The Haunting of Helen Walker

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.

This film doesn't deserve a "10," but for only one reason. The ending is absurd and meaningless. Valerie Bertinelli's, and her director's, brilliant feminist interpretation of Henry James' misogynist story deserved a denouement. Without spoiling the five seconds or so of film that pass for an ending, it can be said those five seconds undo all the freshness of the movie. The Haunting of Helen Walker has three adult female characters: governess, estate manager (played by Diana Rigg), and housekeeper, none of whom hate one another, distrust one another, or-a typical Jamesian conceit-tolerate one another. Helen's increasing identification with children clearly victims of abuse and neglect doesn't cause the manager, for example, to demand her dismissal. Helen's American-ness isn't regarded as a mild form of illness. And unlike The Turn of the Screw, which questions a lonely protagonist's sanity, The Haunting of Helen Walker shows how a real governess living in isolated splendor might react when she is forsaken by two very rich children's sadistic uncle. I review older, generally unknown, sometimes ridiculed, films when I see they don't deserve the scores they receive on IMDB. The Haunting of Helen Walker inexplicably turns Walker into a victim at the end without letting us know how much time has passed, the circumstances of her losing her mind, or whether the other child who can be saved is saved. But that is the writer's (or writers') fault, not Bertinelli's or Rigg's. I don't think I've ever seen another production where Valerie Bertinelli's acting talent is put to better use.

Just when I thought I had seen every adaptation of Henry James' "The Turn of the Screw," the IMDb algorithm suggested this film to me...

Commissioned by CBS and given to Tom McLoughlin, who was always known for his middling yet distinctive work, the project, while appearing to be a rather loose adaptation of Henry James' work, is actually a rather intriguing and watchable TV movie with a few minor changes.

When it aired, the film was practically buried by ABC's remake of the 1960s musical "Bye Bye Birdie" starring Jason Alexander, which drew 13.6 million viewers, and despite this, it has taken its place among forgotten productions.

Being an American adaptation of a British production, I did experience a bit of a problem with the emotional transition, but this has been mentioned in the comments made about the work since its release... despite CBS and the BBC collaborating on quite a few projects.

I'm a big fan of Valerie Bertinelli; she's a very lovely and under-rated actress, and she does very well in this movie. The problem is that "A Turn of the Screw" by Henry James has been done too many times with little variations or deviations from the original novel. Done best as "The Innocents" (1961), the plot was only really done differently and interestingly on "Dark Shadows" with David Selby and Terry Crawford. The Bertinelli movie is very scary and has great convincing special effects, but some problem does rest in the direction and execution. She finds all these clues that something is wrong at the estate she works on, but it is hard to tell just how all these clues relate to each other once you realize that the children are under the thrall of two ghosts who hate each other. The movie on its own is a very top-notch ghost story, but you have to be totally unaware of the original novel to appreciate it.

This was worse than a Harlequin romance novel: the only good part was the old castle and the surrounding landscape. Hammy, overdone rehash of every 2 bit ghostly/old manse film that's ever been done. It provided rain, lightning, dim corridors, haunting music, candles blowing out, spectral beings, and on and on and on all the way to the 'creepy' finale. Valerie should have stayed home and let Eddie bring home the bacon.