The Bates guy and his history was explained much more thoroughly in the book than the movie, so this may have more to do with the book. The story of Bates and his abuse of the children was too similar to Henry James's "Turn of the Screw" to be coincidental. Is Turn of the screw now in the public domain? If not, how did Straub avoid a plagarism suit?
shareBecause there were significant differences between the two stories. I.Location s were very different. 2.There was only one abuser:Gregory Bate 3.This abuse was incestuous, since Gregory was their brother.
shareNot to mention that "The Turn of the Screw" was itself partially based on a story Henry James had read years before in a popular magazine (see Leon Edel's "Henry James: A Life"). The story even featured a character named Quint, apparently! This kind of recycling--and re-recycling--is not uncommon in literature, music, and visual art.
shareWhat's weirder is that a few years back a guy named Toby Litt published a modernized retelling of Turn of the Screw entitled "Ghost Story." Why the publisher didn't make him change the name escapes me.
-There is no such word as "alot."
In the movie, the Bates guy and the kid who was with him were completely unnecessary. Their story went nowhere, and they should have been eliminated.
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