"What Ever Happened To Aunt Alice?" is a fairly unknown, but amazing and amusing little thriller from the late 1960s that still holds up very well to this day. The story revolves around Claire Marrable (Geraldine Page), an older affluent widow who lives in a luxurious Tucson home located in the middle of the desert. After her husband's death, she discovers that he didn't leave her nearly as much as she thought he would have. So, Claire begins to hire housekeepers with no known or remaining family, and kills them to appropriate all of their savings for herself - but not before burying them in her beloved garden and promptly planting pine trees over the graves. After a close friend, Edna (Mildred Dunnock) goes to work for Ms. Marrable and mysteriously vanishes, Alice Dimmock (Ruth Gordon) signs up for the job to investigate, and ends up working for Ms. Marrable herself in an attempt to uncover what is going on at her remote desert estate.<br /><br />I was pleasantly surprised with how great this film was, and how it still, nearly forty years later, holds up well and is just as effective. Based upon a novel called "The Forbidden Garden", "What Ever Happened To Aunt Alice?" is a consistent and entertaining movie that is sadly little-know and/or long forgotten in modern days, which is really too bad because this is an excellent film. Produced by Robert Aldrich (who also produced "What Ever Happened To Baby Jane"), it's pretty easy to see where the derivative title originated. The film's storyline is wonderfully original, I haven't seen a movie like this ever. The only minor complaint I have with the story is the unnecessary love-subplot between Alice's nephew and Ms. Marrable's new neighbor. The problem with it is that it brings nothing new to the story - if all of those scenes had been removed, the film would have worked just as perfectly, and it wouldn't have slowed it down. Fortunately there isn't a whole lot of time spent developing this subplot, but even if there had been, the rest of the film is so good that it would be easily forgivable.<br /><br />The film has some really nice imagery and a great atmosphere as well, with an Arizona desert backdrop, and a lot of late '60s/early '70s set pieces and costumes. The entire movie had a really great feel to it. The score is frantic but effective as well, somewhat reminiscent of Bernard Herrman's work in "Psycho". The acting in this film is just about as good as it gets. Legendary actress Geraldine Page plays the diabolical Claire, and is completely flawless in her role. Everything about her character is perfected in her performance - her mannerisms, facial expressions, delivery - and, we can't forget about her eerie cackling. Ruth Gordon, fresh from winning an Oscar for her role in "Rosemary's Baby", plays the secondary protagonist - her character is empathetic and nice, but determined to find out what Claire has been doing to her housekeepers. She is also wonderful in her role. The rest of the cast is also good, but most of them aren't the big-name stars that these two leading ladies were. The film's ending is short but fitting, and while I felt it may have been lacking a bit, it's also forgivable when you take into consideration the rest of the film's quality.<br /><br />Overall, "What Ever Happened To Aunt Alice?" is an excellent late '60s horror/thriller that is definitely worth seeing. It's a little dated, but it holds up very well. The shock factor is nearly diminished for modern audiences, but this film is nonetheless very spooky and very enjoyable - it surprises me that more people haven't heard of this film. I have a feeling this movie is going to become a new favorite of mine. 10/10.