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(1974)
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(1974) |
A governess begins to doubt for the safety of herself and those in her charge when the mansion in which they live appears to be haunted--and the ghosts want the children.
Director: Dan Curtis
Writer: William F. Nolan, Henry James (novel)
Starring: Lynn Redgrave, Megs Jenkins
Subgenres: haunting, possession
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It's strange; by going for a faux-gothic, Dark Shadows-like feel, this film fails to capture the atmosphere of its source material, which is possessed of gothic horror at its purest. Although robbing Henry James's work of its ambience is easily this version's greatest sin, it is by no means its only one. For instance, the pacing of the film is completely wrong--scenes are allowed to go on for too long, fouling the tension. In addition, this adaptation makes some questionable plotting choices; generally speaking, showing the audience most of the movie's cards in the first fifteen minutes isn't the brightest move--if it's to be done, it has to be done gently. Another mistake connected to the writing is the overly expositional voiceover Lynn Redgrave does throughout the film--it made me wonder if I hadn't picked up some odd Cliff's Notes version of The Turn of the Screw by mistake. Sadly, though, it's the actors that are largely responsible for the film's missteps. I had never realized how much the role of Miles requires a good actor to play it, and Jasper Jacob is simply not up to the task. Not all of it is his fault--at the least, he was miscast. He portrays Miles as a spiteful little shit, more like a burgeoning sexual assailant than a boy who's simply been made curious about the wrong things. Finally, Lynn Redgrave proves that the line between stage acting and overacting is very thin. Unfortunately, neither is appropriate in this movie. (Jul 3, 2001/Jul 6, 2001) | ||||||
Henry James' novel The Turn of the Screw has been put to film at least ten times.
