Review of What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? (1962) by Jason J — 03 Aug 2010

A faded child star from the 20's 'Baby' Jane Hudson and her sister Blanche a faded movie star from the 30's live in a large house. Blanche is now confined to a wheelchair due to an accident that many think was attributed to jealousy by Jane. Now forced to live her life upstairs in solitude in her bedroom, Blanche is terrorised by her cruel sister Jane who grows more and more mad each day convinced that her time in the spotlight is coming back. Blanche tries many ways to get help but each time Jane finds out and does some rather mean and nasty things to her - mentally and physically torturing her. Will somebody find Blanche's predicament in time before Jane goes overboard and kills her?

This is a fantastic tense movie and even more fascinating when you hear about the so-called rivalry between Bette Davis and Joan Crawford in real life. Davis hated Crawford and it clearly shows in this movie. There was a lot of tension on set during the filming. Davis was the perfect choice to play such a devious and cruel person and to show her descent into total madness. Her performance is both disturbing and mesmerising and the make-up she wears makes her look like a dolled-up hag! The things her character Jane does to her sister Blanche such as serving her a dead rat for lunch and tying her up in her bedroom in shackles is shocking. It's very much a character study about sisters. It's such a dark creepy movie and you pray for Jane's comeuppance. This movie might be dated but it's one hell of an exceptionally crafted thriller. Modern audiences might be bored because it's tame by today's standards. For those that like classic flicks this is not to be missed.