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Movies / On DVD / The Innocents
The Innocents

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The Innocents (1961)

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Reviews Counted: 24

Fresh: 23

Rotten:1

Average Rating: 7.9/10

Consensus: Creepily atmospheric, The Innocents is a stylishly crafted, chilling British ghost tale with Deborah Kerr at her finest.

Runtime: 1 hr 40 mins

Genre: Horror/Suspense

Synopsis: Based on Henry James's TURN OF THE SCREW, THE INNOCENTS is a chilling psychological horror film about a woman, Miss Giddens (Kerr), who takes a position as governess for two orphans in a stately... Based on Henry James's TURN OF THE SCREW, THE INNOCENTS is a chilling psychological horror film about a woman, Miss Giddens (Kerr), who takes a position as governess for two orphans in a stately Victorian home. Alone with the children and only a few servants, Miss Giddens soon begins to see what she believes to be ghosts and begins to suspect that the children's increasingly bizarre behavior may be the result of some supernatural power. When she learns the fate of the house's previous governess and valet, Miss Giddens takes it upon herself to rescue the children from the supernatural being that seems to have them in its grips, all the while questioning her own sanity. Ms. Kerr's nuanced performance, possibly the best of her career, and Mr. Francis's atmospheric cinematography help make this a true horror classic. [More]

Starring: Deborah Kerr, Peter Wyngarde, Megs Jenkins, Michael Redgrave

Starring: Deborah Kerr, Peter Wyngarde, Megs Jenkins, Michael Redgrave, Pamela Franklin

Director: Jack Clayton

Director: Jack Clayton
Screenwriter: William Archibald, Truman Capote
Producer: Jack Clayton

[See More Credits]

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Release:

Sep 6, 2005

No Details Exist
 
 

Reviews for The Innocents

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1 - 20 (sorted by date)
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This classy English mystery is adorned by a wonderful Deborah Kerr as the governess driven to extremes by a strange, haunted mansion and strange, haunted children,

Full Review Source: Urban Cinefile | comment Comment
12/20/08
Andrew L. Urban
Urban Cinefile

Based on Henry James' story Turn of the Screw this catches an eerie, spine-chilling mood right at the start and never lets up on its grim, evil theme.

Full Review Source: Variety | comment Comment
09/10/08
Variety Staff
Variety
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

This unresolved mystery charges the events ... with a dreadful sense of uncertainty far more thrilling than the simple supernatural chills of a typical haunted house movie -- another "turn of the screw," as James would have said.

Full Review Source: ESplatter | comment Comment
07/04/08
Steve Biodrowski
ESplatter

Kerr is on top form here, enacting a role that takes perfect advantage of her respectable facade wrestling with unspeakable turbulence beneath the surface.

Full Review Source: TV Guide's Movie Guide | comment Comment
09/24/07
TV Guide's Movie Guide

Stylish, intelligent and creepy. Cinematic storytelling at its finest, where word and image are perfectly married.

Full Review Source: Channel 4 Film | comment Comment
09/24/07
Daniel Etherington
Channel 4 Film

Too much Freud and too little thought.

Full Review Source: Chicago Reader | comment 3 Comments
09/24/07
Dave Kehr
Chicago Reader
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Is it the finest, smartest, most visually savvy horror film ever made by a big studio?

Full Review Source: Village Voice | comment Comment
09/24/07
Michael Atkinson
Village Voice
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

It's masterly in every way with a great performance from Deborah Kerr as the troubled Victorian governess, superb black-and-white widescreen photography by Freddie Francis and Georges Auric's last, truly distinguished score.

Full Review Source: Observer [UK] | comment Comment
09/24/07
Philip French
Observer [UK]

Jack Clayton’s 1961 chiller lives up to the story’s title, incrementally tightening the nerves through suggestive technical artistry in a way that few contemporary ghost stories manage.

Full Review Source: Time Out | comment Comment
06/24/06
Ben Walters
Time Out

An impressively creepy adaptation of Henry James' The Turn of the Screw.

Full Review Source: Guardian [UK] | comment Comment
06/03/06
Andrew Pulver
Guardian [UK]

It sneaks under your skin, subtly and suggestively portraying something sinister and perverse that may exist only in the protagonist's head, but that doesn't mean it can't mess with yours.

Full Review Source: DVDJournal.com | comment Comment
04/05/06
Mark Bourne
DVDJournal.com

Creepy, atmospheric happenings with effective direction + Deborah Kerr.

comment Comment
02/18/06
Steve Crum
Video-Reviewmaster.com

...creates an appropriately spooky tone that builds slowly, incrementally, until it reaches a shattering conclusion.

Full Review Source: DVDTown.com | comment Comment
09/16/05
John J. Puccio
DVDTown.com

Wonderful adult horror, stylishly well-made and frightening on a couple of levels.

comment Comment
08/04/05
Jake Euker
F5 (Wichita, KS)

Ambíguo e com forte subtexto sexual, este é um filme seminal, servindo como inspiração para obras como O Bebê de Rosemary, Os Outros e os recentes longas de terror japoneses.

comment Comment
07/18/05
Pablo Villaca
Cinema em Cena

No review available.

comment Comment
07/02/05
Emanuel Levy
EmanuelLevy.Com

Sends some formidable chills down the spine.

Full Review Source: New York Times | comment Comment
05/09/05
Bosley Crowther
New York Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

masterful thriller

comment Comment
11/08/04
Rich Cline
Shadows on the Wall

No review available.

comment Comment
08/22/03
Carol Cling
Las Vegas Review-Journal

No review available.

comment Comment
04/27/03
Michael Szymanski
Zap2it.com
 
 
1 - 20 (sorted by date)
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September 26, 2008: Exclusive: Brand New The Children Photos and Director Introduction
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