Al caer la noche

I've heard about this British gem, and I was stoked to see that it was on TCM (UK) the other night. Albert Finney is superb as Danny, well the entire cast is very strong. I'd heard about it from the Freddie Francis link (he was Director of Photography)and I wasn't disappointed, it just has his unique stamp all over it.

For most of the film, the audience is waiting for something to happen as the tension is kept to a maximum throughout the film. The final payoff is superb and shows just why Finney is one of Britains best actors. I thought it was a lot like that other British twisted family oddity 'Girly' (US title) but with fewer sexual undertones.

It's a shame Night Must Fall isn't more well known as it's a true gem of 60's British cinema.

To start with a little off-topic note: in 2003, Tim Burton made the film "Big Fish" which stars Ewan McGregor as a younger version of Albert Finney. When you actually see "Night Must Fall", which was shot around the time when Finney was in his late 30's, it becomes obvious how good this casting choice was! From multiple camera angles, McGregor really looks a lot like the young Finney and the facial expressions are almost exact. "Night Must Fall" itself is a truly interesting and involving thriller and I wonder why on earth it's so underrated! This is a remake of a 1930's thriller that stars Finney as a dangerous, yet very charismatic psychopath who systematically works his way up in a high-society family as a pageboy. After a while, the elderly lady and her daughter grow really fond of him but his mind and intentions are still disturbed. The film has a terrific opening sequence (the frightening image of Danny getting rid of his murder victim) and an extremely suspenseful finale! Everything in between is a bit too talky and – at times – somewhat dull, but you keep watching since Finney's performance is so outstanding. Especially the scenes in which he relives his vile crimes up in his room (forcefully holding the hat-box that contains grim trophies) are very tense and unsettling. Reisz' directing is well-handled but it merely is Freddie Francis' imaginative photography that makes this film so dreamy and beautiful. Francis unquestionably was Britain's best cinematographer of that time and he also directed a couple of entertaining horror films ("Trog", "The Creeping Flesh", "Tales that Witness Madness…")

Just watched this film on TCM. Quite enjoyable and not as bad as I'd heard from reviews I'd read over the years. My only problem was that I was expecting to understand more about Finney's character by the end of the film (ie: what lead to his psychotic behaviour, what had gone wrong in his childhood...that kind of thing), but never got any deep insight at all. Which for me made him rather a 1 dimensional screen psycho - and therefore the film was not as interesting as it should have been. And the end of the movie was a ..."so what?" affair.

Did I miss something?

Or was I expecting a movie with more depth than it actually had?

The remake of the 1937 film was slaughtered both by critics and audience at the time it premiered and there was mainly one reason for it:the crazed fans of Albert Finney were absolutely shocked,as he daringly chose the role of the psychotic ''killer with the angelic face'', following his all-time favorite roles of ''Saturday night and Sunday morning''and, particularly, ''Tom Jones''.As many historians mention, the ''MGM wives'' who were few of the first to see the film, turned violently against the gifted director, Karel Reisz, shouting ''what have you done to that beautiful boy?''!But this is not a serious reason to dismiss an, overall, very good film, which, however, has some serious flaws.The use of music is exaggerated and some times irritating and, only in the first part of the film, Finney doesn't quite know how to tackle with his disturbed character. But the photography is great, Mona Washbourne gives a superb performance and Karel Reisz does a great job, not only updating the old text and bringing it within the ''realism'' of the British Free Cinema movement, but also with his masterful camera movements and his use of editing and abruptly cutting to different scenes, he creates an imposing psychological thriller, where what you don't see is more disturbing than what you do. Being one of the greatest actors EVER, Finney soon finds a convincing attitude for his character and the last part of the film is absolutely brilliant as a whole.It should be re-examined and re-appreciated, that's why it has to come out on VHS and DVD a.s.a.p.! 7.5/10

I loved this film, but it's not for everybody. There are many experimental aspects (music, camera angles, the performances) that reflect the time period in which it was filmed. Think Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolfe, Dr. Strangelove, Psycho, etc, and you'll be more prepared. It came the year after Tom Jones and was co-produced by Finney, and as a result, was not the kind of film Finney fans were expecting. I suspect that is why the film is not more well known.

A couple of IMDb viewers were rather harsh concerning Finney's performance, but I have to disagree. I was completely mesmerized and I highly recommend it.

Probably not a good movie to watch on a dark stormy night by yourself. At the same time, don't expect a typical horror film--I was thrown off by the very beginning and halfway through, I was questioning what I had seen--I think this was deliberate, and has a lot to do with Danny's character. I think this is a cautionary tale more than anything else. You'll understand what I mean if you've seen it.