The Nightcomers

A sinfully average prequel to one of the best horror movies ever, The Innocents. If you don’t deliver fear, surprise or even an interesting story, good actors won’t be enough to save you. (10/01/2013)

Michael Winner was a thoroughly average filmmaker and none of his films can claim an honorable place in cinema heaven. Out of what I had the opportunity to see, The Nightcomers is the best, even though Michael couldn't figure out the genre and the resulting effect is, I'm afraid, a bit of unintended magic. The Nightcomers certainly won't hold up as a horror today and it doesn't make sense to seek it out for that purpose. It is a question of whether it would have held up in its genre at the time because there has been a shift in the expectations of the audience and their threshold of sensitivity. Today, it is much more of a mysterious drama, for me with a touch of ironic commentary on the contemporary concept of sexuality at the end of the Victorian era. In any case, The Nightcomers reminded me of Haneke's The White Ribbon in some ways, but with the difference being that where Winner draws the atmosphere, he basically fumbles blindly, whereas Haneke knows exactly what he's doing and he is brilliant at it. The casual Brando is fine and represents support for the film, but I had no problems with any actor's performance. Sadomasochistic games and obedient children are not boring, and I would be harming the film if I didn't give it four stars. Overall impression: 70%. (15/09/2019)

The British film The Nightcomers has quite an interesting atmosphere, mainly associated with sexual tension and how sex in other than the classic form can make a big mess in the heads of children. Marlon Brando doesn't really excel here, he doesn't give his all, but he is still the one who carries the film. He and the two children his character takes care of in the film. (25/04/2019)