The Innocents

IMDB
First time viewed: No
Current Release: No
Watched With: Jordan

Ooooo spoooky. It's actually a really dark premise for a haunting, especially given the film was made in 1961. And if you can get past the very theatrical acting it's pretty effective too. They don't take it all the way but still, that kid kissing Deborah Kerr on the lips like that is extraordinarily uncomfortable and is guaranteed to make you squirm.

I especially love the beautiful widescreen black and white photography. The framing of some of these images are pretty unique and the deep focus with extreme foreground and background elements is effective. You're always looking behind characters to try and catch a glimpse of a potential scare.

I also think that this film shows, sometimes the simplest effects are the more effective. The Innkeepers and The Woman in Black are both recent films that seems to agree and even though they have the opportunity to use big fancy fx, the opt for the classical approach and it works wonders. It's like the difference between the original The Haunting and the remake. Uhg, haha.

Now I'd only seen this once before and I didn't remember the ending and now I see why. I was trying to remember the twist ending, because every ghost story I know has a twist ending. There's not twist here it's pretty straight forward, I was trying to remember something that didn't happen. The Woman in Black tricked me that way too.

Well it's nice to know that something made all those years ago can still be just as potent today. The good ones always are and this one is remembered for a reason. Seek it out if you've never seen it.