Cold Light of Day

Between 1978 and 1983, Dennis Nilsen - an outwardly unremarkable former soldier and police officer turned civil servant - killed at least fifteen men and boys (most of them students or homeless) in gruesome circumstances, allegedly retaining the corpses for sex acts before disposing of the butchered remains by hiding them in cupboards, under the floorboards, or simply by flushing them down the toilet. This grimy, clammy, little-seen independent film is a lightly fictionalised account of Nilsen's hideous deeds, with a standout performance from Bob Flag as the milquetoast murderer, here renamed Jorden March.

Fhiona Louise's film, clearly made on a shoestring budget, steers clear of exploitation tactics, choosing instead to cast its characters adrift in a singularly bleak, uncaring and desolate world of tatty pubs, squalid bed-sits, greasy cafés and grubby bathrooms. The police interrogation of March is inter-cut with flashbacks that reveal not just his crimes (a living room disembowelment and the discovery of what's blocking the drains will send a shiver down the spines of even the hardiest souls) but also provide a window of understanding into what has tipped the apparently kindly loner over the edge. Louise's direction is unobtrusive and detached, allowing the lengthy exchanges between the characters to play out in several lengthy takes, but it's this cold, flat, cinema-verité style that affords the proceedings much of their chilling power, conveying the sense that such horrors really could be unfolding in the street, or even the house, just around the corner.

It's an easy film to admire - it won several awards - but it's not an easy film to watch, let alone enjoy. As a fitting footnote, a caption card dedicates the preceding horrors to "those too sensitive for this world" - which, in his own perverse and twisted way, Nilsen surely was.

"Cold Light of Day" follows a middle-aged man in London who begins preying on street punks and homeless men, bringing them back to his apartment where he inevitably kills them (before doing other horrible things).

Based on the crimes of Dennis Nilsen, this little-seen no-budget effort is a lot better than you might expect it to be. On one hand, it is very "student film"-ish, which is not necessarily surprising given that its writer-director was only 21 years old when it was released. That being said, this is quite an impressive debut, especially for someone of that age.

While not exactly an enjoyable viewing experience, there is something oddly compelling about the film; the narrative is pretty standard for this type of fare (killer recounts crimes in flashback, rinse and repeat), but a dour, gritty sensibility permeates every frame here, and the effect is powerful. An ominous, repetitive musical score adds to the mood (mixed with a never-ending heartbeat effect) amicably, and the performances are quite solid, despite what some of the other reviewers have written. The special effects are also respectable. The only legitimate problem I had with the the film is that it does not really have a fitting conclusion, which does leave a bit to be desired.

That said, this is a fairly potent effort that paints the life of a killer in shades of pallid grey. "Cold Light of Day", though not revolutionary, is a dour and straightforward look into a world of tormented people, some predators, and some prey. Despite its student film-ish shortcomings, it is a fairly well made crime-horror hybrid. 6/10.

This is what they sometimes call a 'docu-drama,' which never really cuts it for me, it's either a documentary or a drama and never shall the twain meet. It just doesn't work as either in the end.

It tries for realism as a documentary with the everyday scenes meeting young rootless men in dingy cafés for the promise of a bed,food,drink and casual gay sex. And tries for dramatic scenes with the murders and the ensuing aftermath. But really works as neither as both parts come across as dull and boring. Perhaps most killers are as uninteresting as this and maybe that is the point the film is trying to make. Sadly it doesn't make it very entertaining

The pounding background music intended to heighten tension at crucial moments just grates and doesn't help at all. I was going to say that some editing and cutting would have made the whole thing move faster and have increased the overall pace of the film. But then I noticed on the general information about this film that a 32 minute version was released in the cinemas. I've watched the much longer video version.

As a film about killer, Dennis Nilsen, called Gordon Marsh in the film for what I assume was copyright reasons at the time of it's original release, it just doesn't engage the attention or make us understand anything about the character and his motives.

Other documentaries have been made since about Nilsen that delved deeper and are more interesting and they would be better to search out and watch instead.

"Cold Light Of Day" is more of a dramatisation than a film; fairly short, it explores the psychology of one of modern Britain's monsters. Dennis Nilsen murdered twelve, possibly more, young men, purely for his own gratification. A necrophiliac as well as a sexual sadist, his fascination with death is believed to have sprung from the death of his grandfather, that is if we can believe anything he said.

We see flashbacks to his boyhood but the film concentrates on his picking up his victims and murdering them. There is also an attempt to humanise him by showing his acts of kindness to an elderly neighbour. To which the best reply is so what? Ted Bundy actually worked on a suicide prevention helpline.

The names have been changed, which is understandable for victims and incidental characters, but was it necessary to change Nilsen's name to Jorden March? Lead actor Bob Flag bears a striking resemblance to Nilsen - hopefully only a physical one! - and it is easy to see why this ultra-low budget effort picked up a prize at the 1990 Venice Film Festival.

If you are reading this you will have come here with a purpose. The sadistic trail of murderous narcissism left behind by Dennis Nilsen from 1978 until being caught in 1983 will be familiar.

This low budget retelling, in the style of a reject Channel 4 documentary, disappoints on several levels. The production could have been much more effective as a Film Noir. Narrative should drive the action which takes place in the shadows. Much more should have been made of conceptual imagery. The long, wandering take of Nilsen's room that concludes the film hints at what is possible.

One of the first ideas drummed into fledgling film editors is that sound is king. People will forgive the occasional wobble or slip in focus, even a dreadful edit, but will only endure a few moments of poor sound. From the opening whirl and deafening whoosh of whistling wind underpinned with rhythmic thumps, through the oh so too long tolling funeral bell complete with Darth Vader breathing, to the invasive wild-takes in street scenes, the soundtrack is jarring.

The action of the film, concerning the enticement of the victims, their strangulation and drowning, followed by their dismemberment and disposal, is interspersed with sections of the police interview after arrest. My reading of the notes taken at the time, this was before PACE and the routine tape recording of interviews, along with the subsequent evidence at trial, portrays a civil interrogation of a compliant, emotionless Nilsen, calmly admitting to his crimes. In Fhiona Louise's version here we have the lead detective, Chief Inspector Simmons (Geoffrey Greenhill), in real life DCI Peter Jay, railing and shouting with his suspect, trying to obtain admissions of perversion and worse.

The Nilsen character is played by Bob Flag, bearing an uncanny resemblance to the murderer. For the film he is renamed Jorden March, possibly a nod to Whitemoor prison where, for a while, he was held.

If you know nothing about this case then pass this one by. If you are knowledgeable then you will find nothing new here except interpretation. If you are looking for a low budget, amateurish, short to deconstruct then you have hit the jackpot.