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 behaviour 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. Kerr's nuanced performance, possibly the best of her career, and Francis's atmospheric cinematography help make this a true horror classic.
A stunning example of a now almost ignored truism of the horror genre: a movie need not show so much as the tiniest fleck of viscera to be absolutely terrifying
