Rent 10 Rillington Place (1971)

True Crime. - 10 Rillington Place review by Steve

This was initially received mainly as a condemnation of the death penalty, adapted from Ludovic Kennedy's polemic on the Christie murders- and Timothy Evans' tragic hanging after a miscarriage of justice. And there's an ultra-realistic recreation of the period- set in authentic locations with dialogue lifted from transcripts.

Many years later I found the foul depravity, the dismal viciousness of John Christie- by way of Richard Attenborough's astonishing portrayal- had swallowed the film whole. His cruel, hypnotic psychosis was nearly all I could see. The actor said he was contaminated by the role... 

Richard Fleischer creates a grim, claustrophobic environment for the serial killer to operate in; a phlegmy slum in which this spider traps, murders and rapes his ignorant, innocent victims. The director seems to indict the poverty and lack of education which allows Christie to thrive in the darkness.

While the haunting, repulsive lead performance eclipses the support, John Hurt is memorable as the unsophisticated fall guy. There's a career standout for Judy Geeson as Evans' murdered wife. This seems to have gained status in recent years. It's not really entertainment; but an overwhelming and horrifying experience.

True Crime Thriller - 10 Rillington Place review by GI

Based on real events and actually filmed in Rillington Place in Notting Hill before it was finally demolished this tells the story of one of Britain's most notorious serial killers, John Reginald Christie. Richard Attenborough is appropriately creepy as the unassuming former Special Constable who in the late 1940s and early 1950s raped and murdered a series of women possibly even having sex with the bodies. The film focuses on Christie's relationship with the young Evans family of Timothy (John Hurt), Beryl (Judy Gleeson) and their young baby daughter who lived in the flat above Christie and his wife. As a tale of murder this is shocking and even though the film is restrained in what it shows it still manages to be unnerving. Principally this is also a story of a major miscarriage of justice and a condemnation of capital punishment as Timothy Evans was convicted of crimes later admitted by Christie. The scene of his execution was the first realistic portrayal of this on film as the process of hanging in the UK was kept secret for many years (the film had a former executioner as a technical adviser). This is a thriller, a tale of murder, with a courtroom drama as a central part of the story. It's brilliantly acted and directed utilising real locations capturing London of the period very realistically. A superb British true crime story that is well worth seeking out.

Portrait of an evil psychopath - 10 Rillington Place review by DP

Captures the dingy, dreary world people lived in WW2 and post-WW2 London. Attenborough masterful as the seemingly respectable and quietly spoken psychopath killing women for brief moments of depraved relief. I think the film has had cuts since it was first released.