i first saw this film in 1961 when it came out ... I was twelve ... i have seen it many times since. Whether or not the ghosts are real, (and the director obviously intended the film to be ambiguous), it is inarguably, the best film of any ghost story,ever.
But you ARE Blanche ... and I AM.
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The Uninvited would certainly top my honourable mention list ... how dare they use that name for that crummy recent American so-called remake of "A Tale Of Two Sisters"?
But you ARE Blanche ... and I AM.
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Indeed this was a wonderful film. You're so lucky to have been able to see it during it's original release. It was released decades before I was born, but I would've loved to see it in theaters when it was brand new.
Death lives in the Vault of Horror!
I was fourteen, but I was old enough to see that it was subtle, scary and ravishingly beautiful ... and wonderfully acted by the whole cast.
But you ARE Blanche ... and I AM.
This is quite a movie.
It will stay with me..
ghosts or crazy.. or a little bit of both...
and the kisses...quite interesting.
well acted by all 4 leads...
Ms Kerr was great.
Best Psychological Ghost Horror Film ever.
Liberate tu temet ex inferis.
pro ego sum diabolus, pro ego sum nex.
I agree, the only one I know that comes anywhere near it for quality is the Spanish film, The Devil's Backbone, by Guillermo del Toro, the director of Pan's Labyrinth. That film is brilliant, but has other aspects than the ghost thread through it.
But you ARE Blanche ... and I AM.
For me, it's:
1. The Haunting (1963)
and then, in no particular order...
The Uninvited (1944)
The Others (2001)
The Innocents (1961)
The PSYCHO/ColdWar/TwilightZone-y/end-of-the-world era of the early-'60s and its ghostly mood (when even Opie losing his baseball in the haunted murder mansion on the edge of Mayberry was creepy as hell despite being ridiculously comedic) is the perfect place to realize a supreme ghost movie.
For me, THE HAUNTING has the edge because the narrative hold together better. THE INNOCENTS has some of the most beautiful deep-focus B&W cinematography I've ever seen and is drippingly eerie, but the film always seems like a series of brilliantly-realized macabre vignettes strung together -- so it's more scattered, in a way.
I also have a problem with Miss Kerr whom I find to shrill and "actress-y" in the role (yes, I know Julie Harris is quite shrill in THE HAUNTING, too, but that seems to befit the character, while, for me, Kerr's shrillness is an unnecessary distraction).
Still, I'm 95% praising of THE INNOCENTS.
--
The most profound of sin is tragedy unremembered.
I like The Haunting too, Julie Harris and Clare Bloom were terrific, but I must disagree about Deborah Kerr .. she was frequently chosen by directors for her ability to portray suppressed sexuality and sexual hysteria ... hysterics are histrionic by nature, so it is entirely appropriate for the role that she should seem a bit "actressy" in the part .. all the real hysterics I have known have been "actressy" too.
For a different side of her try "From Here To Eternity", or the early, (but very moving), Love On The Dole. Black narcissus and The Innocents show her at her sexually frustrated best. (there is an even more hysterical nun up against her in "Black Narcissus").
But you ARE Blanche ... and I AM.
but I must disagree about Deborah Kerr .. she was frequently chosen by directors for her ability to portray suppressed sexuality and sexual hysteria ... hysterics are histrionic by nature
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I won't be commenting on YOUR silliness and pretentiousness, or lack of it ... I have some manners.
But you ARE Blanche ... and I AM.
Thanks for your thread, bradjanet. I'm ashamed to admit it, but I've never seen it. It's on TCM, Oct. 23rd - right before one of my all time favorites "The Uninvited". I know where I'll be on the 23rd!