Terror moviemaking in the early 1960s gave birth to a new film genre. For lack of a better description, you might call it the "older actress in an exploitation horror film" subgenre. Or Grand Guignol cinema.

Actresses who had reached a certain age and were no longer getting romantic lead roles, and who wanted to continue acting, found work in these movies.

The one that ignited this trend was undoubtedly What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?, a hugely successful and influential film. It was directed by Robert Aldrich, and starred two of the biggest stars from a bygone era, Bette Davis and Joan Crawford.

Often viewed today as a "camp" film, Baby Jane should really be seen for what it really is: a chilling psychological thriller.

The movie opens in 1917. Baby Jane Hudson (Julie Allred) is a vaudevillian child star. She performs to adoring crowds, and there's even a "Baby Jane" doll. Jane is a spoiled brat, and her doting stage father Ray (Dave Willock), gives in to her every whim. Her jealous sister Blanche (Gina Gillespie), watches from the wings.

Cut to the early 30's. The roles are now reversed. Both sisters are movie stars, but Blanche is the successful and glamorous one, while Jane's films have flopped. Unable to establish her talent as an adult actress, Jane has taken to drinking.

One night after a party, one of the sisters is at the gate of her mansion. We see the other one in her car step on the gas and smash into the gate, severely injuring her sister.

In the present, both Blanche and Jane live in their decrepit old mansion. Blanche is crippled from the automobile accident. She is usually holed up in her bedroom watching her old movies on television. Jane is a shadow of her former self, still drinking and wearing hideous caked on make-up. She is abusive towards her sister, who now depends on her. There are not many visitors at the house, except for their cleaning woman Elvira (Maidie Norman).

Elvira fears for Blanche's safety because of Jane's erratic behavior. She even tells Blanche that her sister has been opening her mail and dumping it in the trash. Later, when Jane finds out that Blanche intends on selling the house and putting her in a sanitarium, she responds by increasing her abuse. Blanche's beloved parakeet even disappears.

Meanwhile, Jane gets the urge to go back into showbusiness. In the living room, she sings her signature song from when she was a little girl, "I've Written a Letter to Daddy." But when she gets a look at herself in the mirror and sees what time and age has done to her, she screams.

Hearing this, Blanche presses a buzzer in her room to see what has happened. Jane responds by cursing and ripping the phone out of the wall in Blanche's bedroom. She brings Blanche her lunch, and Blanche finds out what happened to her parakeet in a shocking manner.

Jane serves the dead bird to her in a covered dish! Blanche is so frightened she refuses to eat the food Jane brings her.

Jane is now planning a comeback. She drives out to the local newspaper to place an ad for a pianist. While she's out, Blanche makes an attempt to get help.

She writes a note on a piece of paper and throws it out of her window. A neighbor, Mrs. Bates (Anna Lee) is outside, but she doesn't see it. Nor can Mrs. Bates hear Blanche, because her daughter Liza, played by Bette Davis's daughter Barbara Merrill, is playing loud music.

Jane arrives back at the house, and while she is talking to Mrs. Bates, she sees the note near her foot. She picks it up, and goes up to Blanche's room where she mocks her by telling her that she will never leave the house. Then she drops the note in the crushed woman's lap.

Jane gets a response to her ad. An overweight mama's boy named Edwin Flagg (Victor Buono) makes an appointment to see her that afternoon. Jane gives Elvira the day off and brings Blanche her lunch.

In one of the cinema's most macabre moments, Blanche lifts the cover off the dish to find a dead rat. Needless to say, this sends her into hysterics. Later, Edwin shows up at the house. While Jane is showing him a scrapbook of herself, Blanche activates the buzzer.

Enraged, Jane goes upstairs where she rips the buzzer apart and smacks her sister. Back in the living room, Jane rehearses with Edwin at the piano. She does a grotesque version of "Daddy." Edwin tries to hide his horror because he realizes he can take advantage of the situation. They agree to his salary and Jane drives him home.

While she's out, Blanche discovers that Jane has practiced forging her signature and is writing checks. She tries to get down the stairs to use the telephone (a difficult task because she can't use her legs.) When she reaches the phone, she calls Jane's doctor and tells him that she needs help.

Jane arrives back and finds Blanche talking to him. Blanche abruptly gets off the phone, and Jane beats her senselessly, kicking her in the head and stomach. Disguising her voice as her sister's, Jane picks up the phone and calls the doctor back. She tells him not to come because "Jane" has found another doctor.

The next day, Elvira arrives to work. Jane tells her that her services are no longer needed and dismisses her. Jane then drives off to the bank to withdraw her sister's money.

Elvira pretends to get on a bus to go home. But instead she goes back to the house and finds that Blanche's door has been locked. When Jane comes back, Elvira confronts her and demands the key to the room.

Jane gives it to her, but as the maid enters the room, Jane hits her on the head with a hammer and kills her. Then she puts the body in her car and disposes of it.

The police call the house and tell Jane that a relative of her maid has reported her missing. She tells them that she hasn't seen her for a week. Jane prepares to leave with her sister, fearing the police will discover what she's done.

Suddenly Edwin shows up to receive his first payment. Blanche is able to knock something down in her room and Edwin goes up and sees the condition she's in. She begs for help, and Edwin runs out of the house to get the police.

Desperate, Jane puts her sister in the car and drives to the beach. The next morning, the search is on for them. Elvira's body was found and there are bulletins on the radio. Blanche is lying on the sand with Jane sitting beside her.

Knowing that she is near death, she tells Jane the truth about what happened all those years before. It was she, Blanche, who tried to run over her sister. However, Jane moved out of the way in time and Blanche slammed into the gate and snapped her spine.

Jane was too drunk to realize what happened and has since believed she was responsible for her sister's condition. Now with her mental condition completely deteriorated, Jane goes off to get ice cream cones for the two of them.

The police arrive to find her as she is dancing on the sand, with a crowd surrounding her. Finally she has the attention again that she's craved.

Bette Davis received her tenth and final Oscar nomination for her role as Baby Jane. The success of this movie led to renewed interest in the two leads. Both Davis and Joan Crawford began making a cycle of horror films. Davis starred in Dead Ringer and The Nanny among others, and Crawford in gorier fare such as Strait-Jacket and Berserk.

Robert Aldrich wanted to reteam them and came up with a project written by Henry Farrell, the guy who wrote the novel Baby Jane was based on. It was supposed to be called What Ever Happened to Cousin Charlotte?, but Davis had it changed to Hush...Hush, Sweet Charlotte. That wasn't the only thing she changed. Shortly after filming began, she had Crawford replaced with her friend Olivia de Havilland. That film was also a big hit.