"10 Rillington Place" is a British thriller film based on the true story of John Christie, played by Richard Attenborough, a serial killer who murdered at least eight woman, including his own wife, in London during the 1940s and early '50s. Christie hide the bodies in various places in his home over many years. The film is a slow and deliberate, matter of fact style portrayal.
Richard Attenborough is a stunning as Christie. This is one of the most unsettling villainous portrayals I've seen. Attenborough's quiet demeanor and obviously deceptive charm is truly unnerving.
John Hurt is outstanding as Timothy Evans, the husband of one of the victims who came to be wrongly accused. He is a simple working man, who can not read or write and who finds himself overwhelmed and powerless in the course of events. One disturbing aspect of the film is the miscarriage of justice that occurred when Evans was convicted. There's a sub-theme of the vulnerability of individuals in the face of a inadequate legal system, as in the real story police did rather bungle their investigation.
"10 Rillington Place" isn't a mystery, we know Christie is a killer right from the beginning. Nor is this a jump-scare sort of film. The film uses a quiet pacing to allow tension to build slowly as the viewer becomes increasingly aware of the depth of evil in the man, as Christie gradually unravels and loses control of his seemingly normal life.
I'm not usually a fan of abrupt endings with text epilogues telling us how things turned out, and this film has that. Then again this disturbing tale isn't one that could ever wrap up nicely and neatly. It works.
Fun fact... Not shown in the film is that Christie saved hair from his victims. When his crimes were finally uncovered, their were hair clumps that could not be matched to a known victim. It is likely that Christie murdered more women than were ever discovered.
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