Jack Clayton’s classic ghost story The Innocents gets Criterion treatment

Last Updated on August 2, 2021

More exciting Criterion news to share with you! We just let you know that David Lynch’s insane classic ERASERHEAD will be making getting a pristine makeover from the famed home video distributor, and now we can also let you know Jack Clayton’s THE INNOCENTS is receiving the same!

If you’ve never seen this masterpiece, there will be no better time than when it hits in September. A gothic ghost story in the classic sense, this flick has been the clear inspiration behind so many modern supernatural thrillers (THE OTHERS being the most obvious). It’s genuinely eerie, features several unforgettable moments and stunning cinematography by the great Freddie Francis. Can’t recommend it enough.

The Blu-ray will include:

*New 4K digital restoration, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack on the Blu-ray

*Audio commentary featuring cultural historian Christopher Frayling

*New interview with cinematographer John Bailey on director of photography Freddie Francis and the look of the film

*Archival interviews with editor James Clark, Francis, and script supervisor Pamela Francis

*Trailer

*PLUS: An essay by critic Maitland McDonagh

Based on Henry James’ “Turn of the Screw”, THE INNOCENTS goes like this:

In late 19th century England, an inexperienced young woman (Deborah Kerr) becomes governess to a small orphan girl living in a lonely stately home occupied only by the child, a housekeeper and a small complement of servants. Her initial misgivings allayed by the child’s angelic nature, her anxieties are once more aroused when the girl’s brother, equally captivating, is sent home from boarding school for wickedness of some unspecified kind. Then eerie apparitions and inexplicable behaviour on the children’s part cause her to wonder about the house’s history, especially about the fate of the previous governess and the former valet, Peter Quint, and to fear for the children’s souls and for her own sanity.

THE INNOCENTS hits on September 23rd. Yep, Halloween season!