From a true crime story about an achingly terrifying
miscarriage of justice, middle-aged serial killer John Christie (Richard
Attenborough) lives an unassuming life with his wife in their quiet London flat
when he decides to rent the adjoining property to an illiterate laborer (John
Hurt), along with his wife and infant child, who will soon face the hangman’s
noose for one of his landlord’s unspeakable crimes. Filmed just doors down from
the site of the actual killings, Richard Fleisher’s 10 Rillington Place is
bleak, muted, and understated with Attenborough creepily effective and Hurt
totally credible in the tragic role.
*** out of ****
