vincenzo | 2nd March 2010 12:40 PM | 10 Rillington Place
(music by Johnny Dankworth RIP)
Donald Pleasence may have been a more apt first choice but Richard Attenborough makes this his own without doubt. Easily among his finest screen performances (together with Brighton Rock and The Great Escape). His whispering, malignant, creepy and genuinely twisted Christie is amazing and, for a film that contains no blood, no swearing (other than 'bloody'), no nudity (a brief glimpse of a dead woman's bare back) and non-explicit below-camera murders, few films have this much power. The shots of Attenborough repeatedly punching Judy Geeson before strangling/raping her, his stunned look at his own mirror reflection, and the scene where he heads upstairs towards the baby (tie in hand) are among the most powerful in British horror history. Kudos also to Judy, John Hurt (a typically remarkable performance as the unsympathetic Evans) and Pat Heywood as Christie's wife ("I know where you ought to be") are equally superb. Sharp eyed viewers will spot Love Thy Neighbour/Eastenders star Rudolph Walker as the black tenant who discovers the bodies.
Two more things make this film stand out. The execution of Evans was shot with Pierrepoint as an advisor and is still among the most realistic hanging scenes ever filmed (along with Let Him Have It). Also of course we have the location filming. The film was shot in Rillington Place with the house itself seen throughout and, even though the interiors used were number 6, the outdoor footage of the street is genuinely bone-chilling. I've been to the location and thankfully the house/street no longer exist.
A brilliant movie that stands up among the finest serial killer films of all time. |