Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #4558 in DVD
• Released on: 2004-03-29
• Rating: Suitable for 15 years and over
• Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Formats: PAL, Widescreen
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 106 minutes

DVD Description
Based on Ludovic Kennedy's invetigative book, this is the true and horrifying story of mass-murderer John Christie, chillingly played by Richard Attenborough. When Timothy Evans (John Hurt) and his wife (Judy Geeson) move into Christie's tiny flat, they do not know that he has already killed several young women, their bodies buried in the back garden of the house. When Christie offers to help Beryl Evans have an abortion, neither she nor her husband know that it is just the latest plan Christie has hatched to lure yet another woman to her death. Killing her and her young baby, Christie manages to pin the blame on Evans, who is soon afterwards hanged. Years go by and more deaths, and it is only when he moves away from the scene of his crimes, the death-house at 10 Rillington Place in London, that fate transpires to put a stop to his crimes, and the wrongful hanging of Evans is exposed.

Special Features

• Introduction to the DVD by Sir Richard Attenborough
  
• Commentary by John Hurt
  
• Exclusive interview with Sir Richard Attenborough
  
• Fact Files
  
• Vintage Lobby Cards
  
• Filmographies

Synopsis
London, 1944. John Reginald Christie (Richard Attenborough) is digging in his backyard when he comes across a woman's leg. Without being bothered at all, he covers up the leg and continues to bury the woman he just strangled in his kitchen. Three years later, Timothy Evans (John Hurt), along with his wife, Beryl Evans (Judy Geeson), and their baby, rents a flat in the same building--10 RILLINGTON PLACE. The young couple struggles to live on Timothy's minuscule pay while Christie insidiously inserts himself into their lives. He manipulates the pregnant Beryl and the illiterate Timothy until they believe he will perform an abortion on Beryl. However, Christie has other plans...
This chilling account of the notorious Timothy Evans case is the fourth in director Richard Fleischer's series of movies based on real-life murder cases, following THE GIRL IN THE RED VELVET SWING, COMPULSION, and THE BOSTON STRANGLER. Fleischer makes potent use of his unnerving, off-kilter camera set-ups in the cramped interiors of 10 RILLINGTON PLACE. Hurt gives a fine performance as the simple Timothy, and Attenborough is riveting as the unctuous and manipulative Christie.

Customer Reviews

A Classic
A classic piece of British film making. As accurate as a film can be, where-ever possible in the film the dialogue has been based on official documentation. Couple this with outstanding performances and attention to detail ( it was even filmed at Rillington Place, albeit a few doors down from the actual house ) makes this film a must-see. I remember visiting Madam Tussauds waxwork museum in London as a kid in the 70s and seeing Christie's waxwork in the chamber of horrors where Christie is stood, brush in hand having wallpapered over a cavity in the wall where he put bodies of his victims, I have no idea if the waxwork is still there today.
If you are expecting a slasher type fim then this is not for you. If you want a film that is dark, creepy and atmospheric with a top notch script and performances then this is definately for you. Don't be put off by the fact that it was made in 1971. As good today as it ever was.

Stark, chilling account...
10 Rillington Place is not a fun movie for those looking for a Saturday night popcorn/splatter fest. It is a hard-edged, harrowing account of British mass-murderer John Reginald Christie and his hapless fall guy, Timothy Evans. The film, directed by Richard Fleischer and featuring Richard Attenborough and John Hurt in the two leading roles, is based on the book of the same name written by Ludovic Kennedy. This controversial case, which resulted in two hangings, came back to haunt Britain after everyone thought it had been resolved and was paramount in the abandonment of capital punishment in the UK. The slant in this film is unmistakeable.

Starting in 1949, the Evans family: Timothy, his wife Beryl and their baby daughter Geraldine, arrived at Christie's dingy Rillinton Place address to rent the flat on the top floor. Christie had already killed two women by this time and would continue to do so after the Evans's had gone. Timothy Evans was a compulsive liar of rather limited intelligence and it was his gullibility combined with Christie's manipulative talents which would eventually get him into trouble.

Posing as a backyard abortionist, Christie sets to work on the newly-pregnant Beryl with predictably awful results and this is one of the most distressing scenes in this very disturbing film. He then convinces Evans that he should leave or face the consequences, promising to place the baby in the care of some friends in Acton. For Evans, as if things weren't bad enough already, they only get worse from here.

Shot in the original street and using exteriors fronm the actual house, the film has a very stark confronting look with a seedy brown look, all accentuated by the quietness and lack of music. The acting is very powerful: Attenborough being particularly villainous and the direction is very tight. Intelligently scripted and with no actual gore, it is "the thinking person's horror movie". The result is superb pace and an utterly chilling atmosphere. I think the feeling I got most from this film was one of absolute helplessness and revulsion. A first rate film which makes a very clear point, 10 Rillington Place has a very important message for all and goes way beyond other films of the same genre.

Serial killers are not glamorous
This is an excellent film which really does so much to make you remember that serial killers like Christie are seedy disturbing drab people. This is not a film that is intended to thrill you at the expense of the underlying message: murder is murder. Kennedy's book of the same name is faithfully reproduced in the film. It's important to realise that at the time, the prosecution messed up the case and withheld key forensic evidence into the death of Beryl Evans. It's also important to realise that a jury was perhaps swayed by the fact that Christie was somehow more respectable than Evans. He had, after all, been a special constable. Evans was a half wit who struggled to articulate his feelings in words and frequently resorted to terrible arguments with his wife. Not only did this case help to bring capital punishment of the statute books it also brought in a vital defence to a murder charge: diminished responsibility. Evans was hanged for a murder he did not commit, Christie carried on killing. Both Hurt and Attenborough are magnificent.