I have seen all of the film adaptations of the book Turn of the Screw by Henry James, and this one is by far the best visually as well as psychologically. The addition of the sexual abuse of the governess herself at the hands of her own father pulls the plot together nicely by explaining her confusion and angst and fight, if not severe enough in the end, to protect the children in her charge and to take authority over the unclean pedophile spirits that infest the mansion. Bottom line? She is struggling with pedophilia herself, and this is made evident by her interactions with the prepubescent boy in her charge--her eye contact, her physical proximity, her lack of discretion at night when she is dressed only in her chemise and he is nude. He is not a small boy, but near his teenage years--and she is only in her early twenties. The housekeeper in this version pretends to be against the pedophilia that has been occurring at the house, but she makes it obvious that she has really enjoyed the whole thing, even if, as she says, it was fear that kept her from stopping it. Caveat: this film has full frontal nudity in one scene where we are invited to explore the voluptuous body of the governess while viewing her cigar burns and jagged scars made, we assume, by whips, knives, and other damaging instruments. Starring Harvey Keitel as the uncle and Lauren Bacall as the housekeeper.

I am surprise this movie only received a PG-13 rating? The frontal nudity and taboo subjects explored in this film warrants a "R" rating. I know European rating standards are different from the United States,but there should be a warning on the DVD. The movie wasn't scary as it tempted to address the psychological affects ghosts has on the children. I have seen several versions of this story based on Herny James "Turn of the Screw" This version rates average. The costumes and acting is far superior than the screenplay. The best "Haunted children movies" is by far Nicole Kidman's "The Others" brilliant acting and screenplay, which was influenced by "The Turn of the Screw" I have a bone to pick. Why hire a actor whose accent is not the same as the rest of the cast? That can be so annoying.

This movie is a good adaptation of the novel by henry james 'turn of the screw', thought it is not as scary and intense as the best adaptation of this novel 'the innocents'. First of all, it is quite surprising that this film is the first work of the director antoni aloy, and he managed to cast lauren bacall, harvey keitel and sadie frost, who all develope a correct performance. but ironically all these great actors can't fight with the kids, who act in a perfect way. the direction is quite correct and the cinematography and music are great. unfortunately due to economic problems this film hasn't been released in almost any country, just in spain in a few screens and it hasn't get the recognition it deserves.