Beautiful Films: The Innocents

Though ranked 18th best British film in one Time Out poll, The Innocents (1961) is still something of a hidden treasure. Based on Henry James' novella The Turn of the Screw, it's a psychological rather than gory horror film, with Deborah Kerr as a governess whose mind is increasingly disturbed by ghostly events and the two apparently possessed children in her charge. Freddie Francis' widescreen and deep-focus cinematography is exquisite.