Hagsploitation
Hagsploitation/Psycho-biddy is a colloquial term for a subgenre of the horror/thriller movie that features a formerly-glamorous older woman who has become mentally unbalanced and terrorizes those around her. The genre officially began in 1962 with the film What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? (though it had some antecedents) and lasted through the mid-1970s. It has also been referred to by the terms Grande Dame Guignol and hag horror. Renata Adler, in her The New York Times review for the 1968 film The Anniversary, referred to the genre as "the Terrifying Older Actress Filicidal Mummy genre." (Wikipedia)
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- DirectorEd BianchiStarsLauren BacallJames GarnerMichael BiehnDouglas, a record salesman, is an obsessive fan of actress Sally Ross. When his letters are rejected, he strikes out at her and her loved ones.
- DirectorMark RuckerStarsCharles BuschNatasha LyonneJason PriestleyAn ex-pop singer kills her much-hated husband to be with her young lover. Her daughter plots Electra-like revenge.
- DirectorDeborah ChowStarsHeather GrahamEllen BurstynKiernan ShipkaAfter the sudden death of their father, four children face cruel treatment from their ruthless grandmother.
- DirectorFrank PerryStarsFaye DunawayDiana ScarwidSteve ForrestThe abusive and traumatic adoptive upbringing of Christina Crawford at the hands of her mother, screen queen Joan Crawford, is depicted.
- DirectorBilly WilderStarsWilliam HoldenGloria SwansonErich von StroheimA screenwriter develops a dangerous relationship with a faded film star determined to make a triumphant return.
- DirectorRobert AldrichStarsBette DavisJoan CrawfordVictor BuonoA former child star torments her paraplegic sister in their decaying Hollywood mansion.
- DirectorWalter GraumanStarsOlivia de HavillandJames CaanJennifer BillingsleyA woman trapped in a home elevator is terrorized by a group of vicious hoodlums.
- DirectorRobert AldrichStarsBette DavisOlivia de HavillandJoseph CottenAn aging, reclusive Southern belle plagued by a horrifying family secret descends into madness after the arrival of a lost relative.
- DirectorPaul HenreidStarsBette DavisKarl MaldenPeter LawfordThe working-class twin sister of a callous, wealthy woman impulsively murders her out of revenge and assumes her identity. But impersonating her dead twin is more complicated and risky than she anticipated.
- DirectorSilvio NarizzanoStarsTallulah BankheadStefanie PowersPeter VaughanA young woman is terrorized by her deceased fiancé's demented mother who blames her for her son's death.
- DirectorWilliam CastleStarsJoan CrawfordDiane BakerLeif EricksonAfter a twenty-year stay at an asylum for a double murder, a mother returns to her estranged daughter where suspicions arise about her behavior.
- DirectorWilliam CastleStarsRobert TaylorBarbara StanwyckJudi MeredithA lawyer advises a blind man's rich widow tormented by nightmares.
- DirectorWilliam CastleStarsJoan CrawfordJohn IrelandLeif EricksonTeenagers Libby and Kit innocently spend an evening making random prank calls that lead to murderous consequences.
- DirectorSeth HoltStarsBette DavisWendy CraigJill BennettThere's just something not quite right when Bette Davis stars as an English nanny. And is her 10-year-old charge an emotionally disturbed murderer or just an insolent brat?
- DirectorCyril FrankelStarsJoan FontaineKay WalshAlec McCowenFollowing a horrifying experience with the occult in Africa, a schoolteacher moves to a small English village, only to discover that black magic resides there as well.
- DirectorBert I. GordonStarsDon AmecheMartha HyerSusan GordonTeenage Susan Shelley is released from an asylum where she's been confined after the shock she suffered from her glamorous socialite mother Jessica's fiery death. Her father has a new wife, who has only married him for the money Jessica left him. Susan is still haunted by her mother's memory, and her stepmother is conspiring with her lover, Maxwell Reed, to trick the troubled girl into leading them to Jessica's missing diamond necklace.
- DirectorCurtis HarringtonStarsSimone SignoretJames CaanKatharine RossA young couple who are into kinky "mind games" get more than they bargained for when a mysterious woman comes into their lives.
- DirectorJim O'ConnollyStarsJoan CrawfordTy HardinDiana DorsA scheming circus owner finds her authority challenged when a vicious killer targets the show.
- DirectorRoy Ward BakerAlvin RakoffStarsBette DavisSheila HancockJack HedleyThree sons who work in the family construction business help their overbearing mother celebrate her anniversary to her late husband.
- DirectorDavid Lowell RichStarsMichael SarrazinGayle HunnicuttEleanor ParkerA man and his girlfriend plan to rob the mansion of the man's eccentric but wealthy aunt. However, the aunt keeps dozens of cats in her home, and the man is deathly afraid of cats.
- DirectorTito DavisonStarsLana TurnerGeorge ChakirisRichard EganA former actress clashes with her wealthy and spoiled stepdaughter over their inheritance after the death of their protector.
- DirectorLee H. KatzinBernard GirardStarsGeraldine PageRuth GordonRosemary ForsythAn aging widow hides a deadly secret which she will do anything to keep buried.
- DirectorDonald WolfeStarsMiriam HopkinsDavid GarfieldGale SondergaardAn aging actress living in her Hollywood mansion with a retinue of elderly servants employs a new, mentally disturbed, personal assistant who schemes to take over the large estate.
- DirectorFreddie FrancisStarsJoan CrawfordMichael GoughBernard KayA sympathetic anthropologist uses drugs and surgery to try to communicate with a primitive troglodyte who is found living in a local cave.
- DirectorCurtis HarringtonStarsDebbie ReynoldsShelley WintersDennis WeaverTwo middle-aged women move to Hollywood, California after their sons are convicted of a notorious murder and open a dance school for children eager to tap their way to stardom.
- DirectorCurtis HarringtonStarsShelley WintersMark LesterChloe FranksA demented widow lures unsuspecting children into her mansion in a bizarre "Hansel and Gretel" twist.
- DirectorGordon HesslerStarsTed BessellBette DavisSian Barbara AllenA sculptor hires young college girls to take care of his elderly mother and his supposedly insane sister, both of whom live in the old family mansion with him.
- DirectorBrian G. HuttonStarsElizabeth TaylorLaurence HarveyBillie WhitelawA nervous woman is a witness to murder...but whose?
- DirectorDon ChaffeyStarsLana TurnerTrevor HowardRalph BatesA crippled woman takes pleasure in tormenting her son, blaming him for her condition. Years later, the son returns home with his wife and newborn only to find himself still under her influence and twisted from her prolonged mental abuse.
- DirectorE.W. SwackhamerStarsRobert WagnerKate JacksonSylvia SidneyDonna and Joel Gregory are researching a book about long dead Hollywood goddess Lorna Love. They are staying at Lorna's estate while interviewing old "friends" of Lorna. Joel, whose father had a passionate affair with Lorna, becomes obsessed with Lorna. Donna must try to break the spell that has her marriage in trouble and their very lives in jeopardy.
- DirectorMichael WinnerStarsCristina RainesAva GardnerChris SarandonA young woman moves into an apartment in a building which houses a sinister evil.
- StarsBette DavisDavid AckroydRosanna ArquetteA young couple moves to a quiet New England village, only to soon find themselves mixed up in mysterious rituals.
- DirectorMichael AndersonStarsCliff RobertsonJean SimmonsJenny AgutterA millionaire, who drove his wife to commit suicide, starts believing that he is being haunted by her spirit.
- DirectorFrank PerryStarsFaye DunawayDiana ScarwidSteve ForrestThe abusive and traumatic adoptive upbringing of Christina Crawford at the hands of her mother, screen queen Joan Crawford, is depicted.
- DirectorJeffrey BloomStarsLouise FletcherVictoria TennantKristy SwansonChildren are hidden away under an attic by their conspiring mother and grandmother.
- DirectorJonathan DarbyStarsJessica LangeGwyneth PaltrowJohnathon SchaechNewlyweds move to the family thoroughbred horse ranch, where the husband's obsessive mother resolves to get rid of her new daughter-in-law.
- DirectorMark RuckerStarsCharles BuschNatasha LyonneJason PriestleyAn ex-pop singer kills her much-hated husband to be with her young lover. Her daughter plots Electra-like revenge.
- DirectorIain SoftleyStarsKate HudsonPeter SarsgaardJoy BryantA hospice nurse working at a spooky New Orleans plantation home finds herself entangled in a mystery involving the house's dark past.
- DirectorRichard EyreStarsCate BlanchettJudi DenchAndrew SimpsonA veteran high school teacher befriends a younger art teacher, who is having an affair with one of her fifteen-year-old students. However, her intentions with this new "friend" also go well beyond a platonic friendship.
- DirectorDeborah ChowStarsHeather GrahamEllen BurstynKiernan ShipkaAfter the sudden death of their father, four children face cruel treatment from their ruthless grandmother.
- DirectorKaren MoncrieffStarsHeather GrahamRose McIverWyatt NashIn 1970, 10 years after the attic, the 3 siblings' adoptive dad dies; their bio mom still rejects them. Ballerina Cathy moves in with a ballet dancer in NYC to start a life away from her med-student brother/lover.
- DirectorShawn KuStarsRachael CarpaniJames MaslowJason LewisThe Sheffield family deals with home truths as their middle child inherits the Foxworth mansion with the family's ghosts ever-looming. The curse lives on and more tragedies are in store.
- DirectorNancy SavocaStarsHeather GrahamRachael CarpaniJason LewisChristopher and Cathy are happily living with their loving family when their past comes to haunt them as their mother Corrine moves in next door.
- DirectorNeil JordanStarsIsabelle HuppertChloë Grace MoretzMaika MonroeA young woman befriends a lonely widow who's harboring a dark and deadly agenda toward her.
- DirectorSilvio NarizzanoStarsTallulah BankheadStefanie PowersPeter VaughanA young woman is terrorized by her deceased fiancé's demented mother who blames her for her son's death.
- DirectorRobert AldrichStarsBette DavisOlivia de HavillandJoseph CottenAn aging, reclusive Southern belle plagued by a horrifying family secret descends into madness after the arrival of a lost relative.
- DirectorBrian G. HuttonStarsElizabeth TaylorLaurence HarveyBillie WhitelawA nervous woman is a witness to murder...but whose?
- DirectorDon ChaffeyStarsLana TurnerTrevor HowardRalph BatesA crippled woman takes pleasure in tormenting her son, blaming him for her condition. Years later, the son returns home with his wife and newborn only to find himself still under her influence and twisted from her prolonged mental abuse.
- DirectorDonald WolfeStarsMiriam HopkinsDavid GarfieldGale SondergaardAn aging actress living in her Hollywood mansion with a retinue of elderly servants employs a new, mentally disturbed, personal assistant who schemes to take over the large estate.