The Nightcomers

Set in an English country house, The Nightcomers follows two orphaned siblings, Miles and Flora, who are left in the care of their guardian's staff after their wealthy parents die. The governess, Miss Jessel, and the gardener and handyman Peter Quint take charge of the children's upbringing. Quint is well read and has seen more of the world than the isolated estate, and he loosens the strict routine the household once followed. He also has a darker side, and the relationship between him and Miss Jessel shapes the children's lives, as does the disapproval of the housekeeper, Mrs. Grose. The story serves as a prequel to Henry James's The Turn of the Screw, dramatizing the events that precede the deaths of Quint and Jessel and the children's gradual corruption under their influence. Michael Hastings wrote the screenplay.

Michael Winner directed and produced the film. It was his fourth feature in a run of thirteen, arriving between The Mechanic and The Stone Killer. Marlon Brando plays Quint, with Stephanie Beacham as Miss Jessel, Thora Hird as Mrs. Grose, Harry Andrews as the master of the house, and Verna Harvey and Christopher Ellis as Flora and Miles. The film runs 96 minutes.

Opinion on The Nightcomers is mixed. On IMDb it holds 5.8 out of 10 from around 3,200 votes, and on TMDB 5.7 out of 10 from a much smaller number of votes, both indicating modest audience approval. A critics' rating of 6.8 out of 10, drawn from a handful of reviews, sits higher than those audience scores.