Desmond Dickinson's polished cinematography, Kenneth J. Jones' spooky orchestral score, and the marvelously macabre conclusion are all solid and satisfying as well. Good, ghoulish fun.

Apparently 1971 was a heck of a year for Shelley Winters. She made "What's The Matter With Helen?" and "Whoever Slew Auntie Roo?"--two movies where she played characters that were a crayons short of a full box (in other words, she was bonkers). Both are on a single DVD and are a lot of kitschy fun.

The film starts with Winters telling her daughter a bedtime story and the scene is quite charming...until the camera pulls back and you see that the child is dead and has been there for a very, very long time! Creepy. You soon see that Winters is indeed daffy and a psychic (Ralph Richardson) comes to the house and they have a séance--Winters is desperately trying to dead daughter.

A bit later, a group of orphans are invited to this weird lady's home. Apparently, each Christmas she invites a group of lucky kids to her mansion and showers them with love and presents and food. It looks wonderful. However, you know that Winters is imbalanced--though she acts more like some sort of angel. Two orphans sneak into the carriage with the rest and want to be part of the fun. The nasty lady from the orphanage is appalled (these kids are "bad" in her nasty mind) but Winters insists that they, too, should stay.

These two particular kids just happen to be in the wrong place at the right time. The oldest (Mark Lester--who STILL looks like he needs a haircut following his role in "Oliver!") is quite inquisitive and searches throughout the house finding all kinds of creepy props from Winters' deceased husband (a magician) as well as a secret room--Winters' dead daughter's room (though fortunately the corpse is now hidden). As for the little girl, she has the same name as the dead daughter and reminds Winters of her lost child. So, in a move that Lester thinks is akin to the witch in "Hansel & Gretel", Winters steals the little girl and hides her in the hidden room. Why she didn't just adopt the kid, I have no idea. Regardless, Lester returns to the home to find his sister. What's in store for the kids? Is this crazy old lady going to eat them or do them other bodily harm? Or is she just a crazy but harmless lady who is trying to replace her lost child? Will she love them or eat them? Tune in a find out where all this goes in this creepy and atmospheric tale.

There is a lot to like in this film. First, the atmosphere is super-creepy. Second, and this is my favorite part, you never are really sure about Winters--is she crazy but harmless and a bit sad or is she a dangerous psycho? This isn't real clear--and makes for a really, really unique viewing experience. Third, the ending is mega-creepy and will make your skin crawl a bit! Overall, an exciting low-brow bit of entertainment that horror fans should adore.

No doubt that Shelley Winters assumed the title role in Whoever Slew Auntie Roo for a chance to really chew the scenery. That's what's great about films like Whoever Slew Auntie Roo, you can overact to the max and no one will criticize you.

By all appearances Shelley is a kindly old widow, an American transplanted to the United Kingdom of the Roaring Twenties and she opens her house once a year to a select group of children from a nearby school. In reality all I can say is she's a woman with issues. She lost her own daughter in a tragic accident and tries to communicate with her through a medium played deliciously by Ralph Richardson.

Mark Lester and Chloe Franks are a pair of misbehaving kids from the school who are brother and sister. They don't get invited to Shelley's place but stowaway in the trunk of the car that brings the others. That's when Shelley fixates on young Chloe who reminds her of her daughter. She kidnaps Chloe and Lester takes it upon himself to rescue her.

The story is a loosely told tongue and cheek version of the Grimm brothers Hansel And Gretel so if you remember the tale from your childhood, you've got some approximate idea of what happens to Winters. Lester turns out to be quite the resourceful kid.

Also take note of Lionel Jeffries as the local police inspector and Hugh Griffith as the local butcher who wants payment for services owed and won't take no for an answer from Winters.

There's also a bit of similarity with American Gothic classic Night Of The Hunter in how the kids outwit Winters the way they outwitted Robert Mitchum in that film.

Fans of Shelley Winters should enjoy this.