Richard Loncraine’s almost forgotten ghost story features Mia Farrow as Julia Lofting, a young mother grieving the loss of her eight-year-old daughter who moves to London to restart her life and finds herself stalked by the ghost of another child, a vicious little brat who led a gang of 1930s children in the brutal murder of a young German boy.
The film was the first of a series of Anglo-Canadian co-productions (hence the always-welcome presence of Keir Dullea, a regular in Canadian films of the time, as Julia’s estranged husband).
It all takes a while to get going but culminates in an unexpectedly moving finale that does indeed bring the story full circle.
A decade on from Rosemary’s Baby (1968), Farrow is still struggling with an unearthly child, heading a top-notch cast that also features Tom Conti, Cathleen Nesbitt, Peter Sallis and a young Sophie Ward in her film debut as Julia’s ill-fated daughter.
Julia Lofting
Mia Farrow
Magnus Lofting
Keir Dullea
Mark Berkeley
Tom Conti
Lily Lofting
Jill Bennett
David Swift
Robin Gammell
Heather Rudge
Cathleen Nesbitt
Mrs Fludd
Anna Wing
Captain Paul Winter
Edward Hardwicke
Greta Braden
Mary Morris
Claudia Branscombe
Pauline Jameson
Jeffrey Branscombe
Peter Sallis
Mr Piggott
Arthur Howard
Miss Pinner
Damaris Hayman
Mrs Ward
Susan Porrett
Kate Lofting
Sophie Ward
Katherine
Hilda Fenemore
Mrs Flood’s Niece
Yvonne Edgell
Estate agent
Nigel Havers
Doctor
Denis Lill
Olivia Rudge
Samantha Gates
Director
Richard Loncraine