Very disappointed :(

There are moments that feel comical, some horrific, and some downright inspiring but the tonal shifts hardly matter as the end results come to a film that's perfect for this time.

It is interesting even when nothing much happens, which is for most of its 3-hour running time. Read full review

One of the film's great tricks is that, for a time, you think it will go down a rabbit hole of unrealistic glorification.

When their ill mother dies, the Hook children bury her at night in their garden and keep on living as if everything were normal, so that they will be able to stay together as a family. The oldest of the seven children, Elsa, takes command but she does listen to their thoughts, especially those of the oldest brother. They work together well but not without some disagreements. To get advice from their late mother, the family gathers together for "Mother Time" and Elsa channels their mother's advice to her siblings. The children work pretty well together to do a good job of managing the house, finances, school, cleaning, shopping, cooking etc. After a while, their mother's husband, Charlie Hook, appears and he takes charge, with varying reactions from the seven children.

Hyperbole aside this is one of the finest genre films to come out of the UK in the 1960's; a fascinating and entirely compelling examination of a clannish, insular family whose behavior becomes increasingly erratic after a bereavement causes their already fragile existence to spiral into murkier depths of unsupervised eccentricity. Things take a proverbial turn for the worst after the arrival of, Dirk Bogarde's uber spiv character, whose motives for accepting the role of caring patriarch appear to be far from altruistic. Jack Clayton's delightfully unusual 'Our Mother's House' remains to this day a deeply penetrating, unflinching examination of child psychosis, and makes for entirely essential, and dare I say it, creepy viewing. And it would be entirely remiss not to mention the sterling acting from the youthful, ensemble cast; with a particularly affecting performance from the luminous, Pamela 'Legend of hell House' Franklin.

Criminally under - rated,cinematographer/director Mr Jack Clayton created some excellent intelligent atmospheric films that lovers of British cinema look on with special affection.His 1967 "Our mother's house" is a fine example of his sensitivity with child actors and his flair for looking beyond the obvious in casting his adult roles.Mr Dirk Bogarde,for instance,might not have come immediately to mind for the role of a feckless working - class Londoner,but Mr Clayton knew exactly what he was capable of,and Bogarde's performance so moved Signor Visconti that after watching "Our mother's house" he chose him for the life - changing "Death in Venice". Children are seldom the helpless,adult - dependent creatures they are often taken for.Perforce they can be resilient,resourceful and strong. Failing to notify the authorities about the death of their mother,the Hook children hope to escape the dreaded "Orphanage"(much more likely to be put "in care" - probably a fate even worse)and keep the family together. Unfortunately their absent father turns up and threatens their familial security. His profligate behaviour eventually alienates them all with a truly shocking result. Claustrophobic,alternately gloomy then harshly - lit,"Our mother's house" is a film about children for adults. Uniformly well - acted,it is dominated by Mr Bogarde who steals it effortlessly without ever seeming to.He upstages nobody,doesn't appear until 45 minutes into the film,but brings about such a change of direction as to leave one breathless.It is a brilliantly selfless performance that deserves to be far better - known. I unhesitatingly recommend it to anyone looking for some British movie a bit outside the box.

The always watchable Dirk Bogarde is in top form as a nasty piece of fatherhood here. But the children match him for acting ability, I must say. Even the youngest girl, who is Phoebe Nicholls of Brideshead Revisited (TV) fame some years later. Everyone in this quietly creepy film does a good job with their characters. This is just the sort of intelligent story the British do so well. It captures its period skillfully, and I found myself wanting to "enter" the story to help the characters out! One really feels for the children's plight. Yet, they ARE capable creatures. (They put one in mind of English books such as E. Nesbit's The Wouldbegoods, not that the story is nearly as pleasant, but because the children are so good at looking after themselves independently.) I have always found these atmospheric English films far superior to slam-bang American entertainment. Not to everyone's taste, perhaps, but that makes it more fun, too. Whistle Down the Wind comes to mind as a similarly enjoyable essay on quirky childhood experiences.