NEGLECTED HORROR—10 Rillington Place

its perhaps one of the only films that i will watch whenever its repeated on TV - and although ive grown tired of hurts performance in the film, its still impressive... attenborough is something quite extraordinary in this, and although i generally have a great dislike for his work, its one of the most impressive performances ive ever seen given - yes, he is cold and calculating, lost and emotionally confused or distressed by himself, which makes the effect on the viewer even greater.

perhaps its because i am british, and have an interest in such cases, but i had a sense of what was underlying in the film that from what youve written isnt necessarily easy to spot if youre no so immersed in the culture and personalities of britain - hurts working class, naive and childlike behaviour is heartbreaking and the situation in relation to a more-powerful man who is also deep in poverty and within a struggling working-class society is an absolutely nightmarish vision that was once exceedingly common and still exists in small distant places today... stunning film, one of my absolute favourites.

as for the term horror, as you hint at, this is a horror film but the term is so deceptive and includes so much we wouldnt necessarily think of as fitting any one of the multitude of possible definitions we could all have for it - horrors very broad and varied, some of it clearly more likely to be described as crime drama but also likely to be as truly horrific (if not more so) as films always thought of as 'horror'... odd.

Logboy, thanks for the great response! I appreciate your insight into the working class conflict between the two characters. I had only a peripheral sense of that. I agree that Hurt's uneducated naivete was frustrating and sad. It amazes me that this is still a not infrequent occurrence? Wow. Anyways, thanks again for your comments.

the british public still has underlying issues with managing to create a sense of progress with underlying issues of the foundations beneath, and if you follow or read on any serial killer case they share certain social similarities of how we create and dismiss some very unusual traps into which people fall, you can see elements of these horrific states of mind british life can create in the oddest places, 'league of gentlemen' for example - certain ways of life that are incredibly dangerous that go beyond the human condition you could find anywhere, more of an issue to do with social manipulation, poor social security systems, social workers, goverment process and laws, police failings, neighbourhood isolation, and giving up the ghost on people, generally self-serving dressed as something completely different - its worth taking a look at dennis nilsen, fred west as other examples of british serial killers that based themselves within their homes... different to things like john wayne gacey or jeffery dahmer some very odd atmospherics or moods you can pick up on that show theres social issues bigger than individual difficulties at play... 10 rillington place really hits the nail on the head with its atmosphere of post-second world war poverty and that gap between victorian england and cases like 'jack the ripper' and the rebrith or many areas of the UK through to the 1960s and still (to a much lesser extent) into modern britain...

Given your informed knowledge on this subject, can you shed light on what motivated Christie? Does anyone know? Not that it was important to know so for the movie, and--as I mentioned--actually added to the horror of the piece for not being offered; but, just out of a general sense of curiousity.

Another thing that struck me was the idea that Alfred Hitchock came out of this mileu and the elements I was picking up in "10 Rillington Place" might actually be tethered to the British culture rather than Hitchcock's particular sensibility. Any thoughts?

the same as motivated any serial killer, some kind of sexual impotence, social exclusion and desire to redress the balance through displays of power taken out against women - the element that interests me is that british cultures ideal for creating characters like this, you wonder why there arent more unearthed cases like this : theres a sense there will be, as many if not all elements that creat a character like this exist still, but were particularly rife post-WW 2 which was a time where the conditions seemed hightened and particularly dangerous... theyre more hidden away these days. what a strange way in which to live... christie was more of a victim or british society than any individual failings, and hurts character was drawn in easily through how society works too. the mood of how british life has and does work is so strong in 10 rillington place... more than any other film save perhaps 'peeping tom', which i find equally ahead of its time and strangely modern because its still possible for peoples behaviour to drift to these places today...

Apparently, this film is not available in the states. Grr. The lively conversation above has got my curiosity peaked. I've never seen this, but if it can be compared to Frenzy and Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer, I'm there. I'll add it to the list for now unless someone can point out a region 1 or region free copy to purchase.

you want the UK disc, but it may not be region free. as for comparisons, its not a typical horror so i wouldnt compare it to 'henry' at all - its a very dry, reasonably slow, dark chracter piece with no gore, just the sights of a few dead bodies and some very harsh ideas to deal with ... very menacing. like i say above, the best comparison is to the mood of 'peeping tom' i think... this movie, along with things like 'league of gentlemen' and gilliams 'brazil' are must better representations of what british society can be like and what its about than anything taken to be british like the abysmal 'lock stock', which is a shocker. 10 rillington place R2 UK DVD for £7 at Amazon.co.uk.

Logboy, again your insights enrichen this discussion. I only linked "10 Rillington Place" to "Henry" insofar as the effective use of the ellipse made a murder even more chilling for not being shown.

I'm glad you mentioned "Peeping Tom" as well, which I recently watched on Turner Classics. I had thought of folding it into my review of "10 Rillington Place" as well but have elected to do a separate write-up. It's considerably more lurid and, if I'm not mistaken, pretty much ruined Powell's career.

I've heard so much about this film. Where did you see it Mike?

i dont know about powells career, but i do remember being told that 'peeping tom' remained banned in the UK for something like 30 years - i often plan to look more in the backstory of favourite films like this, and theres good books on 'rillington place' also, but it remains a film ive seen and loved for the most part... the first time i saw it on TV, i had no idea of the age of the film initially - its a superb example of a film that completely breaks with the general approaches and subject matters so heavily that the film looks very modern in its attitudes even today - another serial killer movie which i really like the approach of is 'citizen x' (a TV movie on R1 DVD), about chikatilo - the russian serial killer captured in the 90s after having killed more than 50 children : stunning film.

Canfield, Joel Shepard at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts here in San Francisco, is the dude responsible for curating this quartet of "neglected horror" at the Center's screening room. Joel is incredibly creative in his programming. He's the one who brought "Joe" and Carlos Reygadas to the Center through artist residencies. This series has done so well for the Center that I suspect he's going to follow through and find even more neglected treasures.