The Innocents

5.00
    The Innocents
    1961

    Synopsis

    A young governess for two children becomes convinced that the house and grounds are haunted by ghosts and that the children are being possessed.

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    Cast

    • Deborah KerrMiss Giddens
    • Peter WyngardePeter Quint
    • Megs JenkinsMrs. Grose
    • Michael RedgraveThe Uncle
    • Martin StephensMiles
    • Pamela FranklinFlora
    • Clytie JessopMiss Jessel
    • Isla CameronAnna
    • Eric WoodburnCoachman (uncredited)

    Recommendations

    • 100

      The Guardian

      Clayton brilliantly uses slow dissolves to create ghostly superimpositions, and the harmless squeals of bath-time fun, or squeakings of a pencil, suggest uncanny screams.
    • 100

      The Telegraph

      The film thrives on unsettling images of overgrowth and rot, such as the dead flower that drops at Kerr’s touch, and the beetle that crawls obscenely out of the mouth of a cherub statue.
    • 100

      Time Out London

      You can watch The Innocents twice and walk away with different conclusions. Psychological horrors have imitated its ambiguous ending ever since. Few have pulled it off half as creepily.
    • 100

      Total Film

      The heart-stopping climax offers no answers: just the lingering unease of uncertainty.
    • 100

      TV Guide Magazine

      The Innocents manipulates the viewer's imagination as few films can, with Kerr and Redgrave doing a masterful job of creating a sense of repressed hysteria.
    • 100

      Village Voice

      Clayton's filmmaking, mustering frisson by both candle and blazing daylight, could serve as an object lesson in its genre.
    • 80

      The Dissolve

      The film’s symbolism is never subtle, but that doesn’t make it any less effective.
    • 80

      Variety

      Catches an eerie, spine-chilling mood right at the start and never lets up on its grim, evil theme. Director Jack Clayton makes full use of camera angles, sharp cutting, shadows, ghost effects and a sinister soundtrack.

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