The Haunting of Helen Walker (1995)

Too much of everything

I cannot think of one single thing that I would change about this film. The acting is incomparable, the directing deft, and the writing poignantly brilliant.

I enjoyed watching this film and would recommend other to give it a try , (as I am) but this movie, although enjoyable to watch due to the better than average acting fails to add anything new to its storyline that is all too familiar to these types of movies.

This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.

Based on the novel, Turn of the Screw, Helen Walker is hired as a governess for two English children, Miles and Flora, in their old mansion in the England countryside. While on the job, Helen notices strange events surrounding the mansion and children and is determined to discover the surrounding secrets of the home's past history.This is actually a pretty intriguing movie that captures the audience's attention with the peculiar children, followed by the immediate sightings of the apparitions by Helen Walker. Valerie Bertinelli did a nice job portraying her, displaying aspects of care and nurture for the children and drama and suspicion in places in the plot where appropriate. Diana Rigg did a commanding job in portraying the intimidating Mrs. Grose and Florence Hoath and Aled Roberts did a convincing job portraying the kids - very refined, dignified and lady/gentleman-like. Aled's portrayal of Miles always has this sly and sinister look at his face, with his nose in the air and stuck-up persona that I've found annoying at times.The effects done for the ghosts were worked out very well and their appearances really sent chills down my body and the hair raise on the back of my neck. The effects team also did a great job in setting up the grand mansion (making it spooky when appropriate) and the surrounding landscapes, especially the green valleys and lake.I know the movie is based on the novel, but I wished ***spoiler ahead*** Helen would have gave the screaming and obnoxious Flora a taste of her own medicine toward the end and wished the ending would have been made a little more hopeful rather than downright sad (I'm a sucker for happy endings). The ending also seemed a little rushed for me. ***spoiler ends***Overall, it's not a bad hair-raising TV movie for a few good scares and chills.Grade B-

The Haunting of Helen Walker (1995)Now this what you call a good chiller, I really enjoyed it, it dose take long to get to the creepy parts, they worked really well. There are to far apart from each other and they not just there for one Jump scenes, you see this ghost for more then 20's seconds. I loved the Raining window scenes was really well shot and very creepy how movie was fixed on that the whole time, The Kid in this movie was creepy but I think they were a little to cute to laugh like that. I really enjoyed this movie, I know it updated version Turn of the Screw (There are few of these out there) The acting was outstanding from the whole cast and Kids were great too I going to give this movie 8 out of 10

In agreement with the other comments, I too was skeptical with Valerie Bertinelli in the part of the governess in basically an all British film. But she was surprisingly very good. I also agree that this was a very scary movie. The effects were great, not overboard. The actor portraying Peter Quint was diabolical looking. Think about how difficult it is to act without being able to speak....very interesting. Diana Rigg, as always was great in her role. The children were okay, the boy had a tendency to squint, but when his eyes were open, he was a very handsome child. The film location was perfect for this type of movie, kind of pseudo-gothic. If you like horror, I would definitely recommend this movie.

My friends have a difficult time stifling their giggles when I mention a quality film version of Henry James's classic "Turn of the Screw" starring Valerie Bertinelli, but she does quite a good job in the title role (a character altered just slightly from the novella to account for her American origins in a British cast and setting) of an altogether excellent film.Those who have seen the earlier screen treatment of this story, _The Innocents_ (with Deborah Kerr in the Bertinelli role) will enjoy this version for similar reasons, foremost among them the excellent screenplay and eerie atmosphere. The 1995 film adds effective ghostly special effects (chilling but never overdone) to heighten the spookiness, a lush location setting, and increased emphasis on the disturbingly sexual nature of the hauntings. The children may not be as sympathetic as they should be--it's difficult to believe that their natural, unpossessed state is cherubic innocence--but the young actors are convincingly creepy and sly when under the spirits' influence. Altogether the cast is wonderful, with the incomparable Diana Rigg especially effective as the housekeeper who unwillingly comes to recognize that the new governess is _not_ just imagining things. Bertinelli's devotion, fear, and ultimate determination are completely believable, and the final showdown with the evil Peter Quint is haunting indeed--it will take your breath away. This film deserves a place in every ghost story lover's video collection.