10 Rillington Place

source: 10 Rillington Place

Watched this again just lately, not impressed, sets are absolute rubbish and some of the, so called great actor Attenborough, orations are terrible, whispered, mumbling no wonder British film making died. All in all give it a miss

This is a bleak film but one worth seeing. It relates the true story of two men: one, Reginald Christie, one of Britain's most notorious serial killers; the other, Timothy Evans, one of the reasons Britain no longer has the death penalty. If you're used to watching "Forensic Detectives" on Discovery Channel you'll be used to this kind of thing and you may even get frustrated by the lack of details. Truth is, back in the Sixties the police didn't have the technology they have today. So that's how it was a poor, illiterate young Welshman ended up getting hanged for another man's crime. (And that's not the worst of it.) Richard Attenborough and John Hurt's excellent performances leave lots of questions unanswered about the motives and behaviour of the two main characters, and that's how it should be.

This film is just so stirring!just so emotionally indescribable! The cast (including the much underrated Judy Geeson) are superb in bringing to the screen, hopeless and utterly doomed characters trying to retain some sort of dignity amongst the poverty and bleakness. The director captured it all and leaves us with a stark warning that evil can lie disguised and unrecognized amongst the mundane and ordinary. As for Richard Attenborough,from this alone he should have stayed working in front of the camera instead of working behind it.

The crimes of John Christie are generally not well known to Americans, but he is remembered all too well by the British public, along with previous serial killers Neville Heath and George Haigh. If his case was merely one of many killers, he might have been forgotten long ago. But the hanging of an innocent man for murders committed by Christie ultimately led to the abolition of the death penalty in Great Britain. This film shows how it happened, in low key but spellbinding detail. There is an eerie sense of time and place captured by actual locations used for much of the filming. The buildings at Rillington Place were still standing in 1970, when the movie began production, and the dismal street where these shocking events happened didn't look much different than in the late Forties. All the performances are excellent, along with the editing and cinematography. John Hurt perfectly captures the confusion and bewilderment of the falsely accused Timothy Evans and Judy Geeson is equally good as his disenchanted young wife. Pat Heywood skillfully portrays the dread and denial of Mrs. Christie, struggling with her growing suspicions that her seemingly meek and ineffectual husband may be a brutal murderer. In the crucial role of John Christie, Richard Attenborough submerges himself in his character so thoroughly that you want to turn away from him, but find it impossible not to watch his every calculating move. His voice is a spooky half whisper that helps to create a sense of unease. He underplays the part in a way that makes Christie come alive so convincingly, that it's uncomfortable to watch him. His most seemingly innocuous statements and actions are imbued with a feeling of dread that pervades the entire movie. The lurid subject matter is handled in a restrained , non-exploitive way that benefits the film. This is a disturbing, unforgettable movie that should be seen at least once, though not many viewers would likely want to see it again.

Based on the true story of serial killer John Christie (Richard Attenborough) in 1944 London. It recounts his final killings involving couple Beryl Evans (Judy Geeson) and Timothy John Evans (John Hurt). I never even heard of this movie until TCM played it early in the morning a while ago. After watching it I realize why it's unknown--it's very very VERY slow, quiet and tame. The murders are never shown, there's no nudity, sex or violence (it's very PG rated) and everything moves at a snails pace. At first it was interesting but it went through a step by step examination of Christie's last killings and execution and got dull. To some this may be fascinating but I was bored silly. The only thing that kept me watching was the acting. Geeson and an incredibly young Hurt are good but Attenborough is excellent as Christie. He's soft-spoken and seems so gentle throughout the movie but you can see the evil in his eyes. I can't really recommend this movie but the acting is superb--that's why it gets a 5.

I've read countless biographies and factual reports on real-life serial killers, but the case of John Reginald Christie undoubtedly is the most fascinating one in the history of human darkness. It's nearly impossible to believe that this seemly fatuous and indigent looking man actually was such a relentless monster and – even more unlikely – capable of misleading the authorities, which resulted in the execution of an innocent third party. Yet, the story of John Reginald Christie is true and almost too incredible to be fiction! If the screenplay of this film (or the book from which it was adapted) would have sprung from the imagination of fiction-writers, I'm sure it would have flopped, since people would think of it as exaggeratedly far-fetched and unlikely. "10 Rillington Place" focuses on the darkest period of Christie's killing 'career'. Although he had already murdered before (briefly illustrated at the beginning of the film), the story takes off when the Evans family moves into the Rillington Place-flat. The Evans's are simple people living on the edge of poverty and Christie almost immediately takes full mental control over them. When Beryl Evans is unwontedly expecting her second child, Christie pretends to dispose of medical knowledge and he offers to abort her pregnancy. This is the perfect opportunity for Christie to satisfy his uncontrollable killing urge and, during the fake operation, he transforms into a depraved psychopath and necrophiliac. All the more disturbing is that he then manages to convince Timothy Evans that he is the one responsible for Beryl's death and this lie is even kept up in court! Even though the substance is horrific, this film works best as a melodrama. Director Richard Fleisher perfectly recreates the depressing ambiance of post-WWII England and the set pieces are amazingly eerie. Largely because it was filmed in the actual Nothing Hill neighborhood where the real horror took place only two decades earlier, "10 Rillington Place" feels hauntingly real…like you're there, helplessly witnessing the crimes! The total lack of explicit violence, along with the jaw-dropping performances of both Richard Attenborough and John Hurt, is what makes this film more disturbing than any other gory horror flick you've ever seen before. The murders are mainly committed off screen but the camera zooms in on Attenborough's face, which is clearly experiencing the 'kick' of terminating an innocent life. My only regret regarding this movie is that the screenplay ignores the final years of Christie's vile acts, degrading another FOUR murders like they're details. Still, this is an immensely powerful motion picture that everyone should see! Especially those who're shouting to bring back the death penalty

I have studied this film, just, for my a level film studies, and i have to say it is one of the most quietly gruesome films i have ever encountered. The direction is fantastic, with an eerie darkness, that some might say is the house itself, and some might say is every house in London. Richard Attenborough plays Christie with a quiet presence, and gets over the apathetic sorrow, of a man that knows what he's doing, but is unable to stop it. john Hurt, in turn, i feel did not play Evans with enough zeal- i feel Evans would have been more adamant of his own innocence, but who am I to comment? I wasn't around at the time. In finish, 10 Rillington Place left myself and my class churning at the stomach; an amazing movie, but not for those easily offended!

10 Rillington Place is a creepy, eerie film about the true story of an innocent man, Timothy Evans, played by the wonderful John Hurt (who should be Knighted by now) is framed by his landlord, John Reginald Christie played the fabulous Lord Richard Attenborough, for the murder of his pregnant wife, Beryl, and infant daughter, Geraldine. It is a fascinating story about an innocent man. The tragedy continues when the truth about John Reginald Christie's murderous history is revealed by the end of the film. You just never know who could be the serial killer in the infamous house. Unfortunately, the house was destroyed and Rillington Place no longer exists in London. It was renamed Rushton Mews/Close later Wesley Square and it is reported that it has been destroyed to make way for the yuppies who occupy Notting Hill. I would have rather seen the real Rillington Place remain for historic purposes only.

The film is a masterpiece in many ways, not the least in terms of the gripping performances of the leads and the stark atmosphere of shabby genteel poverty and hopelessness conveyed by Christy's depressing flat. Some have criticized the slowness of the film, but the pace only enhances the banal horror of Christy's mind as he manipulates the poor, ignorant, frightened creatures who become his victims. Attenborough plays this middle class murderer with consummate insight. Judy Geeson and John Hurt play off each other brilliantly, she the flighty sexpot with ambition to escape her miserable life, only too ready to believe Christy's pretensions of being a "medical man"; Hurt a dimwit whose only avenue to self-esteem seems to come from lording it over his young pregnant wife...until Christy comes along with his mind-games to dupe the poor sap into becoming vulnerable to a charge of murder. The miscarriage of justice is, of course, appalling, made worse by the ineptitude and indifference of the police. One can never forget the haunting plaintive cry of "Evans" as he proceeds to his fate: "Christy done it! Christy done it!"