You can tell that Danny (Albery Finney) ain't quite right by the erratic way he rides his scooter. And the fact that we see him chopping up and disposing of a body in the opening scene.
Having charmed his way into the knickers of maid Dora Parkoe (Sheila Hancock), knocking her up, Danny worms his way into the household of Dora's employer, elderly Mrs. Bramson (Mona Washbourne). At first, the old lady's daughter Olivia (Susan Hampshire) dislikes Danny, but the young man's rizz eventually wins her over. But what does Danny keep in the hat box in his room?
Predating real-life serial killer Ted Bundy's activities by a decade, Night Must Fall is a fascinating study of a psychopath who, on the surface, is a charismatic individual, but who is, in reality, a deeply disturbed whack job. While Danny works his magic on Mrs. Bramsom and Olivia, the police are dragging the nearby lake for a missing woman, eventually finding her body, minus the head. And although we never see the missing noggin, it's made pretty obvious where it is (with scenes reminiscent of the infamous box incident recounted by Jeffery Dahmer's father).
Despite adopting a rather annoying 'boyo' Welsh accent for the role, Finney is excellent as the manipulative psychopath, lending his character a much-needed sense of realness (as one might expect from an actor who found fame in the kitchen-sink drama genre). We get glimpses into Danny's past, giving us an insight into what has made him so flaky, both his mother and father dying when he was very young; this also goes some way to explaining the rather perverse mother/son relationship he develops with Mrs. Bransom, which leads to the film's shocking climax.
Well acted, grim, and surprisingly brutal at times, Night Must Fall is a compelling study of a dangerous individual, and, although I didn't quite buy into the ending, in which Danny realises that the game is up and is reduced to a gibbering wreck, I still recommend the film to fans of gritty psycho-thrillers.
