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<blockquote data-quote="Crimson" data-source="post: 215325" data-attributes="member: 5079">It was pretty common for actresses of Hollywood&#039;s Golden Age to go slumming in horror films in the 60s and 70s, but I don&#039;t think that automatically qualifies all entries into the &quot;hag horror&quot; sub-genre.&nbsp; Personally I only regard those films directly inspired by BABY JANE to fall into that group, and there&#039;s not many; the film has to feature a middle-aged to older famous actress and center on one character psychologically tormenting another.&nbsp; MISERY fits the motifs, but Kathy Bates wasn&#039;t famous enough or old enough (at the time) to qualify; if the role had been played, by, I don&#039;t know, maybe Sally Field, I would consider it a later entry in the genre.WHATEVER HAPPENED TO BABY JANE? - Obviously the first and most famous, and a pretty darn good film.&nbsp; Not particularly scary, but taut and efficient.&nbsp; Davis is hammy as all get out, but the role justifies the performance.&nbsp; Crawford gives one of her best performances, tightly controlled desperation;&nbsp; I think her under-valued performance grounds the film and prevents it from sliding into Campland. HUSH... HUSH, SWEET CHARLOTTE -- The best of the bunch, the only entry in the genre to have pretensions at being more than a lowgrade shocker -- and pulls it off.&nbsp; A Tennessee Williams-esque melodrama filtered through Grand Guignol with a dash of William Castle-esque shlockery.&nbsp;&nbsp; I love DeHavilland more than Davis or Crawford and I think she&#039;s great in it; but given my druthers, I&#039;d rather have the film with Crawford.FANATIC (more commonly known as DIE! DIE! MY DARLING) --&nbsp; A pretty effective horror film and the first time in years that Bankhead played an actual character rather than a caricature of herself.&nbsp; Tidbit: the off-Broadway play LOOPED was based on a true incident of a drunken, rattled Bankhead requiring 8 hours to record (loop) a single line of dialogue for the film.&nbsp; Bankhead was originally played by Valerie Harper; when she left due to ill health, the role was taken over, in a circularly brilliant piece of casting, by Stephanie Powers who had co-starred with Bankhead in the film.STRAIT-JACKET -- The most disappointing of the films; not good enough to be effective, not bad enough to be trashy fun.&nbsp; Dull and inept.It&#039;s been too long since I&#039;ve seen DEAD RINGER or THE NANNY, but I believe they both fit into the genre and I have vaguely positive recollections of them.I&#039;ve never seen WHATEVER HAPPENED TO AUNT ALICE? or PICTURE MOMMY DEAD, but I believe they both could be classified of the type.HUSH (1998) is an obvious late entry in the genre, although I don&#039;t recall seeing if mentioned as such.&nbsp; It hits all the beats, a shlocky potboiler with Jessica Lange tormenting her pregnant daughter-in-law and mother-in-law.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Crimson, post: 215325, member: 5079"] It was pretty common for actresses of Hollywood's Golden Age to go slumming in horror films in the 60s and 70s, but I don't think that automatically qualifies all entries into the "hag horror" sub-genre. Personally I only regard those films directly inspired by BABY JANE to fall into that group, and there's not many; the film has to feature a middle-aged to older famous actress and center on one character psychologically tormenting another. MISERY fits the motifs, but Kathy Bates wasn't famous enough or old enough (at the time) to qualify; if the role had been played, by, I don't know, maybe Sally Field, I would consider it a later entry in the genre. WHATEVER HAPPENED TO BABY JANE? - Obviously the first and most famous, and a pretty darn good film. Not particularly scary, but taut and efficient. Davis is hammy as all get out, but the role justifies the performance. Crawford gives one of her best performances, tightly controlled desperation; I think her under-valued performance grounds the film and prevents it from sliding into Campland. HUSH... HUSH, SWEET CHARLOTTE -- The best of the bunch, the only entry in the genre to have pretensions at being more than a lowgrade shocker -- and pulls it off. A Tennessee Williams-esque melodrama filtered through Grand Guignol with a dash of William Castle-esque shlockery. I love DeHavilland more than Davis or Crawford and I think she's great in it; but given my druthers, I'd rather have the film with Crawford. FANATIC (more commonly known as DIE! DIE! MY DARLING) -- A pretty effective horror film and the first time in years that Bankhead played an actual character rather than a caricature of herself. Tidbit: the off-Broadway play LOOPED was based on a true incident of a drunken, rattled Bankhead requiring 8 hours to record (loop) a single line of dialogue for the film. Bankhead was originally played by Valerie Harper; when she left due to ill health, the role was taken over, in a circularly brilliant piece of casting, by Stephanie Powers who had co-starred with Bankhead in the film. STRAIT-JACKET -- The most disappointing of the films; not good enough to be effective, not bad enough to be trashy fun. Dull and inept. It's been too long since I've seen DEAD RINGER or THE NANNY, but I believe they both fit into the genre and I have vaguely positive recollections of them. I've never seen WHATEVER HAPPENED TO AUNT ALICE? or PICTURE MOMMY DEAD, but I believe they both could be classified of the type. HUSH (1998) is an obvious late entry in the genre, although I don't recall seeing if mentioned as such. It hits all the beats, a shlocky potboiler with Jessica Lange tormenting her pregnant daughter-in-law and mother-in-law. [/QUOTE]

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