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 vaudeville child star torments her paraplegic sister, who eclipsed her as a movie star, in their decaying Hollywood mansion while desperately clinging to hopes of a comeback.
- 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 20-year asylum stay for a double ax murder, suspicion arises about Lucy Harbin's behavior as she returns to her daughter Carol, who is engaged to marry Michael Fields. Soon, heads begin to roll again. Is Lucy repeating her past?
- 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.
