At the beginning of the sixties ,Jack Clayton made a fine adaptation of "the turn of the screw",called "the innocents" which featured P.Franklin too.This could be called "more innocents "but there's a strong difference between the two works.Although "our mother's house" verges on fantastic,there's nothing irrational,nothing supernatural here.THat's what we can call a miracle of a movie:because it sounds like a horror and fantasy movie without all the genre gimmicks .So people who're looking for gore,special effects and other paraphernalia,please pass by.If you enjoy strong screenplays,first-class performances and masterful direction,this is a must.

Eight children whose mother's just passed away want to go on with their life as if nothing happened.Besides ,they do believe that their mother is still with them,and Pamela Franklin 's rendering is absolutely stunning when she acts as some kind of medium:far from the usual clichés -as you can see in "ghost" for instance-,she will give you goose pimples.This mother will remain a mystery,maybe a saint steeped in piety,maybe somebody much worse than a goody-two-shoes,as Charlie eventually claims.

Charlie is masterfully portrayed by Dirk Bogarde who was in his more fruitful period with such masterpieces as "accident" "king and country" "la caduti dei degi" "morte a Venezio".He keeps people waiting for he only appears after about forty minutes.But when he's on the screen ,the chemistry between the thespian and the children is so obvious that there's no hiatus.At first sight,he resembles some adult Peter Pan (hairdo,swagger,clothes,not to forget the name:Hook!).Here ,where Spielberg dismally failed when he made "Hook" ,Jack Clayton with a much smaller budget had already succeeded in portraying an adult/child, more than twenty years before.But further acquaintance will show that an adult can no longer remain a child .When Charlie is a man again,tragedy is waiting around the corner.

"Our mother's house" is so rich a movie that you could stay all night talking about it:a twilight glow shines on an autumnal suburb and turns into absolute darkness for the last sequence.Georges Delerue's score is simply marvelous and enhances the perfection of the pictures.

A strong influence on the French movie "la fracture du myocarde".

See it at any cost.

This film begins with a sickly mother and her seven children living in an old English house. When the mother dies of whatever disease she has, the kids decide NOT to tell anyone and just bury her in the yard. After all, Mother did have a pension and they can live on that...provided no one notice they are signing the checks or asks what happened to the mother. This is all very creepy and I wasn't too sure if I liked this or not. A bit later, however, their ne'er-do-well father returns--after having abandoned them years before. Now, this scoundrel soon figures out what's happened and he proceeds to loot the savings account, bring in assorted tarts into the religious home and systematically sells off what he can. He's a total creep--using the money for alcohol, horses and ladies. What are the kids to do?! It's almost like it would be better if they just told everyone their mother had died.

Seeing this film was interesting to me, as the father is very similar to my uncle--and I am sure most families have a cretin like this somewhere. This took the film from a creepy but somewhat dull film to a really interesting movie--as Dirk Bogarde played an amazingly slimy character. He was vicious and horrid--just the sort of guy that you can't stop watching because he's so awful! And the final scene where he reveals to the kids exactly who he really is--you just have to see it! Creepy but fascinating--this one's well worth seeing--and one you won't soon forget. Plus, I was impressed as some of the children's performances were exceptional--particularly the older ones. As for my wife, however, she didn't like the vague ending...though it did work for me.

The seven Hook children live in a Victorian house with their bedridden religious mother. When she dies, the children decide to hide her death due to fear of being sent to an orphanage. They lie to their teachers and the mean housekeeper Mrs. Quayle. The eldest Elsa takes control. Diana claims to consult their mother's spirit. Hubert secretly writes to their absent father Charlie Hook (Dirk Bogarde) who eventually shows up.

This reminds me of Lord of the Flies especially Gerty's trial. That is the high point of intensity. The arrival of the father is another raising of the stakes. Quite frankly, I feared much worst although he's a pretty bad guy. This is a compelling British movie. It never really lets the tension seeps out. It keeps adding new elements like the extra boy. There is something about those British children.