It must be granted at once that no shot, no sequence, approaches James -- but there are moments when the film faithfully reflects that existence of evil in the innocent which is the core of the written word.

Full Review | Jul 14, 2020

It creeps slowly up on the viewer: a drip-feed of fear fed by creaks, eerie children and shadowy demonic figures on the periphery of this world and the next.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Sep 22, 2015

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.

| Oct 6, 2014

Kerr's performance vibrates with complicated tension and vulnerability, as she communicates the internal life of a woman constantly at war with herself.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Oct 6, 2014

Oozing ambiguity, Jack Clayton's shimmering gem is a masterclass in suggestion, a flawless evocation of the uncanny which pits the subconscious against the supernatural to genuinely hair-raising effect.

| Original Score: 5/5 | Dec 16, 2013

A crackling, eerie, coldly beautiful account of the novel, which reveals new subtleties and meanings every time you go back.

| Original Score: 5/5 | Dec 13, 2013

If you've never seen Jack Clayton's 1961 adaptation of Henry James's Turn of the Screw, hurl yourself into a cinema ASAP.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Dec 13, 2013

An elegant, sinister and scalp-prickling ghost story - as scary in its way as Rosemary's Baby or The Exorcist.

| Original Score: 5/5 | Dec 12, 2013

The ambiguity of Henry James's story is all here, along with a horrible seam of rottenness ...

| Original Score: 4/5 | Dec 12, 2013

One of cinema's great ghost stories is also an essay on the psychological realities of film acting.

| Original Score: 5/5 | Dec 12, 2013

One of the creepiest films ever made.

| Oct 9, 2012

If the picture is journeyman James, it is also pitapatational entertainment, the most sophisticated scare show since Diabolique.

| Oct 19, 2010

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.

| Sep 10, 2008

Too much Freud and too little thought.

| Sep 24, 2007

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

Full Review | Sep 24, 2007

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

| Original Score: 4/5 | Jun 3, 2006

Sends some formidable chills down the spine.

| May 9, 2005

No shock tactics here, just the careful creation of sinister atmosphere through decor, Freddie Francis' haunting camerawork, and evocative acting. Kerr, especially, is excellent.

Full Review | Jul 28, 2002