*“When your mother died, I mean, what happened about the funeral?”
“There wasn't one. We buried her in the garden.”*
An incredibly obscure psychological thriller about seven children who bury and hide their recently deceased mother, in hopes to escape becoming fostered. In comes their long lost father, who sees his ex-wife’s death as a money maker. Directed by Jack Clayton, who directed a favorite obscure horror film of mine, The Innocents (1961), Our Mother’s House (1967) has culminated a measly 2,000 viewers on Letterboxd and it’s really a shame. This film truly is brilliant.
Director Jack Clayton was known to adapt novels. His magnum opus, The Innocents (1961), was based off the novel The Turn of the Screw written by Henry James. That novel was also adapted by Mike Flanagan, for his Netflix series The Haunting of Bly Manor. This film is no different, Clayton adapted the 1963 novel Our Mother’s House, written by Julien Gloag. And Mr. Flanagan, I have yet to read the novel but we need to make a Netflix series on this novel.
I see many people pointing out the incredible performance from star Dick Bogarde, who in his own right gave a great performance, especially in those last 20 minutes. But the standout actor of this film was child actress Pamela Franklin. Franklin had appeared in Clayton’s The Innocents, playing the creepy little girl, Flora. But her character, and her performance especially, carries this entire film. Her character, Diana, is an interesting character study to begin with:
SPOILERS
She and Elsa are the new “parents” of the rest of the children, but she still cannot let go of her mother, as she performs seances in hopes to speak to her deceased mother once again. But what really makes her character stand out is when her long lost father, Charlie, shows up. It all starts with her outside with Charlie and her siblings, who are running around having a good time. It isn’t until Charlie starts to tickle her, she laughs but with clever framing of just her upper body, a sudden change in facial expression makes us realize that Charlie has done something more than just horsing around. It’s subtle, but bone chilling. From that moment, she feels emotionally involved with Charlie, a horrifying result of Charlie’s presence around these children. The next big scene between her and Charlie is when she comes into the parents room, as she finds Charlie with a women in the same bed her mother passed away on. She runs to the kitchen crying, and Charlie goes in to explain himself. Since she’s so emotionally involved in him, she kisses him on the cheek and leaves. The final scene, which is the best scene in the whole film, Charlie explodes into a fit of rage after the children confront him of his exploitation of their mother’s death. As he curses out his deceased ex-wife, he begins to light a photo of her on fire. Diana has had enough, she grabs the fire poker and kills him. A triumphant and powerful moment, not only getting rid of a man who was speaking ill of their lost mother, but someone who had disgustingly gotten himself emotionally attached to his own daughter.
SPOILERS END
Pamela Franklin’s performance is one of the greatest child performances I’ve ever seen. Her performance in this film, The Innocents and many other later horror films has dubbed her as one of the earliest actresses crowned as a scream queen. I think she’s the Princess Diana of child scream queens (which is ironic given that her character’s name in this film is Diana).
Our Mother’s House is a powerful, devastating, eerie psychological thriller from Jack Clayton. With incredible child performances all around, even beyond Pamela Franklin, Our Mother’s House needs to be talked about more. I know an unpaid Letterboxd reviewer like myself won’t get far with saying this, but this film needs to be seen. 2,000 Letterboxd viewers and 290 written reviews is not enough for how much this film deserves.
*“When your mother died, I mean, what happened about the funeral?”
“There wasn't one. We buried her in the garden.”*
An incredibly obscure psychological thriller about seven children who bury and hide their recently deceased mother, in hopes to escape becoming fostered. In comes their long lost father, who sees his ex-wife’s death as a money maker. Directed by Jack Clayton, who directed a favorite obscure horror film of mine, The Innocents (1961), Our Mother’s House (1967) has culminated a measly 2,000 viewers on Letterboxd and it’s really a shame. This film truly is brilliant.
Director Jack Clayton was known to adapt novels. His magnum opus, The Innocents (1961), was based off the novel The Turn of the Screw written by Henry James. That novel was also adapted by Mike Flanagan, for his Netflix series The Haunting of Bly Manor. This film is no different, Clayton adapted the 1963 novel Our Mother’s House, written by Julien Gloag. And Mr. Flanagan, I have yet to read the novel but we need to make a Netflix series on this novel.
I see many people pointing out the incredible performance from star Dick Bogarde, who in his own right gave a great performance, especially in those last 20 minutes. But the standout actor of this film was child actress Pamela Franklin. Franklin had appeared in Clayton’s The Innocents, playing the creepy little girl, Flora. But her character, and her performance especially, carries this entire film. Her character, Diana, is an interesting character study to begin with:
SPOILERS
She and Elsa are the new “parents” of the rest of the children, but she still cannot let go of her mother, as she performs seances in hopes to speak to her deceased mother once again. But what really makes her character stand out is when her long lost father, Charlie, shows up. It all starts with her outside with Charlie and her siblings, who are running around having a good time. It isn’t until Charlie starts to tickle her, she laughs but with clever framing of just her upper body, a sudden change in facial expression makes us realize that Charlie has done something more than just horsing around. It’s subtle, but bone chilling. From that moment, she feels emotionally involved with Charlie, a horrifying result of Charlie’s presence around these children. The next big scene between her and Charlie is when she comes into the parents room, as she finds Charlie with a women in the same bed her mother passed away on. She runs to the kitchen crying, and Charlie goes in to explain himself. Since she’s so emotionally involved in him, she kisses him on the cheek and leaves. The final scene, which is the best scene in the whole film, Charlie explodes into a fit of rage after the children confront him of his exploitation of their mother’s death. As he curses out his deceased ex-wife, he begins to light a photo of her on fire. Diana has had enough, she grabs the fire poker and kills him. A triumphant and powerful moment, not only getting rid of a man who was speaking ill of their lost mother, but someone who had disgustingly gotten himself emotionally attached to his own daughter.
SPOILERS END
Pamela Franklin’s performance is one of the greatest child performances I’ve ever seen. Her performance in this film, The Innocents and many other later horror films has dubbed her as one of the earliest actresses crowned as a scream queen. I think she’s the Princess Diana of child scream queens (which is ironic given that her character’s name in this film is Diana).
Our Mother’s House is a powerful, devastating, eerie psychological thriller from Jack Clayton. With incredible child performances all around, even beyond Pamela Franklin, Our Mother’s House needs to be talked about more. I know an unpaid Letterboxd reviewer like myself won’t get far with saying this, but this film needs to be seen. 2,000 Letterboxd viewers and 290 written reviews is not enough for how much this film deserves.
