An intensely unsettling experience and widely considered to be one of the greatest of all ghost stories on film, The Innocents is now brought to Blu-ray by the BFI with numerous special features.

In the performance of her career, Deborah Kerr plays Miss Giddens, an emotionally repressed vicar's daughter, who becomes the guardian of two, apparently angelic, orphans at a secluded stately home. When the apparitions of a late governess and her sadistic lover manifest themselves to Miss Giddens, she determines to save her young charges from their ghostly evil. But just who is corrupting whom?

The Innocents' sinister atmosphere is carefully created through its cinematography, soundtrack, and decor: Freddie Francis's beautiful CinemaScope photography, with its eerily indistinct long shots and mysterious manifestations at the edges of the frame; an evocative and spooky soundtrack; and the grand yet decaying Bly House.

Jack Clayton's superbly haunting film retains the ambiguity of Henry James' novella The Turn of the Screw from which it is adapted and keeps us guessing until the film's tragic conclusion. It continues to inspire today's ‘haunted house' movies, most notably The Others (Alejandro Amenábar, 2001) which starred Nicole Kidman. Among the many extras are Clayton's rare directorial debut, Naples is a Battlefield and his Academy-award winning short The Bespoke Overcoat.

The Innocents will be released on UK Blu-ray disc on 23rd August 2010 by the BFI at the RRP of £19.99. Featuring a 2.35:1 24fps 1080p transfer with a PCM mono soundtrack, the disc will have the following extras:

• Full-feature commentary by Professor Christopher Frayling;
• Filmed introduction (Caroline Millar, 2006, 26 mins): Christopher Frayling, on location at Sheffield Park House – where The Innocents was shot – on the making of the film;
• The Bespoke Overcoat (Jack Clayton, 1955, 37 mins): Jack Clayton's award-winning short, adapted from Gogol's The Overcoat, follows a haunted tailor as he comes to terms with a friend's death;
• Naples is a Battlefield (Jack Clayton, 1944, 14 mins): Clayton's rare (un-credited) directorial debut is a documentary account of the wartime destruction and reconstruction of Naples. Made for the RAF film unit;
• Original US Trailer (3 mins);
• Designed by Motley (2010, 14 mins): Gallery of costume designs for The Innocents by prolific British designers Motley. With introduction and audio captions;
• Illustrated booklet with sleevenote essay by the League of Gentleman's Jeremy Dyson, an on-set report, director biography and more.

You can read our review of the BFI's earlier DVD release here.