i read the book back when i be in college . it be trash but it be good trash . it involve a happy family a mom and a dad and four kid . the father dy and the mother rapidly run out of money . she have no choice to ask her parent ( who disapprove of the marriage ) for help . her mother agree but tell her that her child must stay up in the attic her father doesn not know about them and and if he do and he wouldn not help her . the kid be in the attic for three year . and and over time and one of the brother discover his sister . and the grandmother torture them almost daily . those be the big selling point of the book . the incest and kid be torture . it do have a happy end though ( sort of ) . i be one of the lucky one who actually saw this at a theatre back in 1987. the studio sneak it out quietly i find out why . first and the story be change . they want a pg 13 rating so there no incest at all not even suggest . the torture their grandmother put them through be soften or eliminate entirely . they aren not up there for three year . and they completely change the end ( although it be great to see the mother get it at the end ) . all the change drain the story of any impact it might have have . act do not help louise fletcher be lousy a the evil grandmother while victoria tennant be even bad a the mother while kristy swanson a the old daughter overplay her role a lot . only jeb stuart adam a her brother give a halfway good performance . it be no great piece of act but pretty ok. to be fair to the movie and a faithful adaptation of the book would probably be way too grim for a movie ( and get an nc 17 rating ) but dilute it completely and add lousy act isn not the way to go . boring and stupid and illogical . a total waste . this deserve a 0. i be really surprised that some people like this movie .