CheerupSilver Very Cool!!!

Phonearl Good start, but then it gets ruined

Bereamic Awesome Movie

WillSushyMedia This movie was so-so. It had it's moments, but wasn't the greatest.

Draconis Blackthorne Based on The Turn of The Screw by Henry James, a new governess {Valerie Bertinelli} for two children arrives at a beautiful Gothic mansion in the English countryside complete with a private lake. Although the Lord of the Manor will not be present, placing all responsibility upon her shoulders - he being a confirmed bachelor, and she a lonely young childless widow, she implores for the opportunity.Upon her arrival, she spots a face in a blackened window, then later a man on top the tower, and the same lady by the lake. She encounters former Lord of the Manor Peter Quint gazing menacingly in at her from outside a window on a Sunday morning just before church, in which she had just mentioned that The Devil 'causes obstacles for the faithful on Sundays' {the classic "Speak of The Devil and The Devil appears"}. His eyes flicker and long black hair frames a pale face, as Helen is terrified speechless.The Lady by the lake is Miss Jessel attired in a black dress in which she drowned by suicide after Quint, her lover, fell from that tower. Ms. Walker seems to be sensitive to the ghostly apparitions therein, although head maid Mrs. Grose does not believe her at first, fearing Helen may be losing her mind, yet subsequent strange events become undeniable. The children Flora and Miles steadily become possessed by these shades and set their mischievousness upon their new American governess.In the end, Emily Jessel and Peter Quint are reunited in a passionate embrace, and despite his beckoning for her to join them, Helen falls back in fright. She attends to the children to free them of the clutches of this devilish rogue, whose reputation is regarded as a monster, lecher, carouser, not only by the resident maids {whom it is assumed he took liberties with}, but also the goodly groundskeeper Barnaby, who held the opinion that "god" struck him down {perhaps a wee bit of jealousy there?}. ∞

helpless_dancer This was worse than a Harlequin romance novel: the only good part was the old castle and the surrounding landscape. Hammy, overdone rehash of every 2 bit ghostly/old manse film that's ever been done. It provided rain, lightning, dim corridors, haunting music, candles blowing out, spectral beings, and on and on and on all the way to the 'creepy' finale. Valerie should have stayed home and let Eddie bring home the bacon.

aesgaard41 I'm a big fan of Valerie Bertinelli; she's a very lovely and under-rated actress, and she does very well in this movie. The problem is that "A Turn of the Screw" by Henry James has been done too many times with little variations or deviations from the original novel. Done best as "The Innocents" (1961), the plot was only really done differently and interestingly on "Dark Shadows" with David Selby and Terry Crawford. The Bertinelli movie is very scary and has great convincing special effects, but some problem does rest in the direction and execution. She finds all these clues that something is wrong at the estate she works on, but it is hard to tell just how all these clues relate to each other once you realize that the children are under the thrall of two ghosts who hate each other. The movie on its own is a very top-notch ghost story, but you have to be totally unaware of the original novel to appreciate it.

Serafine I am a huge horror fan and this film is up there with the best of them. I might even go so far as to compare the shocks in this film to those found in 'Don't Look Now'. It starts quite slowly and seems to be just an ordinary period drama to begin with, but soon your heart will start beating.The first shock is totally unexpected and will still scare you when you think about it later. I won't give it away, but you'll notice it! Although the film does have some slower bits, there are enough twists, turns and shocks throughout to keep you interested. One of the only bad parts of this film is the children that Helen Walker looks after. I wanted to give them (especially the boy) a good slap, but this does not decrease the power and shock of the images that'll keep you thinking about this film long after you've seen it.