Mother rules the house with an iron hand and has such power over her daughters that they see themselves as becoming old unmarried, maids. Jodie has feelings for the local doctor, a man much older than her, for which her mother strongly disapproves. Beth finds a relationship with a male stripper in Bristol, but sees nothing in the future with Mother around. While both girls would like to be rid of Mother, nothing happens until Jodie sees images of H. R. Armstrong, the man who put the town on the map by dispatching his un-loving wife
Acting
Jane Horrocks' deliciously unhinged Jodie
Direction
Mandie Fletcher balances farce and genuine creep
Costume
Edward Woodward's magnificent Victorian ghost wardrobe
Director
Mandie Fletcher
Jane Horrocks
Jodie Greenwood
Brenda Fricker
Iris Greenwood
Imelda Staunton
Beth Greenwood
Jonathan Pryce
Dr. Ted Philips
Edward Woodward
Maj. Herbert Armstrong
Billie Whitelaw
Kate Webster
Hywel Bennett
Dr Crippen
Jonathan Hyde
George Joseph Smith
John Mills
Jack the Ripper
Eleanor Bron
Judge
Roger Frost
Rev. Horace Cotton
Richard Moore
Constable Dickman
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Major Herbert Armstrong was a real Welsh solicitor hanged in 1922 for poisoning his wife with arsenic; the film treats him like a cheeky lifestyle influencer.
This bombed so hard in 1994 that it basically vanished, but it's a fascinating time capsule of British cinema trying to be 'edgy' about repressed women while still being cozy.
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