Do you know who Truman Capote is? You know, the gay guy who talked like a midget, and was famous for writing In Cold Blood? The same guy Philip Seymore Hoffman won an oscar for portraying? The same guy who wrote the Breakfast at Tiffany's novel? Are you with me now? Okay, imagine if that little guy wrote a ghost movie! Can't do it? Well, think again, my friends, because here it is. The Innocents, directed by Jack Clayton (responsible for the 1974 version of The Great Gatsby), Let's move on to the review.

Loosely based on Henry James's The Turn of the Screw, this film is about a governess (or British nanny) that goes to live with some orphaned children in the country. The children fall instantly in love with her, and she with them. But subtly (maybe a bit too subtly) she starts to see and hear strange things. From seeing a grown man walking along the parapets, to hearing a strange woman crying, our heroine reaches a point when she starts to realize something is happening. The maid is a total dumbass who tries to ignore things and is no help whatsoever, so the lady is left on her own to figure out what the hell is going on. Is the mansion haunted? Is the gardener and the original nanny, who were supposed to have died, still alive?

Well, here is where the wonderfully creepy film takes a bizarre turn. The governess, who the children call Miss Giddens (played by Deborah Kerr of An Affair to Remember), suddenly decides that the kids, Miles and Flora, have been possessed by the ghosts of the departed gardener and their former nanny. SAY WHAT? How she came to this conclusion, I have no idea, but now she has vowed to force the spirits out of the kids and save their young souls.

I won't go into much more because the film is rich and swollen with class like a great, black and white Hammer film, and there are great creepy moments. Certainly the acting is above par. Especially the children, who straddle the delicate line between sweet and creepy. The film seems almost like a precursor to great ghost films like The Others, but without the shocks and jumps. This one, like I have said, is more subtle than most films. This means, of course, that it is slower and takes its time to build characters and really develop the situation. If I had one problem with the movie, it was the ending, which was totally bizarre and incomprehensible. It almost ruined the film for me, but overall I really did enjoy it. If you like chillers like Rebecca, you'll dig this one, but beware the ending. It's 100% Truman Capote certified grade Z cheese.

- Jose Prendes