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Product Description
Jack Clayton's celebrated screen adaptation of Henry James's The Turn of the Screw is a brilliant 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 Heathcliffe-like lover Quint (Peter Wyngarde), who both met with mysterious deaths.
The film's sinister atmosphere is carefully created - not through shock tactics, but through its cinematography, soundtrack, and decor: Freddie Francis' beautiful CinemaScope 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. Widely considered to be one of the greatest of all ghost stories on film.
Extra Features:
- Filmed introduction and commentary with Professor Christopher Frayling
- Original trailer for The Innocents
- Naples is a Battle Field (Jack Clayton, 1944, 13mins) Rare and previously unseen RAF film
- The Bespoke Overcoat (Jack Clayton, 1955, 33 mins) - Jack Clayton's first film as director - an Oscar and BAFTA award-winning short starring Alfie Bass and David Kossoff
- Stills gallery including original costume designs, publicity posters, press books and production pictures
- Extensive illustrated booklet including film notes by Jeremy Dyson (The League of Gentlemen)
Review
The best ghost movie I ve ever seen --Pauline Kael
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
44 of 46 people found the following review helpful
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.
DVD Extras include a commentary with Professor Christopher Frayling, the original trailer for "The Innocents", the Oscar and BAFTA award-winning short film "The Bespoke Overcoat" directed by Jack Clayton, 1955, 33 mins (Clayton's first film as director) starring Alfie Bass and David Kossoff,
a stills gallery including original costume designs, publicity posters, press books and production pictures and a booklet including film notes by Jeremy Dyson (BBC's "The League of Gentlemen").
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.
DVD Extras include a commentary with Professor Christopher Frayling, the original trailer for "The Innocents", the Oscar and BAFTA award-winning short film "The Bespoke Overcoat" directed by Jack Clayton, 1955, 33 mins (Clayton's first film as director) starring Alfie Bass and David Kossoff,
a stills gallery including original costume designs, publicity posters, press books and production pictures and a booklet including film notes by Jeremy Dyson (BBC's "The League of Gentlemen").
68 of 72 people found the following review helpful
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.
32 of 34 people found the following review helpful
Format:Blu-ray
With reference to the previous review by "samueltaylor" can we PLEASE clear up this myth once and for all about older movies being released on High Definition formats?
We are constantly hearing uninformed witterings along the lines of "Why bother to release old films on Blu Ray because they weren't shot in High Definition?", with the misconception being that there will therefore be no advantage to watching older movies in HD formats.
This is nonsense. Movies since the dawn of cinema were, and for the most part still are, shot on a substance called film. Film has many more times the resolution of Blu Ray Disc or broadcast HD television, in other words not even Blu Ray is capable of capturing all of the detail in an original film print, no matter how old the film is. Put simply, the image on film is of a higher definition than any domestic High Definition video format such as Blu Ray Disc.
So let's get it clear once and for all, film is of MUCH higher definition than any available domestic HD video format. Any movie, no matter how old, can benefit from a HD/Blu Ray release. The quality is all down to how carefully the studios have preserved, restored and transfered the film prints. Just look at "2001: A Space Odyssey" on Blu Ray - it is a 1968 movie of superior picture quality to some Blu Ray releases of films made in the last five years or so.
And on the subject of "The Innocents"? A superb transfer and well worth a Blu Ray purchase.
We are constantly hearing uninformed witterings along the lines of "Why bother to release old films on Blu Ray because they weren't shot in High Definition?", with the misconception being that there will therefore be no advantage to watching older movies in HD formats.
This is nonsense. Movies since the dawn of cinema were, and for the most part still are, shot on a substance called film. Film has many more times the resolution of Blu Ray Disc or broadcast HD television, in other words not even Blu Ray is capable of capturing all of the detail in an original film print, no matter how old the film is. Put simply, the image on film is of a higher definition than any domestic High Definition video format such as Blu Ray Disc.
So let's get it clear once and for all, film is of MUCH higher definition than any available domestic HD video format. Any movie, no matter how old, can benefit from a HD/Blu Ray release. The quality is all down to how carefully the studios have preserved, restored and transfered the film prints. Just look at "2001: A Space Odyssey" on Blu Ray - it is a 1968 movie of superior picture quality to some Blu Ray releases of films made in the last five years or so.
And on the subject of "The Innocents"? A superb transfer and well worth a Blu Ray purchase.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
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 3 months ago by Keith M
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 4 months ago by britt
Oh willow I die, oh willow I die.....
Based on Henry James' novel, The Turn Of The Screw, The Innocents is an absorbing chiller that pot boils with almost unbearably knowing glee as to what it's doing to the viewer. Read more
Published 7 months ago by Spike Owen
Do They Ever Return To Posess The Living?
I bought this DVD for Halloween, having seen a clip of it on YouTube, but nothing, NOTHING, could have prepared me for what I saw. Read more
Published 8 months ago by Martin Corley
Amazon Still Selling Defective Disc
As of August 2011, Amazon is still selling defective copies of this disc (where the picture breaks up into blocks) nearly a year after other reviews pointed out the problems. Read more
Published 9 months ago by Matthew Ball
The Innocents
I didnt really like the movie, I bought it for the short film attached "The Bespoke Overcoat" which I loved, well worth the purchase for me. Read more
Published 11 months ago by del
Eeriest film ever
The more recent development in the horror movie genre I find just way too excessive in its use of explicit imagery and shock effects, its all too easy for the director to throw in... Read more
Published 13 months ago by AndyS
Clearing up the topic on older films vs. HD.....
Thank you J. Pauley for clearing up this topic for those not aware of the actual quality of a film print. Read more
Published 15 months ago by Daniel Svensson
The Sound of Violence
The Turning of the Screw has been adapted countless times for the stage, screen and TV; none of which I have seen. Read more
Published 18 months ago by Sam
Classic movie, great hi-def transfer.
Purchased this little gem for Halloween having heard good things. This really is a classic, slow-building and subtle. Read more
Published 18 months ago by K. J. Ward
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