“And you’re sure he always goes out at midnight?”
“Oh yes. Unless of course it’s one of his contrary nights.”

... and right there you have in a nutshell why this original is better than the 1997 remake with Christina Ricci (though I do love that version still). The way Hayley Mills delivers lines like that (another fave is the way she tells Kelso early on, “My cat came home last night wearing a wrist watch,” “Wearing a wrist watch?” “Yeh.”) is just pricelessly deadpan. I’m running out of old movies of hers to watch for the first time now, and I should probably save them really, ‘cos they’re always a pleasant surprise.

At 2 hours, this Disney feature already looks a little heavy, and until she shows up – even after, to an extent – this is actually a much more serious take on what amounts to a fairly ridiculous story. During the first scene – where we see the bad guys (uber-serious heavies Neville Brand and Frank Gorshin) talking around the tied up bank teller – you’d really be forgiven for thinking what you’re watching is far from a Disney movie for kids. These aren’t the butterfingered bad guys you usually get in these things (and the remake). Later on we witness DC separate a dead duck’s head from its body. It’s all almost a little shocking, lol.

But it’s also tons of fun. Mills once again kinda-sorta attempts an American embellishment on her accent, though it’s far less conspicuous than The Truth About Spring, and is almost mirrored by Dorothy Provine, who is perfectly cast as her sister. When the two of them are together onscreen, it wouldn’t matter if the movie was 12 hours long, it’d still pass like lightning.

Quite the perfect thing to warm up a cold dark Christmas evening. It really doesn’t demand a lot of attention, too, which is exactly what I needed after 4 hours of Russian, lol.

Another beautifully shot undeniable classic of the genre from the Sixties, though I’ll admit I have less to say about this one. Like The Innocents, it has a very highly strung woman at its heart, and Julie Harris as that woman is every bit as good as Deborah Kerr was at portraying, essentially, a disintegration of a very fragile notion of self. I’d entirely forgotten how this movie ended, and just as with The Innocents, I found myself questioning from the start, “and why is this scary again?” but being constantly hit by the reminders. That swelling door – just fantastic. And the final moments – poor Eleanor still changing her mind about what she wants at the wheel after it’s too late – the movie just leaves you exhausted yet almost relieved for her, to be finally at an end, whether or not it’s the end she wanted. Again, like The Innocents – and I think in this case my review kind of shows it – it’s a movie I still haven’t even begun to fathom, and perhaps never will. But each time there’s something more to keep me coming back, and if there’s a sign of a good movie, that must be it.

“We must pretend we didn’t hear it, then we won’t imagine things.”
“Well … sometimes one can’t help … imagining things …”

This one gets more and more glorious each time I watch it. Children and horror are about the greatest cinematic combination there is, and these kids are truly among the creepiest. It’s probably the most beautifully shot film of all time, Freddie Francis’ high contrast black and white cinemascope suiting the story perfectly, astonishingly not nominated for any awards according to the IMDb, let alone the Academy Award.

Whenever the movie begins I always find myself trying to remember what’s so scary about it, but I soon find out every time. It’s simple atmospheric unsettlement. Wide open spaces with only 4 (real, at least) people to occupy them, 2 of whom are children; children who we’re warned have the knack for wrapping adults around their little finger; adults, one of whom is clearly very highly strung. The seeming mental collapse of Miss Giddens (if that’s what it is) is seriously disturbing because it feels like it could happen to any of us in a bad week. And that kiss! Or, those kisses, rather – I’ve really been loving Kate Bush’s song “The Infant Kiss” recently, which was inspired by this movie, it was interesting to see it again with that song in mind. Like the movie as a whole, I still don’t know quite what to make of the kisses myself – I just know they send shivers down my spine, and that final moment of Giddens and Miles parting, leaving the screen dark, really leaves me shaken.

I think I must’ve missed the news of Deborah Kerr’s death 2 weeks ago Which made this kind of an unintended tribute. I haven’t really seen many of her movies – would love to see her in the original End of the Affair – but if her work here is anything to go by, then she was a true great, and beautiful to boot. She’s not the only shining member of the cast here though – in addition to the children, creepy Martin Stephens and adorably creepy Pamela Franklin, Megs Jenkins is a great presence as housekeeper Mrs. Grose. One of the all time great horror movies, for certain – and I guess Carrie isn’t so lonely afterall as a horror movie that also happens to be damn beautiful (incidentally, of course, Eyes Without A Face struck me immediately following that review as also falling into this wonderful category).