The Innocents (1961)

I will quickly get the plot out of the way: A governess is dispatched to a secluded mansion to look after two orphaned children by their absent and wealthy uncle. As the childrens behavior becomes strange and unacceptable She becomes convinced the grounds are haunted by the spirits of a groundskeeper and the former governess that were lovers.

This has to be (with The Tenant) the best movie I’ve seen this month. It is gorgeous, haunting, incredibly well written (based on Turn of the Screw and adapted by Truman Capote) and a film that stays with you. It does not end when the dvd does. It is quite disturbing.

The closest thing I can compare it to is if the team that put together Night of the Hunter came together again for a ghost story. The montages, characters humming, singing and whistling reoccurring melodies, the innapropiate/traumatic childhood experiences and just and overall feel.

I cannot recommend this one highly enough. Five Fucking Stars.

Did I mention that the little boy is that kid from Village of the Damned? It is! And he’s creepy again!

and check out this fucking opening credit sequence

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