When cinephiles of a certain sensibility talk about the best decades for horror, they’ll probably point to the 1980s with its explosion of cutting-edge special effects and home video-induced demand for material. Or they might point to the era of Universal Pictures’ domination in the 1930s, followed up then by the moody Val Lewton thrillers of the 1940s. Maybe even a very unpopular kid will try to make an argument for the 2010s, at least until everyone pulls the A24 hat over his eyes and kicks him out.
But moviegoers would be foolish to overlook the 1960s. The decade saw not only two amazing horror flicks from Alfred Hitchcock but also caught the genre in an interesting time of transition. Filmmakers built on the Gothic approach of previous decades by adding a psychological dimension, finding new chills in an established model. Furthermore, the decade saw the first steps toward the ho,...
But moviegoers would be foolish to overlook the 1960s. The decade saw not only two amazing horror flicks from Alfred Hitchcock but also caught the genre in an interesting time of transition. Filmmakers built on the Gothic approach of previous decades by adding a psychological dimension, finding new chills in an established model. Furthermore, the decade saw the first steps toward the ho,...
- 10/21/2023
- by David Crow
- Den of Geek
[This Halloween season, we're paying tribute to classic horror cinema by celebrating films released before 1970! Check back on Daily Dead this month for more retrospectives on classic horror films, and visit our online hub to catch up on all of our Halloween 2019 special features!]
“Sometimes one can’t help… imagining things.” Released nearly 60 years ago, Jack Clayton’s The Innocents still remains one of the greatest psychologically charged horror movies ever. Anchored by an all-time performance by Deborah Kerr, whose fragile and frantic governess believes that the children in her care have become possessed by two ill-fated lovers who now utilize the juveniles as a means to continue to not only live on, but experience the joys of childhood once again, The Innocents set the bar for “evil kid” horror in 1961, and its legacy in that regard remains unmatched even now.
Based on playwright William Archibald’s adaptation of Henry James’ The Turn of the Screw, the power of The Innocents lies in its ambiguity and its smothering atmosphere, as it explores the horrors of sexual repression in the Victorian era. The Innocents is also propelled by a palpable sense of paranoia that continues...
“Sometimes one can’t help… imagining things.” Released nearly 60 years ago, Jack Clayton’s The Innocents still remains one of the greatest psychologically charged horror movies ever. Anchored by an all-time performance by Deborah Kerr, whose fragile and frantic governess believes that the children in her care have become possessed by two ill-fated lovers who now utilize the juveniles as a means to continue to not only live on, but experience the joys of childhood once again, The Innocents set the bar for “evil kid” horror in 1961, and its legacy in that regard remains unmatched even now.
Based on playwright William Archibald’s adaptation of Henry James’ The Turn of the Screw, the power of The Innocents lies in its ambiguity and its smothering atmosphere, as it explores the horrors of sexual repression in the Victorian era. The Innocents is also propelled by a palpable sense of paranoia that continues...
- 10/31/2019
- by Heather Wixson
- DailyDead
Based on Henry James's The Turn of the Screw, The Innocents remains one of the very best ghost films. As it is re-released for the festive season, Michael Newton explores the freedoms and horrors of trusting your own imagination
One late Victorian Christmas Eve, around the fire, a man settles down to read aloud to the other house-guests the manuscript of a ghost story. His tale is that of a governess in another country house decades before, and of her two charges, a boy called Miles and his sister, Flora. Removed from the world in an idyll of apparent purity, things darken as the governess perceives, or perhaps merely imagines, that the children's last governess, Miss Jessel, and her Heathcliff-esque lover, the virile servant, Peter Quint, have returned from the dead to possess the children. And then a darker fear comes to her mind: what if the children are complicit in their corruption?...
One late Victorian Christmas Eve, around the fire, a man settles down to read aloud to the other house-guests the manuscript of a ghost story. His tale is that of a governess in another country house decades before, and of her two charges, a boy called Miles and his sister, Flora. Removed from the world in an idyll of apparent purity, things darken as the governess perceives, or perhaps merely imagines, that the children's last governess, Miss Jessel, and her Heathcliff-esque lover, the virile servant, Peter Quint, have returned from the dead to possess the children. And then a darker fear comes to her mind: what if the children are complicit in their corruption?...
- 12/28/2013
- by Michael Newton
- The Guardian - Film News
Jack Clayton, 1961
This is absolute classic British black-and-white horror, creepy and atmospheric despite – or perhaps because of – the elegance and gentility of its visuals. Adapted fairly freely from Henry James's The Turn of the Screw, via William Archibald's play and Truman Capote's dialogue, it was directed by Jack Clayton, who had just had a big hit with the kitchen-sink flagwaver, Room at the Top. The Innocents couldn't be more different.
Essentially, it is a story of possession. Deborah Kerr plays Miss Giddens, a governess hired to look after little Flora and Miles by their uncle (Michael Redgrave). The pair initially seem sweet and fun but, as is the way with creepy horror-film kids, they soon turn demonic and troubled. The first intimation of this arrives when it transpires that Miles has been expelled from school, as a "bad influence"; this is compounded by the children's odd behaviour,...
This is absolute classic British black-and-white horror, creepy and atmospheric despite – or perhaps because of – the elegance and gentility of its visuals. Adapted fairly freely from Henry James's The Turn of the Screw, via William Archibald's play and Truman Capote's dialogue, it was directed by Jack Clayton, who had just had a big hit with the kitchen-sink flagwaver, Room at the Top. The Innocents couldn't be more different.
Essentially, it is a story of possession. Deborah Kerr plays Miss Giddens, a governess hired to look after little Flora and Miles by their uncle (Michael Redgrave). The pair initially seem sweet and fun but, as is the way with creepy horror-film kids, they soon turn demonic and troubled. The first intimation of this arrives when it transpires that Miles has been expelled from school, as a "bad influence"; this is compounded by the children's odd behaviour,...
- 10/22/2010
- by Andrew Pulver
- The Guardian - Film News
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