''The Nightcomers'' is a 1971 British

horror film Horror is a film genre that seeks to elicit fear or disgust in its audience for entertainment purposes. Horror films often explore dark subject matter and may deal with transgressive topics or themes. Broad elements include monsters, apoca ...

directed by

Michael Winner Robert Michael Winner (30 October 1935 – 21 January 2013) was a British filmmaker, writer, and media personality. He is known for directing numerous Action film, action, Thriller films, thriller, and black comedy films in the 1960s, 1970s and ...

and starring

Marlon Brando Marlon Brando Jr. (April 3, 1924 – July 1, 2004) was an American actor. Considered one of the most influential actors of the 20th century, he received numerous accolades throughout his career, which spanned six decades, including two Academ ...

Stephanie Beacham Stephanie Beacham (born 28 February 1947) is an English television, film, radio and theatre actress. Although she has a wide number of credits to her name, Beacham is best known for for playing Sable Colby in the ABC soap operas ''The Colbys'' ...

Thora Hird Dame Thora Hird (28 May 1911 – 15 March 2003) was an English actress and comedian, presenter and writer. In a career spanning over 70 years, she appeared in more than 100 film and television roles, becoming a household name and a Briti ...

Harry Andrews Harry Stewart Fleetwood Andrews, CBE (10 November 1911 – 6 March 1989) was an English actor known for his film portrayals of tough military officers. His performance as Regimental Sergeant Major Wilson in '' The Hill'' (1965) alongside Sean ...

and

Anna Palk Anna Palk (23 October 1941 – 1 July 1990) was an English actress. Palk was born in Looe, Cornwall, England and educated at Rise Hall Convent in the East Riding of Yorkshire, and trained as an actress at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in Lo ...

. It is a prequel to

Henry James Henry James ( – ) was an American-British author. He is regarded as a key transitional figure between literary realism and literary modernism, and is considered by many to be among the greatest novelists in the English language. He was the ...

' 1898 novella ''

The Turn of the Screw ''The Turn of the Screw'' is an 1898 horror novella by Henry James which first appeared in serial format in ''Collier's Weekly'' (January 27 – April 16, 1898). In October 1898, it was collected in ''The Two Magics'', published by Macmill ...

'', which had already been adapted into the 1961 film '' The Innocents''. The manor house in the film is Sawston Hall, a 16th-century Tudor manor house in

Sawston Sawston is a large village in Cambridgeshire in England, situated on the River Cam about south of Cambridge. It has a population of 7,260. History Prehistory Although the current village of Sawston has only existed as anything more than a ha ...

, Cambridgeshire.

Plot

Recently orphaned, Flora and Miles are abandoned by their new guardian (Harry Andrews) and entrusted to the care of housekeeper Mrs. Grose (Thora Hird),

governess A governess is a largely obsolete term for a woman employed as a private tutor, who teaches and trains a child or children in their home. A governess often lives in the same residence as the children she is teaching. In contrast to a nanny, th ...

Miss Jessel (Stephanie Beacham), and Peter Quint (Brando), the former valet and now

gardener A gardener is someone who practices gardening, either professionally or as a hobby. Description A gardener is any person involved in gardening, arguably the oldest occupation, from the hobbyist in a residential garden, the home-owner suppleme ...

. With only these three adults for company, the children live an isolated life in the sprawling country manor estate. The children are particularly fascinated by Peter Quint due to his eclectic knowledge and engaging stories, and willingness to entertain them. With this captive audience, Quint doses out his strange philosophies on love and death. The governess, Miss Jessel, also falls under Peter's spell, and despite her repulsion the two embark on a sadomasochistic love affair. Flora and Miles become fascinated with this relationship, and help Quint and Jessel to escape the interference of disapproving Mrs. Grose. The children begin spying on Quint and Jessel's violent trysts and mimic what they see, including the bondage, culminating in Miles nearly pushing Flora off a building to her death. Mrs. Grose determines to write to the absent master of the house in order to get both Quint and Jessel sacked. The children are most distressed by this, and decide to take matters into their own hands to prevent the separation. Acting on Quint's assertions that love is hate and it is only in death that people can truly be united, the children murder Miss Jessel by knocking a hole in the boat she uses to wait for Quint (who never keeps the appointments), knowing that she cannot swim. Quint later finds Miss Jessel's rigid body in the water, but is given little time to mourn before Miles kills him with a bow and arrow. The film ends with the arrival of a new governess, presumably the one who features in ''

''.

Cast

as Peter Quint *

as Miss Jessel *

as Mrs. Grose *

as Master of the House * Verna Harvey as Flora * Christopher Ellis as Miles *

as New Governess

Differences from the book

The children in the film are portrayed as being a few years older than in the Henry James novel. Reviewer Brian Holcomb sees the reason for this in the sexual nature of the film and their roles in it (Verna Harvey was in fact 19 at the time).

Production

The film was based on an original script by Michael Hastings. He started with the beginning of the ''Turn of the Screw'' and plotted backwards. He says he wanted the two lead characters to be "plausible... based on their strange eroticism." Brando's casting was announced in November 1970. Filming took place in February and March 1971.

Release

The film opened at the

32nd Venice International Film Festival The 32nd annual Venice International Film Festival was held from 25 August to 6 September 1971. There was no jury because from 1969 to 1979 the festival was not competitive. Films premiered * '' The Devils'' by Ken Russell (United Kingdom) * ''La ...

on 30 August 1971.

Reception

Critical

The film has received mixed reviews. Brando's performance earned him a nomination for a BAFTA award for Best Actor, but recent audiences have criticised his cartoonish Irish accent. The film has a 57% critics' rating at

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

. Some reviewers have objected to the film's premise of showing what happened before the novel, as this threatens the ambiguity the novel explores.

Tom Milne Tom Milne (2 April 1926 – 14 December 2005) was a British film critic. See also After war service, he studied English and French at Aberdeen University and later at the Sorbonne. Interested in the theatre too, he wrote for the magazine ' ...

took a very negative view of ''The Nightcomers'', describing it as "a film crass enough to have the outraged ghost of Henry James haunting Wardour Street". Milne also criticised Hastings' script, stating his dialogue "sounds embarrassingly like a Cockney nanny doing her best to be genteel".

Leonard Maltin Leonard Michael Maltin (born December 18, 1950) is an American film critic and film historian, as well as an author of several mainstream books on cinema, focusing on nostalgic, celebratory narratives. He is perhaps best known for his book of fil ...

blamed Winner's "poor direction" for hurting the film's attempt to chronicle the original story's preceding events.

Box office

The film was a commercial disappointment at the box office. However Michael Winner claimed the film made its money back, adding "it was only the sex and violence that made it profitable. It was rather an intellectual piece, but without the violence it would have gone nowhere at all."

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Nightcomers, The 1971 horror films 1970s English-language films Films directed by Michael Winner Films scored by Jerry Fielding Embassy Pictures films Films set in 1897 Films set in country houses Films shot in Cambridgeshire Films based on The Turn of the Screw Films produced by Michael Winner