Lord of the Flies

A plane crash leaves several dozen British school children stranded on a tropical isle, who break up into two warring factions and quickly descend into savagery. Peter Brock's 1963 filmization of the modern classic novel was done entirely with author William Goldman's consent and is largely faithful to the book. Made with an extremely narrow budget and shot on location with non actors, the result is an authentic and ultimately chilling rendition. All of the children cast are effective, particularly James Aubrey as the principled Ralph, Tom Chapin as the brutish Jack, and especially Hugh Edwards as the weak but intelligent Piggy. "Lord of the Flies" is a wonderful model not only for low budget films but also for book adaptations.