The Innocents -- 1961

This is a freaky little horror flick that keeps you glued and wondering what the heck is going on during its odd little plot. And I mean that is the best way possible.

We get a new governess in Miss Gibbons who is charged to go out to a country estate to look after two orphans. Their uncle, who hires her, just wants to be left alone. She is in full charge. Once she arrives, she finds the children endearing at first, and then begins wondering what happened to the last governess when strange things begin happening. People begin appearing in odd places; a man on a rooftop and through a window; a woman in the hall and across the lake. The children claim they can't see these apparitions but are they telling the truth? Did their last governess really die accidentally, or did someting else happen to her? These questions build and build throughout the story until we get a final resolution to the bizarre situation.

The plot seems carefully laid out to lay questionable suspicion on the children and force Miss Gibbons to simultaneously suspect them, believe they are innocents, and even think they are victims. As it unfolds, she becomes more and more desperate, but the plot continues to hold back only giving us nibbles the whole way.

The leads are fairly well drawn. We get a sense of Miss Gibbons and her desire to help the children. The children are essentially the same character in two bodies with little difference except that they are boy and girl. The staff is very tight lipped and drawn fairly thinly, only giving us enough to acquaint ourselves with them, but not really know them. Only the housekeeper gets much screentime, the being spoken of, but rarely seen.

I did enjoy this film. It held my interest from one end to the other, and maybe I expect too much of character. It creates a very creepy atmosphere that is maintained, and a climax that is downright frightening.