The Eclectic Cinema Presents:

The Innocents (12A)

UK | 1961 | 100 mins

Directed by: Jack Clayton

Starring: Deborah Kerr | Peter Wyngarde | Megs Jenkins

With the spooky season upon us, it’s a good time to screen this adaptation of the Henry James ghost story The Turn of the Screw.

The narrative follows Miss Giddens (Deborah Kerr) as she applies to become the governess of Flora and Miles, orphans under the guardianship of their uncle. Miss Giddens must take full responsibility for the children and the uncle is not to be troubled with any problems. The previous governess, it transpires, died suddenly in circumstances not entirely clear.

To the inexperienced Miss Giddens the children behave oddly and seem unusually secretive. She is soon aware of voices and the apparitions of a man and a woman, with whom the children seem to be communicating. But is this paranormal activity or the hyperactivity of Miss Giddens’ sexually repressed mind?