Whoever Slew Auntie Roo?

Fairytale meets thriller with this 1971 film. Directed by Curtis Harrington and stars Ralph Richardson, Mark Lester, Chloe Franks and "scream queen" Shelley Winters.
A wealthy window named Auntie Roo invites some well behaved orphans to her Christmas dinner party at her house. She comes across as kind and charitable, giving out presents, food and letting them sleep in different guest rooms. A brother and sister sneak into the house when they've not been invited but Roo is okay about that. There is a teddybear stuffed with jewels, a dead body, a shed with a guillotine, a dolls house which is a likeness of the big house. There are too many references to Hansel and Gretel so much that it forces the viewer to hate on Auntie Roo.
Very mad.
I vote this film a 6/10.  
Howls ^^

Saturnalia

Saturnalia is a Roman celebration between December 17th and 23rd. It's held in honour of Saturn, a god of wealth and agriculture. We have echoes of the Roman celebration today with the decourative tree, gingerbread men, giving eachother gifts, kissing under the mistletoe, sweets, role reversal in pantomimes, feasts, white candles, games, Santa's hat, music and wild parties.
The Greek version of Saturn was Cronus and he ate his own children. He's often connected with two women, Ops and Lua. Ops is the wife and sister of Saturn. She's an Earth daughter and her Greek counterpart is Rhea. Lua is a mistress of Saturn and she represents destruction and war.  
During Saturnalia, was the season of misrule, chaos and sexual violence, people in various communities ran riot. Animals were sacrificed. Some people have said humans were sacrificed but other sources refute that. Leaving human ritual sacrfice out, the celebration was when rules broke down only for that time, slaves were allowed to bully their masters, people could wear whatever they liked, many wore masks,  and people sang naked in the streets. People drank, ate and gambled. What they did only lasted for a short time and afterwards everything returned to normal.
Howls ^^ 

Winter games 5

The season of Winter is cold and dark, so let's journey into Medieval Christmas Land game created by Wow Escape. Look for buried items and clues here in this grim and frozen place. There are puzzles that need solving, and shadows to be reunited with their objects. This game is cute with gentle background lullaby music.
This is a time when the Elf on the shelf makes an appearance. They seem so really nice but they can play pranks, monitor kids and do creepy things. Yes, it's really the parents behind all of that. It's a tactic for them to control their kids by using these little elf dolls to scare their kids into behaving themselves.
Howls ^^