Rillington Place

Despite the reality based subject matter, this is not an exploitational movie. Viewers seeking violence and gore will be disappointed. For the rest of us, it's a study of evil - its existence, its manifestation, and its consequences for innocent and guilty alike. Superbly filmed with a first-rate cast. Roth's restrained delivery of a seemingly innocuous man who contains a monster will make your blood run cold.

Tim Roth plays the notorious serial killer John "Reg" Christie with bone-chilling eeriness, a masterly performance to no small extent aided by the cinematography and lighting, which would have had Hitchcock nodding in approval, and which borders as closely on the exagerrated as it gets without overstepping the line (in my opinion). The set design provides the appropriately grim backdrop of the poorer areas of 1940s and 1950s London, and the soundtrack is certainly enough to make anybody lie awake wondering what might be lurking under the floorboards of the house you just moved into. The story is very well told, leaving enough for the viewer's imagination to add to the horror as the ghastly details creep into your mind. But there is a piece missing at the very end, as if the director suddenly realised that the allotted running time was quickly running out, and had to cut out a large chunk without forethought. That, unfortunately, takes away a few stars from what would otherwise have been a little masterpiece, but which is now left marred by an ending that seems oddly thrown together with too many loose ends dangling. Nevertheless, it's well worth a watch - you'll never look at your balding uncle the same way again.

The slow pace of this is like that of a snail leaving a trail of slime.

The lighting is dark. The setting dim and dirty. Squalid but normal given the time and place.

Tim Roth is so convincingly creepy and his speech, whispery and spare, so steeped in threat, it's a task just to undertake to watch each next horrible installment.

Horrible as in effective.

There is no actual violence and yet it is as if every single second of the entire production is violent.

I'd give it a higher rating, in that I think it is so evocative, but the subject matter is too dark and I prefer to save high marks for work that stimulates us to loftier places.

Still, simply as art, all the skills are wonderful. The actors excellent. The writing terrifying.

I wouldn't have undertaken to write a review at all, but at this juncture there are only two other reviews, neither of which seem, to me, to 'get it.' So here is another view.

Cannot believe anyone gave this less than 9/10! The suspense, mood, performances are the best thing I've seen for a very long time- including cinema, TV, or DVD. Samantha Morton & Tim Roth, whom I've long admired, are nothing short of superb in their understanding of the characters, their tenuous daily existence, the era in which they lived and their relationship. Samantha Morton's portrayal also speaks volumes about a 'woman's place' in society & in a marriage in those times. Tim Roth had me recognising the complete lack of emotion that Christie masked, READILY, with appropriate & socially accepted comments and lies; and the ability to portray himself as the victim, as employed by true psychopaths. This is deep and unnerving if you really think about it. Who lives next door to YOU?

Many are saying this is slow and it is, but its done in a masterful way which builds to the end that we all know. For me, what makes this a joy is the remarkable acting.