FIRST LOOK
Street: June 19
Prebook: May 15
> Predictable update of venerable ghost story has a little sex and some good effects.
This updated version of the classic Henry James ghost story The Turn of the Screw has solid production values and a decidedly Continental flavor, but it's too uneven in tone to make much of an impression. The muddled plot finds Leelee Sobieski delivering a weak performance as the nanny who confronts dark secrets while looking after two young children at a remote country estate.
Shelf Talk: Without a theatrical release or film-fest exposure to tout, First Look will have to rely on its strong marketing campaign and ingenious Web exploitation to put this one over. It certainly didn't hurt that a brief lesbian scene involving Sobieski and supporting player Tara Fitzgerald was leaked on YouTube—a bit of copyright infringement to which First Look actually refers to on its sell sheets. Internet buzz will be key to getting rental trade.
Horror, color, R (mature themes, disturbing images, sexual situations, nudity), 95 min., PPV 45 days, DVD $26.98© 2008, Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All Rights Reserved.