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The best ghost movie I ve ever seen --Pauline Kael
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52 of 55 people found the following review helpful
By D. Kelly
Format:DVD|Amazon Verified Purchase
"The Innocents" is director Jack Clayton's screen adaptation of Henry James's story "The Turn of the Screw" (1898). A brilliant and fascinating exercise in psychological horror. Impressionable and repressed governess Miss Giddens (Deborah Kerr) agrees to tutor two orphaned children, Miles and Flora. On arrival at Bly House, she becomes convinced that the children are possessed by the perverse spirits of former governess Miss Jessel and her lover Quint (Peter Wyngarde) who both met with mysterious deaths.
The film's sinister atmosphere is carefully created through its cinematography, soundtrack, and design: Freddie Francis' beautiful photography, with its eerily indistinct long shots and mysterious manifestations at the edges of the frame; an evocative and spooky soundtrack; and the grand yet decaying Bly House.
Deborah Kerr gives the performance of her career and makes "The Innocents" an intensely unsettling experience. Are the ghosts the products of Miss Giddens' fevered imagination and emotional immaturity, or a displacement of her shock at the sexually precocious behaviour of ten-year-old Miles? Is she the protector or the corrupter?
Now widely considered to be one of the greatest of all ghost stories on film, "The Innocents" continues to inspire today's 'haunted house' movies, most notably "The Others" starring Nicole Kidman and directed by Alejandro Amenábar in 2001.... Read more ›
The film's sinister atmosphere is carefully created through its cinematography, soundtrack, and design: Freddie Francis' beautiful photography, with its eerily indistinct long shots and mysterious manifestations at the edges of the frame; an evocative and spooky soundtrack; and the grand yet decaying Bly House.
Deborah Kerr gives the performance of her career and makes "The Innocents" an intensely unsettling experience. Are the ghosts the products of Miss Giddens' fevered imagination and emotional immaturity, or a displacement of her shock at the sexually precocious behaviour of ten-year-old Miles? Is she the protector or the corrupter?
Now widely considered to be one of the greatest of all ghost stories on film, "The Innocents" continues to inspire today's 'haunted house' movies, most notably "The Others" starring Nicole Kidman and directed by Alejandro Amenábar in 2001.... Read more ›
70 of 75 people found the following review helpful
By Mr. N. Scott
Format:DVD
A masterpiece of ghost-story cinema and haunting Victoriana. Wonderful adaptation of 'The Turn of ths Screw'. Takes the stage play 'The Innocents' and transforms it into a cinematic tour-de-force of innocence, corruption, dark secrets and above all ambiguity. The great thing is the ambiguity - the viewer is left to make up their own mind. Are the children being used by the ghosts of the dead servants (as it seems they were used by the servants when alive), are the apparitions real, is it all in the imagination of the repressed and hysterical governess, have the children been abused and corrupted, is it all a work of psychological symbolism (with the old mansion and the ghosts being used as symbols of the abuse of the children's innocence)? There is evidence to support all theories, which is exactly what Henry James intended with his story. Unlike the modern horror films which throw everything at you and don't allow your imagination to work, this film uses suggestion and ambiguity and stimulates your imagination.
The screenplay ('90% by Truman Capote') and script make great use of the old house and the images of decay and corruption amid its beauty and ornate Victoriana to show the dark heart of the tale. The cinematography in black and white cinemascope is used to perfection. The direction and the acting are all perfectly fitted to the story. In all, this creates a wonderful, claustrophobic and chilling world.
The BFI release DVD package is a thing to treasure. Apart from the movie itself there is a filmed intro and a commentary by Christopher Frayling, both of which give loads of fascinating backgound info and interpretation, a copy of Jack Clayton's 1st ever movie, and a lovely booklet.
A real work of art.
The screenplay ('90% by Truman Capote') and script make great use of the old house and the images of decay and corruption amid its beauty and ornate Victoriana to show the dark heart of the tale. The cinematography in black and white cinemascope is used to perfection. The direction and the acting are all perfectly fitted to the story. In all, this creates a wonderful, claustrophobic and chilling world.
The BFI release DVD package is a thing to treasure. Apart from the movie itself there is a filmed intro and a commentary by Christopher Frayling, both of which give loads of fascinating backgound info and interpretation, a copy of Jack Clayton's 1st ever movie, and a lovely booklet.
A real work of art.
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful
Format:Blu-ray|Amazon Verified Purchase
Once upon a time before special effects there was a fine art in cinema which used the viewer's mind to create effects which have not since been improved upon. Film makers during this period strived to maximise this through shot composition, art direction, light and shade, music score, simple editing, evocative cinematography and a style of acting to further enhance the desired effect in close relation to all of these disciplines and skills. 'The Innocents' is one the finest examples in this category. Engrossing and disturbing, always compelling. Lower the lights, open your mind and dare to let this black and white masterpiece contaminate you with endless psychological colour. You cannot fail to find yourself reflecting on its effect and feel the energy of its masterful delivery. Enhanced clarity in sound and vision via blu-ray.(I hope readers are not deterred from purchasing this disc due to some people receiving faulty discs, it is important to remember they are reviewing their experience and not the film. I suggest returning and requesting another if this happens, Amazon will accommodate I'm sure)
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful
By Numinous Ugo
Format:DVD|Amazon Verified Purchase
In my youth the BBC ran a strand of films on Saturday evening entitled The Saturday Thriller. First off was Psycho, which was the first time I'd seen that movie, then came The Innocents which had a much greater effect on me. I have seen the former many times since and it is obviously a classic but I have only just seen The Innocents again and I was stunned at how creepy it really is, especially as I see more in it now than I did as a child.
At the time I first saw this movie my grandmother was living in a lodge house next to a rather neglected large country house, in front of the house was an area of long grass that was reminiscent of the scene where the figure of the previous, dead, nanny had appeared in the reed bed next to the lake in the film. I still get goose pimples thinking about the first time I stood there and remembered a scene from the film and ran back to my gran's house in terror. I never talked to anyone about it at the time but just recently found that my sister had had the same experience, scary indeed.
When I watched it again recently I was amazed at how powerful it is and only in a couple of places did the dramatic music and the histrionics snap me out of my suspended disbelief, this is a true classic of the genre but it is not comfortable viewing, leaving the audience unnerved for some time afterwards. I had over 40 years between viewings and I still remembered how creepy it was first time round.
At the time I first saw this movie my grandmother was living in a lodge house next to a rather neglected large country house, in front of the house was an area of long grass that was reminiscent of the scene where the figure of the previous, dead, nanny had appeared in the reed bed next to the lake in the film. I still get goose pimples thinking about the first time I stood there and remembered a scene from the film and ran back to my gran's house in terror. I never talked to anyone about it at the time but just recently found that my sister had had the same experience, scary indeed.
When I watched it again recently I was amazed at how powerful it is and only in a couple of places did the dramatic music and the histrionics snap me out of my suspended disbelief, this is a true classic of the genre but it is not comfortable viewing, leaving the audience unnerved for some time afterwards. I had over 40 years between viewings and I still remembered how creepy it was first time round.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
A gothic treasure box of fleeting phantoms and repression
This B.F.I presentation is superb with both an enthralling introduction and very informative commentary by Professor Christopher Frayling . Read more
Published 2 months ago by Alexander .H
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Innocents
I bought this DVD, not for The Innocents but for The Bespoke Overcoat which is also on the DVD. Whilst The Innocents is an excellent film with a particularly strong performance by... Read more
Published 3 months ago by W. Baker
4.0 out of 5 stars
The Bespoke Overcoat
I purchased this dvd because I needed an 'extra' on it, the Oscar Winning short, 'The Bespoke Overcoat'....which is quite excellent, but was not available by itself
Published 4 months ago by Mr. H. P. Durnall
5.0 out of 5 stars
WILL PLAY ON PS3
Defective disc but will play on a playstation3 and the picture is sublime.So if you have a ps3 then this is definitely worth a punt.
Published 4 months ago by Vlad the emailer
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Pinnacle of Ghost Movies
There have been a few adaptations of Henry James' Turn of the Screw, but none come close to this. Like any Victorian novel, the film is slow at first. Read more
Published 4 months ago by heffalump
5.0 out of 5 stars
Chilling and macabre movie
Chilling ghost story or macabre study of descent into madness - you decide! Saw it as a child and thought it to be a (great) ghost story but with adult eyes it is a troubling,... Read more
Published 4 months ago by A. N. Andrews
5.0 out of 5 stars
Ahead Of Its Time
I can't add much to the other positive reviews given here. This an excellent ghost story, with lots of atmosphere and period. Read more
Published 5 months ago by Richard Allen
4.0 out of 5 stars
imaginatively scary..
Ok, place DVD in the tray, close it, switch off the lights, leave the door behind you slightly ajar, and be prepared to be scared. Really.
Who's lying? The children? Read more
Who's lying? The children? Read more
Published 6 months ago by DeeCee
4.0 out of 5 stars
Clayton's Chilling Ghost Story
Jack Clayton's 1961 film The Innocents is a haunting, but subtle, ghost story and is visually stunning, being shot in black and white by legendary cinematographer, Freddie Francis... Read more
Published 16 months ago by Keith M
1.0 out of 5 stars
Don't bother
Don't bother wasting your money. I bought it for the good reviews that it as,but what a waste of time.
Published 17 months ago by britt
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