THE BEGUILED ***

Something rare; a remake that is actually better than an already outstanding original. Sofia Coppola's film of "The Beguiled" may offer a slightly more pro-feminist take on the subject than Don Siegel did but otherwise it's business as usual; the plot is very much the same and the creepy, Gothic feel remains unaltered though this time there is a much darker streak of black humour running through the picture. Against the aggressive sexuality of Clint Eastwood and the hysteria of Geraldine Page and Elizabeth Hartman we have a much more subtle and subdued Colin Farrell, now a potential Irish mercenary fighting for the Yankees, as much a victim as a seducer to Nicole Kidman's steely, and still gorgeous, headmistress and Kirsten Dunst's tremulous spinster not to mention the kind of little girls whose idea of fun is probably pulling the wings off butterflies.

The pace, at least for the first two-thirds of the picture, is deceptively slow until all hell breaks loose and the film gets nicely sanguine. Coppola handles these tonal shifts with considerable assurance, (she won the Best Director prize at Cannes), and draws superb performances from her small cast. Farrell, in particular, has seldom been better and both Kidman and Dunst are bodice-rippingly good. It's also gorgeously photographed by Philippe le Sourd with frame after frame resembling old prints brought to life. Of course, this won't be to everyone's taste. Anyone expecting an action picture or a conventional horror film will be bitterly disappointed. This is an art-house movie that has sneaked into the multiplex and I loved every minute of it.