Light of my life, fire of my movie obsessed brain, the fantastic Stacie Ponder is back with her newest Final Girl Film Club discussion, "The Innocents."

 

One of my favorite ghost stories, Jack Clayton's "The Innocents" (adapted by Truman Capote from the Henry James novella "The Turn of the Screw") contains both terrific, complex performances by Deboroah Kerr and Michael Redgrave and, even better, two creepy kids. I can never get enough of the creepy kids. It's also powerfully mysterious and open-ended.

 

As Stacie wrote:

 

"'The Innocents' never lets on as to what's really going on at Bly. Is Miss Giddens really saving the children from corruption, or is she the one corrupting them? Are there sado-masochistic ghosts roaming the halls and grounds of the estate, or is the sexually repressed Miss Giddens simply overtaken by stories of the wild and terrible lovers? That there are no definitive answers to any of these questions, it's up to the viewer to interpret everything that's laid out during the film- an approach that's sure to frustrate folks who want everything tied up in a neat package. I'll admit, when the film was over I had a bit of that 'Wait...what? So is...wait, that's it?' feeling; it's always a shock when horror films make you do some work and make you think. Undoubtedly, The Innocents is a movie that rewards repeat viewing."

 

Read Ponder's entire take on "The Innocents" and everything else she has to say at the greatest horror site in...what the hell...the world! That's Stacie's blog, Final Girl. Once you start reading, you'll be bloody glad you did.