I've been meaning to watch this movie forever. It's one of the few black and white horror movies my mom wouldn't let me watch when I was a kid, because she said it was too horrific, so of course I always wanted to see it to find out what the big deal was, but I never got around to watching it, and years passed. I was determined to watch it this year, though, so I'm excited to finally check it out today.
This movie is about a pair of sisters, both actresses. When they were little girls, Jane was the famous one and her sister Blanche was the shy one who stood in the shadows and didn't get much attention. She was a mean, cruel little brat, but her sister was kind to her anyway. When they got older, Jane's childhood fame faded and Blanche was the one making millions as an actress, but she still took care of her sister and looked out for her. Then the sisters grow elderly, Blanche has been in an accident which left her in a wheelchair, and Jane lives with her sister to take care of her, but instead she is cruel and abusive to her sister, and she is a bitter alcoholic who lives in the past. As the movie goes on, Jane treats her sister more and more horribly until we fear for her life. Can Jane be stopped before it's too late?
Better Davis plays Jane, and Joan Crawford plays Blanche. I always knew they were good actresses, but DUDE, they KILL IT in this movie. Joan Crawford is sweet and kind, and I felt horrible for how her sister treats her. Bette Davis scared the CRAP out of me in this movie. She's mean and evil and cruel, and she tortures her poor sister because she's jealous of her sister's fame, even though her sister has always taken care of her. Considering that Blanche can't walk, she relies on her sister to care for her, and I had a sense of constant dread throughout the movie worrying what Jane would do to hurt her next.
Family dynamics are complicated even when you have a stable and healthy family, and mine was far from that, so this movie hit hard in some painful ways. I'm going to be honest with you, seeing Jane mess with Blanche's head and make her afraid to eat, and then punishing her by starving her actually made me tear up. I remember being afraid to leave my room and afraid to eat because I was never sure what terrible things might happen to me if I left the safety of my room. The next scene where we see Blanche pleading with her sister begging for food was almost too much for me to watch.
There's another scene later in the movie where we see Jane serve Blanche something horrifying for lunch, and thatscene nearly did me in, and I KNEW IT WAS COMING. You've probably heard of this scene before too, because people talk about it a lot when they refer to this movie, so I've known about it my whole life, but actually seeing it happen onscreen, and seeing the cruel actions that lead up to it, had a much bigger impact than I thought it would. I'm not going to spoil what happens, but I'd rather watch a thousand people get stabbed in gory slasher movies than sit through this scene again.
The whole movie is heartbreaking. As cold and sadistic as Jane is, seeing her cry when she looks at herself in the mirror because her looks have faded still felt like a punch in the gut. Watching her dance to the old music like she did onstage as a little girl made my heart hurt for her. Yes, she's a monster, but I still felt for her. Chalk that up to Bette Davis being an amazing actress. Joan Crawford is great too. Watching her drag herself on the floor because her sister took her wheelchair? I could have lived my whole life without seeing that. Yes, I know it's just a movie, but they make it look too real for comfort. God, I can't wait to never watch this movie again (and I mean that) not because it's a bad movie, but because it's a little too good for my liking. My mom was right, this movie is too horrific for me.
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