 The cast of the film were praised , with Dowling considering The Turn of the Screw " a slick production with strong performances " , and Cooper saying that the film features " a great supporting cast " . Critics particularly commended the performances of Dockery and Johnston . Dowling also picked out the performances of Lindsay and Sayer as worthy of note , while Whitelaw praised MacLiam , who was able " to personify pure evil with scarcely a line of dialogue " . Segal , by contrast , felt MacLiam was badly cast , which resulted in " one of the story 's primary dark forces [ looking ] more like a member of Elbow than the very essence of evil " . 
