Product Details

• Actors: John Barron, Eva Griffiths, Jasper Jacob, Megs Jenkins, Anthony Langdon
• Directors: Dan Curtis
• Writers: Henry James, William F. Nolan
• Producers: Dan Curtis, Tim Steele
• Format: Color, NTSC
• Language: English
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: Mpi Home Video
• VHS Release Date: October 19, 1994
• Run Time: 120 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 2.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 6303320597
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #403,597 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Dissenting Point of View, August 7, 2000

By 

Paul Kesler (Bridgeport, PA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Turn of the Screw [VHS] (VHS Tape)

Though I appear to be a minority, I'd like to praise this version of "The Turn of the Screw," not because I think it's an improvement over the 1961 film version, "The Innocents," but because I think it succeeds in the context of its own particular medium: videotape. True, this rendering of Henry James is not "cinematic" in the usual sense, but the very nature of videotape precludes the stylistic approach of celluloid. What this version lacks in the verisimilitude of exterior settings, it more than compensates for in terms of intimacy of atmosphere (the main virtue of videotaped productions), so that I encountered a mood of claustrophobia lacking in theatrical versions. In fact, this "Turn of the Screw," like Dan Curtis's 1968 version of "Jekyll and Hyde" (and like the BBC videotape of "Count Dracula") carries much of the directness of on-stage drama: precisely because of its technical lack of "polish," it draws the viewer into a more authentic sense of involvement. As for the acting, here, too, I have to partially differ, since I feel Lynn Redgrave gave a fine and measured performance (not over-the-top, as some reviews have stated). If I had any quarrel with the acting, it was with Jasper Jacob as "Miles," because the actor looked 4 or 5 years too old for the role. Still, his performance was passable, and as for Eva Griffith, her "Flora" was superb; Griffith's face, moreover, has remarkable sensuality for a child actress, which makes the gradual onset of libertine possession all the more believable. In short, this is one of my favorite adaptations of a famous horror novel which, whatever its flaws, is one I'd love to have on DVD.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars better than the rest, September 12, 2000

By 

Julia Heck (Sheboygan, Wisconsin United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Turn of the Screw [VHS] (VHS Tape)

Despite a few nay sayers out there,this video was pretty darn good. It may not have a polished look,but then again,it was made for television. Within that contects,this version thrives like a vegetable in the rain. The sets are good as well as the acting,effects,and the frightning score by Robert Corbert.

13 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Spooky Atmosphere Ruined by Gratuitous Violence, February 22, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Turn of the Screw [VHS] (VHS Tape)

Well-acted, eerie atmosphere, BBC-style British television spooker is all set to be near-perfect, of a quality right up there with The Changeling or the Woman In Black. But some viewers may be turned off by the relentless torturing of animals that the two kids get up to - far more so than the barely hinted at suggestions in The Innocents film version of this great Henry James story. I found this aspect spoiled what could have easily been otherwise an above-average haunted house movie relying on psychological chills in the best tradition of The Haunting.