The equivalent of what Ken Russell's version of "The Rainbow" was to his earlier "Women in Love", this prequel to "The Innocents" is unpleasant and hideously dull. It features an overweight Marlon Brando seducing the svelte Stephanie Beacham in perhaps one of the most repulsive sex scenes of all times, not because of any gratuitous nudity or even the difference in their ages, but simply because of how his handyman character treats the innocent nanny that Beacham plays. It's like a game of how much physical and emotional abuse that Beacham can take, either from her two charges (Verna Harvey and Christopher Ellis) or the humorless housekeeper (Thora Hird), but the sadomasochism he enjoys tormenting her with while entertaining the two children with his stories of Irish blarney.

I was expecting a light Gothic horror film from this because of its ties with the Henry James novel, and I was completely disappointed that it is basically a character study with little plot and even less to recommend of it. There are amusing scenes where the children play various pranks (particularly when they strand Hird in their gorgeous treehouse), and Brando's cartoon Irish accent is a hoot, but the writing and directing makes it very disappointing, especially in the hands of a veteran like Michael Winner. The elements of horror do not show up officially until the last 10 minutes of the film, and one moment is pretty hideous. Scenes involving wild animals (a toad and a dead bird) are a bit disturbing but not gruesome, although the popping sound involving the toad has an obvious outcome.

There is quality in the pretty musical score as well as the country sets and did nice photography, but that doesn't change the fact that this is very difficult to get through, and that when it does hint of any elements of ghost, in this all spoken about and not represented visually. Ultimately, this is the type of film that tries hard but does not know what it wants to be, and the audience is left more befuddled because of that. The last scene ends pretty much begins where "The Innocents" began, and it is interesting to note that Anna Palk does highly resemble Deborah Kerr who played that role in the 1961 film. If you consider horror to be a man of Brando's size laying on top of a woman Beacham's size, then this is indeed horror.