Whoever Slew Auntie Roo? (1972)

Next up in the Hammer Presents line of British-made horror films not actually made by the company is this AIP thriller from director Curtis Harrington and starring Shelley Winters, who plays the title character. 

Rosie ‘Roo’ Forrest (Winters) lives in a big old house in the country by herself, with her British magician husband no longer alive, and her young daughter dead after Roo encouraged her to slide down a lengthy banister rail and then didn’t move at all to try and catch the girl when she fell from it to her death. Every year she holds a special Christmas party for children from Rosalie Crutchley’s orphanage. Christopher and Katy Coombs (Mark Lester and Chloe Franks) aren’t supposed to be there but they stow away in the boot of a car so they can come and join in the fun.

Roo takes a liking to Katy and wants to keep her there. Meanwhile her staff (Michael Gothard and Judy Cornwall) blackmail her out of £2000 and leave her service, leaving Roo with Katy and Christopher alone in the house after the others have all gone. It’s then up to the children to find a way to escape.

WHOEVER SLEW AUNTIE ROO also features Lionel Jeffries (director of THE RAILWAY CHILDREN and THE AMAZING MR BLUNDEN), Pat Heywood (MUMSY NANNY SONNY AND GIRLY) and Hugh Griffith (the Dr Phibes films). All of those titles are better movies than this, a film that tries hard to be a sinister version of Hansel and Gretel but ultimately ends up being less than riveting, especially in its second half. Kenneth V Jones’ music score is over the top and the best bit of the film is the pre-title sequence which has you thinking we’re going to get the AIP equivalent of a Hammer psycho-thriller, especially with Jimmy Sangster’s name in the credits, but sadly it’s not to be.

If you want to hear far more upbeat and praising assessments of WHOEVER SLEW AUNTIE ROO then head for the commentary track by Alexandra Heller-Nicholas and the 19 minute video essay by Heather Wixson entitled Grief as Horror, both of which find a lot more to love about the film. Hammer’s disc also comes with the film in two aspect ratios: 1.85:1 (cinema version) and 1.37 (likely how it was shown on the TV). There’s also a trailer with and without text, a three minute radio spot and an image gallery.

Curtis Harrington’s WHOEVER SLEW AUNTIE ROO is due out on Blu-ray from Hammer on Monday 24th August 2026

 

The Name of the Rose 4K (1987)

“Beautiful Transfer of a Timeless Classic”

Brother Cadfael goes EuroGothic as Second Sight bring us their whistles and bells 4K restoration of Jean-Jacques Annad’s excellent adaptation of Umberto Eco’s bestselling novel in a limited edition UHD and Blu-ray combo package, as well as standard separate UHD and Blu-ray editions.

The year is 1327. William of Baskerville (Sean Connery) travels with his young novice Adso (Christian Slater) to form part of a contingent of Franciscan monks due to debate a religious issue with representatives of the Catholic church at a remote abbey in Northern Italy. However, when they arrive, they find themselves embroiled in a series of murders. William is called upon by the Abbott (Michel Lonsdale) to use his well-known deductive powers to solve the mystery, but with the arrival of Grand Inquisitor Bernardo Gui (F Murray Abraham) things turn from bad to worse.

An atmospheric, well-acted, beautifully designed (by Dante Ferreti) and shot (by Tonino Delli Colli) French-Italian-German-20th Century Fox coproduction, perhaps the greatest asset of THE NAME OF THE ROSE is its screenplay, the writing of which is detailed in one of the excellent extras on this disc. Umberto Eco’s complex literary work had to be stripped down and what was left reassembled with an eye on it being approachable by the average cinema audience member. By centring on the murder mystery (at least to start with) Andrew Birkin was also able to include some of the symbolism, philosophy and religious discussion that the book is filled with.

But everyone is playing their ‘A’ game here. Composer James Horner offers a score that’s mainly synthesisers but which feels perfectly suited to the medieval period, while the casting director must have had a ball looking for the most interesting faces in Italy and German to populate the monastery. Among the cast are also a swathe of familiar faces including Feodor Chaliapin, Jr (Argento’s INFERNO and Soavi’s THE CHURCH), William Hickey (THE BOSTON STRANGLER and TALES FROM THE DARKSIDE), Ron Perlman (HELLBOY et al), Leopoldo Trieste (Bava’s BAY OF BLOOD), Donald O’Brien (ZOMBIE HOLOCAUST) and Valentina Vargas (HELLRAISER IV).

Second Sight’s 4K transfer is second to none, with the film never having looked this good. Those of you familiar with older BBC TV screenings should note that the Latin uttered here does not get translated with subtitles, which is the same as it was with the UK cinema print. Extras include a new commentary from James Marsh but if you’ve not listened to it before you should start with the excellent archival commentary from director Annaud that will tell you more than a few things to raise your eyebrows.

Other new extras include a set of excellent interviews, including the one with screenwriter Andrew Birkin mentioned above (22 minutes), as well as Ron Perlman (23 minutes), Christian Slater (24 minutes) and director Jean-Jacques Annaud (39 minutes). There’s also an archival German making of (45 minutes). Finally, the limited edition comes with a 120 page book with new writing on the film (not provided for review), six collectors’ art cards and a slipcase to keep it all in. 

Jean-Jacques Annaud’s Palimpsest of Umberto Eco’s THE NAME OF THE ROSE is out from Second Sight in a limited edition combo UHD and Blu-ray set and separate UHD and 

Blu-ray editions on Monday 10th August 2026