Miss Giddens (Deborah Kerr) is employed to be the governess of two precocious children in a large old house that appears to have more inhabitants than she originally thought, and they are not of this world. After she sees multiple signs of hauntings in and around the house, she decides to take matters into her own hands to protect the children and expel the spirits
This movie is scary. On more than one occasion while watching the film, I got goosebumps. I've always preferred creepy, atmospheric horror to gore and obviousness, and this movie was right up my alley. Deborah Kerr's acting is some of the best I've seen from her, as she goes from delight in her new occupation to wide-eyed terror and begins questioning her own sanity. It also looks great...the film makes very good use of space in the frame. Something that's really effective in a horror film for me is when the film exercises restraint in showing us the object meant to frighten us. Something chilling seen from a distance can be much scarier than a close up every time. This film doesn't answer every question, and leaves things up for debate long after it's over, and I LOVE that. It shows confidence in the audience, letting them decide for themselves what really happened. Criterion just released this and I'm hoping to find it in my Christmas stocking...or should we perhaps make Halloween stockings a thing?
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