10 Rillington Place (1971) User Reviews

The Rillington strangler

[dbdumonteil · 8/10 · 23 March 2005]

Three years after "the Boston strangler" ,Richard Fleischer brilliantly succeeds in transferring to the screen a horrible true story.The two movies do not look like each other though."Boston strangler" was spectacular,making the best use of the split screen I've ever seen."10 RP" is an austere bleak work ,all the more disturbing than its style is bald.Richard Attenborough(an extraordinary performance,on a par with Peter Lorre's"M") portrays one of those serial killers in the first half of last century.Two good examples :Landru ,whose character Charlie Chaplin used in "Monsieur Verdoux " and Claude Chabrol in his eponymous movie,or "Doctor Petiot" who was doing on a small scale (killing Jews to despoil them) what the Nazis were doing on a large one. Christie ,Landru and Petiot are close relatives.They seem harmless,mediocre little men .Not the serial killer we meet in today's thrillers.And Christie is given the adequate treatment by his director:the poor house,the crummy flats ,the pubs ,the no-future of an uneducated generation (Fleischer lays stress on the fact that Tim cannot read and write ).This illiteracy is partly responsible for Tim's unfair revolting fate.

Fleischer's style is plain;the trial scenes,when any director would have his actors overact is a lesson a lot of the current artists should pay attention to.The hanging could not be spookier.One cannot help but think that the last lines about Tim on the screen are a bit ironical.

Matching Attenborough's awesome portrayal,is John Hurt's remarkable Tim:definitely not Gregory Peck as his wife thinks,macho but pitiful,a not very handsome whining lad who cannot hold a candle to his maleficent owner.

You should see "the Boston strangler" and "10 Rillington place" one after the other

You may need a bath after this

[mike65-2 · 7/10 · 20 March 2008]

Slow, deliberate, creepy, grimy, grim, repressed.

The recreation of one of Britains most famous serial killers crimes and the impact on one family in particular is nothing if not sober in tone.

Director Richard Fleischer had recent "true crime" form with his version of The Boston Strangler 1968, Fleischer shoots with hand-held cameras under realistically dim lighting, creating an intimate close up portrait of the house and its occupants.

As such the performances have to match, and do. Richard Attenboroughs in particular. His portrayal of Christie will come as a shock to those who only know him from the Jurassic Park series or Miracle on 34th Street. John Hurt and Judy Geeson as the young, ill-educated Evans couple do well though Hurts accent is a little wayward early on.

Excellent film version of a true crime

[The_Void · 8/10 · 23 June 2005]

There's a whole host of films from the great decade that was the seventies that have gone on to not get the praise that they so rightly deserve, and if one were to make a list of those films; 10 Rillington Place would feature in a prominent position. The film follows the true story of serial killer John Christie, who murdered a series of women in the late forties. His modus operandi is to murder his victims with gas, shortly before having sex with the corpse. Despite this shocking premise, the film always sees fit to focus more on the reality of the situation than the actual murders themselves. Despite not being graphic, this actually makes the film more shocking as we are constantly reminded of the things that go on behind what people allow us to know about ourselves. The murderer in this story is just a normal man. A nice man, in fact. People trust him, and even respect him; yet despite all this, the man is a stone cold killer. The realistic way that the story is approached, combined with the fact that these are real events ensures that 10 Rillington Place is a morbidly fascinating watch.

Richard Attenborough takes the lead role and does fantastically well with it. His calm mannerisms and nonthreatening demeanour clash well with the underlying evil of his character and we really can believe that this man is a maniac. The film was made in the United Kingdom, I'm proud to say, and this is obvious throughout. UK films have a certain atmosphere about them, and although I didn't know that this movie was homegrown before watching it; it soon became apparent. This style bodes well with the theme of the film, as it's downtrodden and makes sure that the film is firmly planted in the land in which the story took place. The idea of an innocent man not only going down, but being killed, for a crime he did not commit is shocking and the cold way that it is presented in this film reflects the fact that it actually happened and also gives it more of a degree of shock. On the whole, 10 Rillington Place is a film that shouldn't be missed by anyone. It's not all that well known, but this is unfair considering the quality of it and I wont hesitate to recommend this movie to people in the future.

I Saw This Thirty-three Years Ago

[thurberdrawing · 1 June 2004]

I saw this in a theatre here in the United States in 1971, when I was eleven years old. I'd seen Richard Attenborough as the circus master in DOCTOR DOLITTLE and I wonder if I'd sold my mother on taking me to this one because I knew the name Richard Attenborough. In any case, this movie burned itself into my brain immediately and, for the next three decades I told many of my fellow American film-buffs that there was this British movie no American had ever heard about that was more blood-curdling than PSYCHO. I suspect the obviously limited release of this movie in the United States had something to do with the fact that one of its chief selling-points was that it was based on a murder not well-known to Americans. The Christie murders were famous in Britain, and, in fact, historic because of their effect on the elimination of the UK's death penalty. But the distributors in America had to market this on its qualities as a thriller. Attenborough had yet to make his name a household word here, GHANDI being about ten years in the future and the probable difficulty with accents couldn't have made people who did see it very eager to recommend it. On top of this, the movie is not a thriller but a truly disturbing exploration of evil. It makes the roughly contemporary FRENZY look like a sitcom. Movies became more realistic in the late sixties and early seventies than they have been before or since. 10 RILLINGTON PLACE may be the most realistic movie about a serial killer ever made. It may not be the scariest, but it's the most memorable. I haven't forgotten it, and I haven't seen it in more than a generation. It is a mournful movie for serious viewing.

A film which shows why the death penalty will never return to the UK.

[drj-12 · 10/10 · 13 July 2000]

10 Rillington Place is more than a classic film. It is frequently referred to whenever the call for the death penalty is made in Britain. The notorious miscarriage of justice i.e the hanging of Timothy Evans, an immature half-wit, for the murder of his wife and child when it is almost universally accepted that they perished at the hands of John "Reg" Christie, is one which will always haunt the British legal system. When Christie was found guilty and hanged as a serial killer of women, the body of Evans was exhumed and reburied in consecrated ground but this did nothing to hide the embarrassment of those who supported the death penalty.

The film itself is a dark and brooding masterpiece which depicts life in post-war London perfectly. The grim, dirty, rain-washed Rillington Place in Notting Hill was a seedy side-street which housed the poor but largely respectable families which had survived the blitz. John Christie had moved down from the North to find work in the capital but ill-health and a penchant for petty crime prevented him from being successful.

Richard Attenborough plays the downtrodden but curiously arrogant Christie to perfection. His voice almost a whisper as he lauds it over London's underclasses. In fact Christie was not a landlord, as many believe, he was merely a tenant who fancied himself to be a landlord and acted accordingly. He also dreamed of being a doctor, with devastating consequences. His treatment of the poor, subnormal Evans (John Hurt) and his beautiful but foolish young wife, Beryl, (Judy Geeson) was centred around their desire for an abortion - illegal in the UK until the late 1960s.

John Hurt is very good as the hapless Evans although his Welsh accent needed refining. His look of wide eyed horror and disbelief is a sight to behold. Geeson pouts and whinges and looks gorgeous: the kind of wife any man would desire and yet the kind destined to irritate intensely.

The key to appreciating 10 Rillington Place is to have some idea of its setting in British history. To wander in clueless will result in disappointment. There is no gore or x-rated content of any kind and its slow pace will infuriate many. Yet, as a snapshot of an England now gone and a reminder of the folly of capital punishment it is a timeless classic worthy of many viewings.

Chilling viewing.

[Sleepin_Dragon · 10/10 · 11 January 2021]

It's almost fifty years since this film was made, and it hasn't lost any of its potency. I saw this as a youngster, and it terrified me, watching today, I had exactly the same feeling, terror.

The film is wonderfully atmospheric, it's bleak, it's chilling, and Richard Attenborough's performance is spine chilling, he makes Reg an absolutely terrifying figure, despite being so softly spoken.

There is a harshness to this film that truly does work in its favour, there is no lighter side, it's just very bleak.

Based on real life events, it's a fascinating, but tragic story, you can only wonder at the lives that Christie ruined.

Several documentaries are available, and The BBC produced a three part series many years later, but this film version is hard to beat.

Chilling, but outstanding, 10/10.

Chilling and provocative.

[Alex-Tsander · 7/10 · 31 May 2005]

This movie tells a story that has been echoed in many details in others since. But with the difference that it is genuinely a true story. It is both a chilling horror story and also a powerful depiction of the argument against any irreversible punishment, here being the death penalty.

It has become a cliché that evil is banal. It is the heartless emptiness of such banality which we find in Attenborough's depiction of evil. There are other things that point up the evilness of his character. That he abuses the trust of the vulnerable who turn to him for help, so that his victims are already victims in their life and thus their murder all the more undeserving. Most of all, that he is prepared to allow an innocent man to die for his actions. The plot lines of many tales of the wrongly accused and pursued come to mind. Except that this is not fantasy.

The domestic settings are both banal but also claustrophobic. I am even reminded of "Eraserhead". Moreover, this movie captures something peculiarly nightmarish that those who have lived in "bed-sit land" have often encountered, when incompatible domesticities lived cheek-by-jowl interact in a malignly dissonant manner. That malignancy here highlighted by the macabre practices of the secretive landlord.

The case that caused the end of the death penalty in the UK

[AlsExGal · 8/10 · 14 January 2022]

This is the story of serial killer John Christie, who between 1943 and 1953 murdered women and disposed of their bodies on his property at the titular 10 Rillington Place. Christie used his mild mannered demeanor to gain the confidence of women. He often falsely claimed to have medical knowledge and told them that if they came back to his flat he could take care of their migraines, bronchitis, etc. Once there, he killed them. He was never suspected because the women who disappeared had no known connection to him.

What becomes his undoing is when he becomes homicidally attracted to Beryl Evans, wife of one of his boarders, Tim Evans. Christie does a pretty good job of planning the killing, but he is rather reckless, telling his wife things that will be refuted later. Ultimately the victim's husband Tim is convicted of the murder of his wife and is executed. There were holes in the criminal investigation for sure, and Evans was illiterate and mildly intellectually handicapped as well, known for telling tall tales, so he was limited in how he could help his own defense. So when he truthfully does tell the police what happened, they do not believe him.

Richard Attenborough is very much the enigma as killer John Christie. You can easily find out why Christie probably did what he did with some quick internet research, but here no explanation is provided, and that helps add to the tension. Highly recommended.

Particularly well made thriller that creates horror, atmosphere and a distinct feel of realism.

[johnnyboyz · 7/10 · 30 July 2007]

10 Rillington place is a film that deals with many things; these things range from pushing censorship in content and what it is we're seeing yet it also deals with conventions that make films particularly enjoyable. Given the time that this film was made (1971), and granted I'm not entirely sure of my historical facts; I don't think too many films were made around this era that were based on real life serial killers which automatically makes it rather ahead of its time.

I think 10 Rillington Place is a film that really sets some sort of a new benchmark in both the thriller and horror genre. It creates a definitive 'world' in which the film can take place – a world which seems very real and is put across through thanks to feelings that anything could happen and that anybody could run into anybody; this creates a very unpredictable and uncomfortable atmosphere, especially if you're like me and you didn't know the full story about the real life events of John Christie.

The film is also shot in a way that makes it look very grimy and very bleak – London in the 1940s and 50s is a perfect setting as run down houses and depressing to look at streets litter the exterior shots of the film when murder is in the air. This changes somewhat when Timothy Evans (Hurt) ends up in the country due to certain events as we're then presented with grass, hills and all things nice but the exterior shots of the countryside are limited in their presentation as although he's a million miles from the murders, he can't hide from them.

The film's slow and trudging delivery also works well. The film carries such a degree of realism in the way it's shot and through the way the characters speak to each other through rather 'real' conversations, it's fascinating, in a way, to witness the murder scenes when they do eventually come along as you do get the feeling the film is building to something and they are it. Also, the way in which these are shot is highly effective – Christie talks to the victims in a calm and logistical way; convincing them it'll be alright and for a time, it seems like it will be; it's only when they start struggling after realising something's wrong that the tension really begins and the build up pays off.

When the film finishes its little first chapter which is dominated by realistic dialogue, fabulous cinematography and a blinding performance from Attenborough as Christie; it then goes down another route which brings the character of Evans more into play. The second part of the film utilises methods more akin to a psychological thriller or horror as Christie very cleverly plays Evans off against, well, himself. Not only this but Christie's evilness and seeming invincibility is only emphasised further when he manages to squeeze his way out of most jams.

If the film has a flaw it's because as it wears on; tension is relaxed and atmosphere is consequently deflated. The film remains dark, brooding and there is definitely an uneasy feeling as you watch some later scenes which I'm sure you know of yet I shall not spoil but the predictability that it was at the time regarding 'bad guys' and 'justice' is followed through in a rather easy and unsatisfying manner although the film DID stick true to what happened in real life.

I think 10 Rillington Place is one of those films that will remain etched into British film and into film in general as if there was ever a template to somehow work around when making a thriller/horror like this one, 10 Rillington Place is perhaps the first place you'd look.

Attenborough brilliant as infamous English murderer Christie

[mlraymond · 10/10 · 22 May 2008]

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.

While technically well made, it's a little too realistic for my taste.

[planktonrules · 7/10 · 20 November 2013]

In the 1940s and 50s, a sick little pervert gassed, raped and strangled at least eight different people. This movie is a dramatization of some of his murders.

The film begins during WWII and shows, with a bit too much detail, the murder of one of John Christie's victims. Then, the film jumps ahead to 1949 and follows one particular set of victims. Christie (Richard Attenborough) is the landlord for a couple (John Hurt and Judy Geeson). The couple are quite poor and dysfunctional and with the approach of an unwanted pregnancy, Christie offers to help. He claims to have a medical background and will perform an abortion. However, he intends to instead gas, rape and strangle her like his other victims. After her rape/murder, Christie tells the husband that she died as a result of the abortion. What happens next makes this an even sadder tale--but you'll have to see a terrible miscarriage of justice.

This film is somewhat hard to watch. While the rape/murders are not shown in full detail, enough is shown to make the viewer uncomfortable--especially since the Christie murders at 10 Rillington Place actually did occur. No one knows just how many people he raped and killed, but they know of at least eight. The acting is very good (I particularly admired the acting of Attenborough but John Hurt was also very nice) and the film is technically well made--but also very, very unpleasant. I did not like the film but must praise it as a quality production.

Brilliant and haunting film!

[andy67uk · 8/10 · 2 April 2001]

This movie conveys graphically the horror of murder and capital punishment. The injustices which a system of capital punishment can bring about comes across in the trial of the backward and gullible Timothy Evans, played beautifully by John Hurt. Evans is tricked by the brighter and devious Mr Christie into believing his wife died accidentally from an abortion. When the police investigate, Christie is able to turn all the evidence against Evans, a man not intelligent and articulate enough to defend himself. The ineptitude of the police of that day is shown in their readiness to listen to Christie and get an easy conviction against poor Timothy Evans.

The film captures, with honesty and realism, the bleakness of post-war London and the loneliness of its less glamorous parts. Attenborough's performance as the psychopathic Christie is first-class. The sheer emptiness and insignificance of Christie as a person and the horrifying actions that stem from a man whose world has shrunken, is put across powerfully. The execution of Evans is shown to be cold blooded and calculated, making it an act morally no better than the terrible murders.

Finally, to the film's credit when Christie is arrested we are not shown his hanging, and no fanfares are sounded for his conviction. The whole episode is just one of many shameful chapters in British justice. There are some ongoing and no doubt others are yet to be written.

Very creepy...and by Richard Fleischer!?!?

[JasparLamarCrabb · 7/10 · 3 July 2010]

Who'd have thought such a terrific film would be made by the usually sloppy Richard Fleischer. 10 RILLINGTON PLACE is, along with COMPLUSION and THE NARROW MARGIN, the director's finest. It's the very unsettling story of Britain's famed Christie/Evans killings. As serial killer John Christie, Richard Attenborough is simply brilliant. He's the embodiment of evil while painting (or trying to paint) a facade of complete respectability. Things unravel for him when young marrieds John Hurt and Judy Geeson move into his apartment house. Fleischer really keeps things moving in the tightly wound suspense film. Coaxing not only a great performance out of Attenborough, but a really astounding one of Hurt as his hapless (and extremely naive) accomplice. Hurt's performance has to be seen to be believed. Pat Heywood is Attenborough's disillusioned wife. A very creepy movie.

The Truth, The Real Truth? You Decide.

[carauthor-30753 · 2/10 · 29 November 2016]

This film portrays the 'evidence' of what happened inside 10 Rillington Place, however, as it is a polemic against capital punishment it must be viewed as heavily distorted towards that aim. Large parts of the film are excellent, Attenborough's portrayal is brilliant, ditto Hurt and Geeson. That's where my praise for the film ends. The rest is based on leaving out crucial evidence against Evans, crucial evidence concerning the murder of Beryl and claims Evans was illiterate and a fantasist. He was neither of those things. Read 'The Two Killers of Rillington Place'by John Eddowes and make your own mind up. Great actors in this film, great performances, let down by factually inaccurate script.

Creepy film, but excellent!

[garyoverman · 5 February 2002]

This British thriller is one of the best films I have ever seen. It tells the story of John Christie, the serial killer whose "career" lasted from the middle 1940's until the early 1950's. The name is taken from the scene of the murders; 10 Rillington Place, Notting Hill, London.

Chillingly portrayed by the great actor Richard Attenborough , Christie was a little mouse of a man who first lured his victims home on some pretext or other, usually by saying that he could perform some desired medical procedure on them, for example, an abortion, which was illegal at the time. Once there, he put them at ease by offering them a cup of tea, deceived them into breathing gas from the pipe, rendering them unconscious, then strangled them. He disposed of the bodies, at first by burying them in the garden, then putting them under the sink in the water closet, and finally by tearing up and replacing floorboards and papering over cupboards.

The primary reasons that Christie was able to do what he did for so long were first of all the war. London was undergoing the blitz, and people had a tendency to disappear during the bombing. Another reason was that he was able to turn the suspicions of the police from him to a not very bright truck driver named Timothy Evans, (played by John Hurt) who was convicted of the death of his baby daughter, and was also suspected in the murder of his wife, but due to English law could only be tried for one or the other of them. He was hanged in 1950. The scene in the film where Evans is hanged is chilling, and quite accurate.

Slow at first and shot on location at the actual scene of the murders, the film shows a dangerous manipulative killer hiding behind a bland, mild exterior. Because he appeared so mild, Christie was all the more terrifying. Attenborough brings this out expertly and the overall effect is very creepy.

This superbly-acted film is British cinema at its' very best.

Cup of tea, anyone?

Chilling portrayal of a serial killer.

[trish-fowlie · 8/10 · 29 April 2019]

This is a convincing account of the infamous serial killings of Christie, and the dreadful miscarriage of justice which led to the hanging of Timothy Evans, who would now be described as having a learning disability, for the murder of his wife. Richard Attenborough portrays the apparently respectable, colourless killer with insidious menace, through to his eventual disintegration and discovery. The house of horrors has now been demolished- who would want to live there? At this time serial killers were unusual in the UK, and there was little expectation of finding multiple corpses in a dreary lower middle class dwelling - Jack the Ripper had been regarded as the epitome of the worst humanity could be. The execution of Evans was and is an overwhelming condemnation of the existence of the death penalty in any society or state which has moral values or any claim to respect for justice or civilised mores.

Fascinating serial killer portrait

[Mikew3001 · 10/10 · 13 September 2002]

This British 1970's drama tells the life of the real London strangler John Reginald Christie, a doctor and landlord who killed several of his female patients in the 1940's and 1950's. Richard Attenborough plays Christie in a rather silent, but very menacing and psychological way. Director Richard Fleischer is not portraying a serial killer monster like Hannibal Lector, but rather a boring and nice guy who turning to a mentally disturbed and brutal serial killer.

The atmosphere in the dirty London suburbs is photographed in a very dark and intense way, as most of the scenes take place in Christie's old back street house. The calm music adds much atmosphere to the movie, and young John Hurt plays the husband of one of the victims. A forgotten genre jewel that is worth being discovered again, as it cannot be compared to many of those stylish current serial killer TV and movie productions.

Slow at times but well acted

[nicholas.rhodes · 7/10 · 5 November 2000]

This film, apparently shot in part on the actual site of where the crime in question took place is a marvel of good acting. True, it is slow at times but once you get into it, it becomes quite gripping. There is an evident desire on the producer's part to adhere to what really happened and the film should be seen in this light. It is one example which would bring grist to the mill of those who were opposed to the death penalty.

One of the best, and most realistic, films ever made about a serial killer.

[Groverdox · 9/10 · 3 March 2019]

Christie barely even registers as a physical presence. He's small, bespectacled, almost completely bald. He speaks barely above a whisper. But behind those spectacles, there's a penetrating look you might not even notice at first - hell, you probably didn't even look at him when he spoke his mild pleasantries and shook his hand. Nobody, not even his wife, had any idea of his history of criminality, nor his lies, which he spins without a moment's hesitation, no sign whatsoever that he even understands the difference between fact and falsity.

Tim Evans was a foolish young man, either loaded with money from an inheritance from his father, or not - he doesn't seem to care. He's got a young wife and a baby, and hits the roof when she tells him she's expecting another. Running off to drown his sorrows at the pub, Christie, in his self-effacing, matter-of-fact way, lets in on the fact that he has training as a doctor, and may be able to help. There is, however, a one in ten chance she may not survive - but, he explains, fathers always make it.

This is Christie's modus operandi. Posing as a doctor, who can help with abortions, migraines, and anything else, he sets up his rudimentary equipment - rubber hoses running gas through a jar of bubbling white liquid - and suffocates his victims. These scenes, while not that violent, are extremely confronting and horrible.

There is little attempt at first to make Timothy Evans a likeable character, but it doesn't take long for us to realise that he is just another of Christie's victims. And a victim of his own careless nature, and selfishness. But he is at an utter loss to explain why Christie would have murdered anyone. And so are we.

He is, as it happens, a necrophile, kissing and fondling the bodies of his victims. But can that even come close to explaining his crimes? The truth is, that we may never understand why people like Christie do what they do. "10 Rillington Place"'s refusal to provide a phony justification is just another reason to recommend it, along with the typically flawless performances from Attenborough and John Hurt. But be warned - emotionally, this is strong stuff. Not one for the gorehounds, but bleak, and unflinching.

Cold and Calculating

[kirbylee70-599-526179 · 7/10 · 16 July 2017]

I'd heard of this movie years ago, seeing a picture of it in a book on horror films and recalling the ad campaign when it came out in theaters. Being young at the time it didn't register much with my interests and it wasn't until years went by that I wondered what it was about and if it were any good. With this release from Twilight Time that curiosity finally had a chance to be satiated and I got to discover the answer to that questions.

Based in the real life account of serial killer John Christie (Richard Attenborough) it tells the story of a man that everyone considered a mild mannered older gent who along with his wife lives at the address in the title. To make ends meet they rent out an apartment on the upper floor to tenants. Unknown to his wife is that John has been killing those same tenants and burying them in the backyard.

Passing himself off as a medical expert, having had some small amount of training in the military, Christie lures women to his home for treatment for various illnesses. What they end up with instead is being murdered. What was probably more controversial at the time the film was released is the fact that Christie also found sexual release in handling the bodies once they were deceased. Nothing blatant mind you but the topic is obvious.

Into the lives of Christie and his wife enter Beryl and Tim Evans (Judy Geeson and John Hurt). The pair are doing their best to make ends meet and have a new baby along with them. Renting the upstairs apartment Beryl becomes the focus of Christie whose intentions we are well aware of. Not only is this a horrifying situation involving a new mother and child, the end result which we know will happen, he convinces Tim that he is to blame for it all.

The question that follows is what will be the undoing of Christie? Since history tells us he was revealed and captured, how did this happen? And what of the family's whose lives he touched? What of Tim who blames himself for the events that took place at 1 Rillington Place? The film is not one for a generation of quick cuts and fast paced storytelling. This is a slow burn, revealing the motives, passions and mysteries that surrounded John Christie. He's not a sympathetic character at all but a curiosity instead. How he was able to not only take the lives of people but keep it hidden to the extent that he did is chilling.

All involved play their roles to the hilt. Hurt, an actor that most were unfamiliar with at the time, is the most animated of the bunch. Geeson, whose most well-known role prior was in TO SIR WITH LOVE, turns in a fine performance as well. But it is Attenborough who we focus on as the star of the film. His cold and calculating killer is one that sends chills in the methodic taking of lives he goes through. It makes you realize that once again it is rarely the manic screamer that we have to worry about and more often the neighbor who is described in words like "he always seemed like such a nice guy".

As with every film released by Twilight Time they've done an amazing job with the transfer here, a crisp and clean version of the film that has never been done before. They are also limiting the number of copies available so if you're interested pick up one before they're gone.

Brilliant, shocking, grisly but compelling! *SPOILERS*

[naseby · 10/10 · 23 August 2008]

This is the one film that deflects some attention from 'Jack the Ripper' occasionally, within the genre of flicks on serial killers.

It focuses on the murders of John Reginald Halliday Christie at his notorious 'House of Horrors', which has become synonomous with the address in our minds, in 1940's-50's Notting Hill, West London.

A pathetic character , Christie, played by Richard Attenborough, has an air of the respectable neighbourly clerk, when in fact at the start of the film, we can see him burying bodies - the result of his sex-crazed killings, in the back garden.

Yet this story does not end there. Christie takes in married couple, Timothy and Beryl Evans and their 14-month old daughter, Jeraldine (This is actually the way they spelled her name). Both young and naive, they are taken in by Christie's authoritative demeanour. So much so, that when Beryl announces she's pregnant, and she and Tim aren't keen on another baby, Christie informs them both that he's had experience of 'terminations' during his wartime reserve constable status (Of course, he's had no such thing) and beckons to Beryl to let him help her. Tim, although not keen finally relents after being worn down, Christie-style, with his worldwise 'older head' routine.

The world of the then illegal, at least, abortion is the Evans' downfall. Beryl is gassed by Christie's home-made concoction of liquid, tied up to the poisonous mains gas supply (Christie assured his rightly nervous victims it was a necessary compound to work with the liquid). Christie then strangles and rapes her necrophile-style. Christie informs Evans the 'operation' went wrong, talks Evans into covering the whole thing up, never mind his grief, and informs him he knows of a couple who can take the baby for a while, Evans believing he can have Jeraldine back when things may smooth over.

Evans though, to Christie's dismay, confesses to the police he's 'disposed of his wife'. But Evans is the one held responsible for her 'murder' (Not knowing about a new revelation with his daughter though) when Beryl's body and that of Jeraldine are both found by police search in the back washhouse, BOTH strangled. Evans is charged with both murders.

When going to trial, Christie takes the stand against Evans, after the latter's defence lawyer states Christie has blame here or knows more than he lets on. However, the cunning Christie, an ex-special reserve constable, impresses in the witness stand. Evan's past though is unfolding. (Regarding treatment of Beryl, of physical abuse/fights and rows, known to the whole neighbourhood (And according to the book, by Ludovic Kennedy, of the same title) not helped by the lacklustre police investigation, and Evans countlessly retracting his confessions, confused and bumbling, known also to fantasise about himself and his unfounded achievements). He's found guilty by the jury and sentenced to death.

The film follows through to Christie's near-miss with conviction. But is he finished with his wicked ways? No. His urge to kill seems to prompt him to kill his wife, Ethel, to get her out of he way, or it may be because she has finally tumbled him - a line from her after Evans' death, in the film "I know where you should be - you know what I mean." may explain why he did this - there was no evidence of sexual necrophilia in her instance, in the case. We next see him shifting her body, under the floorboards. His murderous spree can now continue, and that's what it becomes.

The near-final scene where some tenants arrive to Christie's now-vacated ground floor flat, and tap on what appears to be a hollow wall, is a very grisly and effective part of the film, as it happened for real.

The tenant peels back some wallpaper covering over an alcove, shines a torch and finds the bodies of three women, trussed-up. Horrified, he informs the police and a manhunt is on for Christie. He's finally caught at Putney Bridge, walking aimlessly and giving himself up to the policeman who's spotted him.

The film captures the austere wartime and postwar image of London, not least the squalid cul-de-sac in 'Rotting Hill' as it was once known (Now the most fashionable and one of the most expensive parts of London). It also focuses on the unlawful world of abortions, and a time when you supposedly COULD trust your neighbour - in those days, women probably wouldn't think anything of going back to a man's house to help cure a chest infection - as one of Christie's victims was drawn in by! It naturally opened up questions that the wrong man, Evans had been hung by mistake. Curiously though, although there's a scene where after Evans flits, Christie is seen walking up the stairs with a tie, then mentioning Evans has 'killed the baby' - Christie never confessed to this killing (Because in the end, he'd confessed to the women's killings) though of course it's more probable he did do it - why didn't he confess to that when he was going to the gallows anyway? Some writers actually believe Evans was guilty of this murder or that of his wife, whatever the posthumous pardon may state, that was given for the murder of his baby.

This debate goes on to today and helped along the abolition of the death penalty in the UK.

A fine, grisly atmospheric film, portrayed well by Richard Attenborough as Christie, John Hurt as Evans, Judy Geeson as Beryl and Pat Heywood as Ethel Christie.

More fatal than Bates

[bkoganbing · 7/10 · 28 January 2017]

There's been a lot of revisionist theories put forth by professional and amateur criminologists concerning the murders at 10 Rillington Place. People who lived at that address tended to check in, but not check out. It was more fatal to live there than at the Bates Motel.

Midway between the killings attributed to John Chrystie one Timothy Evans was tried and hanged for killing his wife and infant daughter. The luckless Evans played here by John Hurt and the portion of Chrystie's killing spree portrayed here in 10 Rillington Place is when Chrystie kills Mrs. Evans played here by Judy Geeson.

Watching Richard Attenborough as Chrystie he reminds me a bit of one of the heavily made up characters Kirk Douglas did in The List Of Adrian Messenger. You might remember Mr.Pithian who Dana Wynter comes across in Adrian Messenger's flat who says he's there to take care of Adrian's cat. Attenborough affects that same inoffensive mild look and voice as he lures victims to a position where he uses gas on them to paralyze them so they don't struggle while being strangled. It's chillingly effective.

In his long career as an actor Richard Attenborough played a variety of parts, both good guys and bad guys. In 10 Rillington Place he stretches the limits of his considerable talents.

This one will scare the pants off you.

Just one word... Phenomenal!

[Cazziewaffle · 10/10 · 23 July 2006]

The movie is as perfect a one as I have seen in a long time. Real (literally!) characters, real dialogue, phenomenal acting, everything was spot on.

I was hooked from the second it started. Very ordinary, post-war, working class English setting, a little eerie, and an old woman comes knocking on the door of 10 Rillington Place and the most ordinary looking man opens it, all friendly, making the usual small talk, acting all concerned with her health, your average neighbour.. and then he goes and kills her,completely calmly and not at all in a gruesome or violent way. Completely calm. He even talks to her soothingly whilst she's taking her last breaths.

This totally sets the scene and tone of the movie. It's a very quiet and composed movie which makes it even more sinister. Just like the main character... on which this film is based, the real life British serial killer John Reginald Christie.

The film is the story of a young couple, Timothy and his wife Beryl, who move into the flat above Mr. Christie's at 10 Rillington Place and befriend him, having no idea of the tragedy he will bring upon them.

It is nicely paced, and there isn't much action. It is just a wonderful character study, where we get emotionally involved with each and every of the characters, which makes it even more difficult to swallow the way he treats and manipulates everyone. And we get to this level thanks to the wonderful, WONDERFUL actors. John Hurt, who rightly got nominated for a BAFTA for this role, plays Timothy Evans, and he's stunning. He is a man of few words, but you can understand exactly what he is feeling, and it is powerful. And then of course there is Richard Attenborough who is just overwhelming as John Reginald Christie, the best performance I have seen of him, and I cannot believe he didn't get more credit or nominations, as he is terrifying, yet you know if you met him in the street, you'd trust him completely. He is what makes the movie.

Completely and 100% recommended.

Grimy, Miserable Film

[thalassafischer · 6/10 · 19 June 2023]

I know this is a highly regarded film for it's dark but serious portrayal of a real life serial killer but it's difficult to watch. In the working class concrete jungle (literally there appears to be a single tiny tree in a sea of gray stone) a mild-mannered, middle aged man starts murdering women during WW2.

A few years later, a young couple with a baby move in. The upstairs apartment they inhabit is dirty and dank, something that hasn't been renovated since the Victorian era 50 years earlier, and their baby cries constantly. The husband is a complete loser, he can't read and write, and he's abusive towards the wife. Apparently, the soft-spoken serial killer frames him to protect himself and is unfairly hanged.

This is an important chapter in UK legal history, and I don't doubt the excellence of the acting portrayals ...but the film is just ugly and miserable to watch, and it's exceedingly difficult to feel a whole lot of sympathy for the illiterate, abusive husband framed for murder.

Forgotten British thriller

[preppy-3 · 5/10 · 31 December 2011]

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.