The Innocents | 100 Movies Bucket List

 

This was one I hadn't heard of, but looking at the description and some of the reviews, it seemed like 'classic ghost story' horror, so I was excited to see it.

I really liked this movie.

The characters are great. They start off so endearing and likeable that you're immediately interested in them and willing to become invested in their story.

It takes the time to really let the audience become connected to these people. It doesn't start with horrors or scares, but instead slowly draws you into their world, to get to know them, before the scares really start. 

And even then, the horror aspects of the film begin in a really subtle way, which is great because we're really experiencing everything at the same time as our main character. We have no idea where it's going, or what the secrets are, and neither does she.

It's easy to see how films like this influence modern horror. There are so many things here, not only in the horror elements but also in the acting or dialogue, that feel so much more recent than they are. For being a 60s film, if the exact same movie was made 10 years ago I think it would be just as revered, if not moreso.

All of the actors are great, but especially the children played by Martin Stephens and Pamela Franklin. They were so great in their roles and made the film as good as it was.

I'm not sure if this is technically classed as a mystery, but it's really fun to try and find out these secrets alongside the characters. Miss Giddens (played amazingly by Deborah Kerr) is a great protagonist and trying to figure things out alongside her is part of what makes the story so engaging.

But along with this, it's also fascinating to see Miss Giddens fall deeper and deeper into paranoia. She's written so well and it's really interesting to see how gradually it happens.

When I first googled the film I saw that it was noted as being slow and potentially frustrating, but that couldn't be further from my experience. I thought the pacing was great - if anything, it went by faster than I expected!

So overall, this is classic horror. I'm really glad it was on the bucket list and I'd definitely recommend it to any horror fans!