John Christie lives at 10 Rillington Place in London. The war is on and the Nazi bombs thud in the background. John has a wife and is a well known local policeman. He also administers medical advice and is a charmer of sorts. This all is nice and establishes John as a community type, rounded but not a pillar of it. The reality under the black out curtain however is that John lives a lot darker life. Women, drinking and the occasional abortion. Then we have his taste for murder…
John Christies crimes are legend. They live in many a London night guides handbook and even more parents boogeyman tales. Inside of this story is the utter demonic detachment he had for his wife, victims and his crimes. He was a cold and darkly evil man,who saw nothing in the deaths of innocent people. Murder and abuse were his motivation. He was so callous as to bury the dead in his house, abuse his wife and even frame an innocent man for murder. A man who lost his wife and who himself was later hanged for the murder.
Richard Fleischer made the masterpiece, The Boston Strangler three years prior to this and in many sense this is as good a film. Richard Attenborough is the main reason. He gives a performance of twisting, unsettling monstrous detachment. He gives Christie that face of evil. That bald gap that rings like Frankenstein as a beast in the dark. Horror iconography that lives in the forms DNA to this day. Its Fleischer that directs and crafts the setting, tone and space but its Attenborough who makes the whole complete and complex. Wonderful stuff that deserves its place.
Blu Ray looks good and sounds good. It was for me the extras and in particular the commentaries and the interviews that made the set worth some time to explore. They add that thing all film fans and lovers want. Expose us to creations process for something that is timeless and terrific.
- Audio commentary with Judy Geeson and film historians Lem Dobbs and Nick Redman
- Audio commentary with acclaimed actor John Hurt
- Introduction by Sir Richard Attenborough (2 mins): An appreciation by the great actor
- Interview with Sir Richard Attenborough (20 mins): Attenborough discusses many aspects of the film
- Being Beryl: Judy Geeson Interview (22 mins) Filmed in 2016.
Isolated score track - Original theatrical trailer
- New and improved English subtitles for the deaf and hard-of-hearing
- Booklet with new and archival contents
- Dual format edition
