10 Rillington Place (1971)
Sombre,
articulate, and chilling dramatisation of the infamous Christie
murders in London about a mild-mannered psychotic mass killer who
murdered scores of women and buried them under the floorboards and
inside the walls of his rooming house at 10 Rillington Place.
After the wrong man was hanged, the furore that surrounded the
case was responsible for the abolition of the death penalty in
England.
Richard Attenborough (the now-famous director) gives one of the
screen's finest and most subtle performances as the drab landlord
who strikes again and again without suspicion and John Hurt is
especially fine as the fall guy who goes to the gallows in his
place.
Eerie,
creepy, and fascinating, with meticulous details and actual
locations. Better than any fictitious murder mystery a
screenwriter could dream up because it is amazingly true.
The maniac responsible for these sordid events remains dull and
unimaginative, just as he was in real life, the victims dim-witted
and stupid.
The result is scary, credible, and ultimately ironic, the
impact gruesome yet hypnotic.
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