The Unofficial Hagsploitation Sequel of ‘Hush…Hush, Sweet Charlotte’ [Horror Queers Podcast]

Feud: Part 2

We kicked off December with a look at the vastly underseen 2019 gem I See You (listen) before heading to Paris for Joel Schumacher’s 2004 adaptation of The Phantom of the Opera (listen). For our third episode of the month, Trace and I are headed to Louisiana for Robert Aldrich‘s unofficial Hagsploitation sequel, Hush…Hush, Sweet Charlotte (1964).

In the film, Bette Davis plays Charlotte, the “mad woman” recluse who purportedly killed her lover John Mayhew (Bruce Dern) with an axe at a party thirty years earlier. In the interim, she’s been shunned by society and she’s on the cusp of eviction so a new highway can be built on her property.

Enter cousin Miriam (Olivia de Havilland), who arrives to help pack, much to the chagrin of Charlotte’s maid, Velma (Agnes Moorhead in an Oscar-nominated performance) and to the delight of Miriam’s former flame, Doctor Drew Bayliss (Joseph Cotten).

But all is not as it seems on the isolated property. Charlotte is haunted by the apparition of her dead lover as well as her father, Sam Hollis (Victor Buono) who she believes really committed the murder. Throw in nosey reporter Mr. Willis (Cecil Kellaway) and Mayhew’s poisonous ex-wife, Jewel (Mary Astor), and someone is clearly plotting something insidious!

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Episode 313: Hush…Hush, Sweet Charlotte (1964)

Grab your gun and watch out for falling planters because we’re back in Hagsploitation territory with Hush…Hush, Sweet Charlotte (1964), the defacto sequel to What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?

There’s so much to enjoy in this delectable thriller, including gorgeous B/W cinematography, another empathetic lead performance from Bette Davis and a scenery chewing Olivia de Havilland.

Plus: Another epic Bette vs Joan showdown, surprising Oscar noms, double bill recommendations, and why de Havilland should have played more bitches.

Cross out Hush…Hush, Sweet Charlotte!

Coming up on Wednesday: It’s literally Christmas Day, so there’s only one film we could cover for 2024: Terrifier 3! Art’s gonna slay the holigay.

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