The Innocents
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Movie Reviews of The Innocents
Movie Review: NURSERY RYHME OF THE DEAD
Summary: 5 Stars
Total darkness, a child's sweet voice begins to sing a nursery rhyme like song, hauntingly beautiful, yet somehow disturbing. This is how the ghostly 1961 classic "The Innocents" begins. Deborah Kerr took the role of child loving governess, Miss Giddons, and makes it her own. The children, Flora (Pamela Franklin) and Miles (Martin Stephens) are especially chilling as the possessed innocents, who are under Miss Giddon's care. Arriving at the estate on the heels of two deaths of the estate's grounds keeper, Quint, and the children's former governess, Miss Jessel. Eventually Miss Giddons discovers the two were not only lovers, but were dementedly open with their acts of lusts before the children. The children speak with grown up attitudes and are always whispering and acting in odd and mysterious ways. Childhood games become sinister and compelling, such as the hide and seek game which produces the ghostly apparition of the deceased Miss Jessel, floating down a darkened hallway. The discovery of a music box in the attic unveils the ever-familiar tune that the children are humming, singing, or playing on the piano. Miss Giddons tries reaching out to the children, especially Miles, but is taken aback by the extreme possession that the dead lovers have seemingly taken them. There are two memorable scenes that will haunt you after you've viewed this gothic masterpiece. The first is the ghostly appearance of Quint, outside on the terrace, with a demonic scowl on his face as he stares through the glass paned door at Miss Giddons. The second is the haunting tune of the music box playing as Flora dances to the audience of her dearly departed Miss Jessel, whose dark figure can be seen out on the lake. "The Innocents" is dripping with a haunting atmosphere, dark and mysterious apparitions, and loaded with a sophistication that is sorely missing from today's cinema fare.Movie Review: A CLASSIC OF THE SUPERNATURAL.....
Summary: 5 Stars
This really needs to be on DVD. Directed with style and sensitivity by Jack Clayton, "The Innocents" ranks as the best supernatural horror story next to "The Haunting". Based on James' "The Turn of the Screw", it tells of a governess, Miss Giddons, summoned to care for two children left in the care of their absentee uncle. The children are a handful---Flora (Pamela Franklin) is pert and saucy while Miles (Martin Stephens) is sexually precocious having already been tossed out of several schools for indecent behavior. Their previous governess committed suicide after the death of her lover, the estates' gardener Quint, who was sexually sadistic. The two childrens' growing personalities and mannerisms eerily reflect those of Miss Jessel, the governess, and Quint. Soon, Miss Giddens begins seeing the specters of the two around the estate. The housekeeper (Megs Jenkins) claims she doesn't see them but is aware that the children are troubled. The housekeeper becomes alarmed when Miss Giddens tries to confront the children as the governess suspects the ghosts have returned to possess them. It becomes apparent that something horrible is happening. Many have speculated that the governess is sexually repressed and transferring her guilt and fear onto the children which means the ghosts only exist in her mind. I don't quite buy that theory. I believe the supernatural does indeed come into play here and that this is a ghost story of the first magnitude. Some people have the ability to see ghosts and some don't. Some believe and some don't want to. In any case, "The Innocents" is a beautiful and disturbing thought provoker with an unforgettably tragic ending. Deborah Kerr is excellent as Miss Giddens and the entire cast is remarkable. The eerie b&w photography creates a chilling mood suitable for the truly creepy film this really is.Movie Review: Excellent Adaptation of THE TURN OF THE SCREW
Summary: 5 Stars
I'm very familiar with the Henry James novella THE TURN OF THE SCREW from which this film is quite closely adapted so I didn't think the filmmakers could make my spine tingle or give me any goose flesh! I was wrong as this movie creates such an atmosphere of horror that I was on the edge of my seat throughout my viewing even though I knew full well where the storyline was taking me. The film is perfectly cast particularly in regard to the children who play Miles and Flora. Deborah Kerr is perhaps quite a bit older than the young governess James wrote about but her restrained proper prettiness is perfect for the role. Michael Redgrave has a brief part at the beginning as the children's charming, selfish uncle and one has to wonder if guilt and/or fear instead of just pure self-indulgence make him so eager to completely give up responsibility for his niece, nephew and his family's incredible estate, Bly. The magnificent house and grounds of Bly are almost another character with the estate's vastness and beautiful statue laden grounds used to spooky effect throughout the movie. We, of course, just get glimpses of the actors playing Miss Jessell and Peter Quint but their appearances are so perfectly presented that in each of these glimpses I felt a chill down my spine. The sound design is superb as bird calls, the squeak of chalk, children's laughter and disembodied voices enhance the mood and the music box song Flora sings and dances with is truly haunting. Like the novella the movie is very ambiguous as to whether this is a ghost story, a tale of possession or simply a portrait of a repressed woman psychologically unraveling. Worth watching more than once to catch all the subtle sights and sounds of horror as well as to help clarify your view of what this story is really all about.Movie Review: a must-be-seen masterpiece
Summary: 5 Stars
"THE INNOCENTS" is the best ghost story ever produced. As a dramatic visualisation of Henry James' timeless and enigmatic novella "The Turn OF The Screw" it is a perfectly realised and brilliant evocation of Victorian sexual repression, innocence perhaps corrupted by perversity, and the power of suggestion. The palpable atmosphere of loneliness and dread that permeates Bly, the remote country estate that is the setting for the story, is gorgeously rendered in black-and-white Cinemascope that evokes the famous Eugene Atget photos of Versailles. This is a hauntingly beautiful film, with a sad and mournful quality that deepens it power to terrify. Sensitively and astutely written and directed, and superbly acted by the four principals, it also features a sophisticated and multi-layered soundtrack. The whispers, echoing footsteps and music-boxes, distant stirring of leaves and gusts of wind and hypnotic silences are extraordinarily effective at drawing the viewer inexorably into the dark and fearful world of the film, with the sinister spirits of its two dead servants beckoning to the children from the shadows, or perhaps gradually possessing them...
This movie scared the crap outta me when I first saw it, and its power to chill and terrify remains undiminished with subsequent viewings. However, having just once been lucky enough to see it on a movie screen in its proper aspect ratio, I gotta tell you, it MUST be seen in a widescreen format to be fully appreciated.... so many thanks to 20th C Fox for finally making the DVD release a reality! As a fellow enthusiast suggested in his review, "THE INNOCENTS" must be seen and savoured, preferably alone, in a darkened room. It will haunt your sleep for weeks, and you will love it. Guaranteed.
Movie Review: One of the best horror movies ever made.
Summary: 5 Stars
"The Innocents" is one of the most atmospheric and creepy psychological horror movies ever made. The plot of the movie leads the viewer to believe that either the spinster nanny heroine of the movie, Miss Geddens, is having a nervous breakdown or the behavior of the two children she cares for is being psychically influenced by the murdered, low life, sadistic servant Quint and the masochistic, pathetically suicidal former nanny Miss Jessel. Apparently the deceased servant and the former nanny had a sado-masochistic relationship that was whispered about among the staff of the mansion. Quint and Miss Jessel "kindly" took the two children of the house, Miles and Flora, under their wings and acted as surrogate parents to the orphans, but it is rumored that Quint and Miss Jessel also had sex in the mansion with the doors wide open and possibly exposed the children to their kinky sexual encounters. The movie also implies that the one or both of the children may have been sexually molested by one or both of the deceased. Miss Geddens sees menacing apparitions of Quint and Miss Jessel in the presence of the children, but the children say that they don't see anything....or do they?? Were they so traumatized by the memory that can't see the apparitions, or, are the ghosts manipulating the children's behavior, or, is the Miss Geddens losing her mind?? This film doesn't reveal the answer, it's up to the viewer to figure it all out. Which is one of the reasons why the movie is so great. My personal opinion (SPOILER): the house is haunted by Quint and Miss Jessel, Miles is being controlled like a sock puppet by Quint, Miles and/or Miss Jessel killed Quint, and Miss Gedden is a freaking kook! And the kid that plays Miles deserves an Academy Award.