5 10 Rillington Place

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HerrSchreck
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5 10 Rillington Place

#1 Post by HerrSchreck » Fri Jun 26, 2009 2:38 pm

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(Richard Fleischer, 1971)
Release date: 28th November 2016 (OOP date: October 2017)
Limited Dual Format Edition (UK Blu-ray premiere)

This classic British chiller is the horrifying true story of serial killer John Christie, played to unnerving effect by Richard Attenborough. When Timothy Evans (John Hurt) and his wife (Judy Geeson) rent a tiny room in Christie’s terraced house, they are unaware that they have sealed their fates and that they will fall foul of Christie's perverse and murderous scheme.
Shot in the original street where Christie's crimes were perpetrated, Richard Fleischer's stark, unsensational depiction uses exteriors from the actual house as part of its grim recreation of the events.

INDICATOR LIMITED EDITION SPECIAL FEATURES:
• 4K restoration
• Audio commentary with actress 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 (2016, 22 mins): new interview with Judy Geeson
• Isolated score track
• Image gallery: promotional photography
• Original theatrical trailer
• New and improved English subtitles for the deaf and hard-of-hearing
• Limited edition exclusive booklet with a new essay by Thirza Wakefield and archival reprints
• Limited Dual Format Edition of 5,000 copies
• UK Blu-ray premiere

#PHIDFE005
BBFC cert: 15
REGION FREE
EAN: 5037899069783

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closelyobserved
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Re: 10 Rillington Place (Fleischer, 1971)

#2 Post by closelyobserved » Fri Jun 26, 2009 3:58 pm

HerrSchreck wrote:I'm not sure if there used to be a thread devoted to this title on the old forum, I know there used to be more of a discussion about it than the search function pulls up now. But I wanted to call attention to the fact that this film seems to have undergone a brand new 35mm restoration by Sony, and is hitting the arthouse circuit.

NY Film Forum Link

Like anyone else in the States who wanted to get hold of this on home vid I grabbed the UK PAL release of the film (which is a pretty damned good-- and cheaply priced-- dvd release of the film, w commentary by both John Hurt and Attenborough, both of whom are to this day extremely proud of the movie, which is hugely affecting). Hopefully this new resto and arthouse tour portends a forthcoming dvd at least in R1... doth I dare to dream of a CC? It sure would fit into their recent pattern of grabbing half-forgotten high quality works shot in color from the past 40 years.

If you'd like to completely understand why John Hurt is the legend that he is, and want to witness one of the very early launch pads that rocketed him into the pantheon of acting greats, see this film. He turns in a completely heartbreaking performance, which stands up extremely well next to Attenboroughs chillingly drab, colorless, vaguely & liltingly serpentine serial killer John Reginald Christie. An emotionally devastating film.
Completely agree! Never have the words"Have a cup of tea" given me such a chill as when Attenborough's Christie is heading for the kettle. The murder is brutal and sordid without ever being salacious. The whole mundane ordinariness of the situation and the surroundings is perfectly captured.

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Sloper
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Re: 10 Rillington Place (Fleischer, 1971)

#3 Post by Sloper » Fri Jun 26, 2009 5:27 pm

Yes, this film as much as The Elephant Man shows what a brave actor Hurt is, unafraid to portray real, complicated, flawed human beings, rather than just playing for sympathy. His Timothy Evans is neither likeable nor dislikeable, just very real - and along with the drabness of the setting (some of it, I think, shot near the actual site of the murders; really one of the best evocations of this period on film, especially with regard to the dialogue) this contributes to the viewer's sense of having actually witnessed something dreadful happen, especially during the horribly matter-of-fact climax. Those words, 'I still say Christie done it', haunt you for weeks afterwards. In fact, although I love depressing films, this one is a bit much for me, and I revisit it sparingly. But it would be great to see it get the CC treatment.

I haven't quite listened to all of Hurt's commentary, but I did find Attenborough's intro on the DVD quite moving. He obviously felt this was a very important project, and was very committed to the idea of treating the subject in an honest, objective manner. This really comes through in his performance - he seems scarily at home in Christie's skin - and in the whole film, which, as closeleyobserved says, is anything but salacious and exploitative, as it could so easily have been in someone else's hands.

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HerrSchreck
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Re: 10 Rillington Place (Fleischer, 1971)

#4 Post by HerrSchreck » Fri Jun 26, 2009 6:17 pm

Also worthy of mention is Fleischer's closely observant, and entirely restrained direction. A wise and seemingly lost style of direction that reached full flower in the 70's, this hugely disciplined, never-too-extravagant directorial tone is a pleasure to behold... knowing full well that the script, the performances, the lighting, sets/locations et al will come together with a perfect tone.

I relish the maturity and the confidence of the style.

Props55
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Re: 10 Rillington Place (Fleischer, 1971)

#5 Post by Props55 » Fri Jun 26, 2009 9:09 pm

Jeez, I'd love to see this again! It died the death on U.S. release and never made it to my town. Had to catch it on the old CBS late night movie (with THE DAMNED and ZABRISKIE POINT!) and it really creeped me out. Very deliberately paced and naturalistically acted. Talk about the banality of evil! This film has it in spades! Possibly Fleischer's finest (late) film. Hope the restoration makes it to DVD.

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knives
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Re: 10 Rillington Place (Fleischer, 1971)

#6 Post by knives » Sat Jun 19, 2010 9:57 pm

Has there been any update on a US release of this? I just caught a day or two back on TCM and it was truly creepy and provoking. It makes me respect Atterborough who usually I don't find interesting. It was also nice to see Hurt try on a different accent.

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MichaelB
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Re: 10 Rillington Place (Fleischer, 1971)

#7 Post by MichaelB » Sun Jun 20, 2010 4:40 am

My ex-boss used to manage the Electric Cinema in Portobello Road from the late 60s to the early 80s, and he said he'd constantly get random visitors wanting to have a look at the projection booth where Christie used to work. Same routine every time: they'd go upstairs, glance into it for about ten seconds (it was a pretty small room, with absolutely nothing interesting about it at all aside from its links to 10 Rillington Place), thank him and leave.

OK, trivia break over.

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MichaelB
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Re: 10 Rillington Place (Fleischer, 1971)

#8 Post by MichaelB » Sun Jun 20, 2010 4:53 am

Sloper wrote:I haven't quite listened to all of Hurt's commentary, but I did find Attenborough's intro on the DVD quite moving. He obviously felt this was a very important project, and was very committed to the idea of treating the subject in an honest, objective manner. This really comes through in his performance - he seems scarily at home in Christie's skin - and in the whole film, which, as closeleyobserved says, is anything but salacious and exploitative, as it could so easily have been in someone else's hands.
I haven't seen that intro (I don't have the DVD), but I do remember an interview with Attenborough in which he said that he was worried about taking on the role because it could so easily have been salacious and exploitative - but he trusted Richard Fleischer and the source material (Ludovic Kennedy's book, based on his investigative journalism). Rightly, as it turned out.

It's well worth remembering that there's less of a gap between the film going into production and the actual Christie murders than there is between now and the discovery of Fred West's murders in 1992, which I remember as though it was last week - and I remember John Trevelyan at the British Board of Film Censors was a little concerned about the project, though he admitted later (in his memoir What the Censor Saw) that the finished film gave him nothing to worry about. It obviously got an X certificate (which then banned under-16s), but that was expected.

Incidentally, I'm introducing Psycho in a cinema in Gloucestershire later this week, and while I normally try to incorporate local-interest stories if only to prove that I'm not just recycling old material, I've decided against any Fred West references: it's too recent, and they'd be too gratuitous.

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HerrSchreck
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Re: 10 Rillington Place (Fleischer, 1971)

#9 Post by HerrSchreck » Mon Jun 21, 2010 10:04 am

10 Rill is one of those pieces I forget about awhile, get reminded of by sighting it either in some cinema listing/etc or simply sitting there in my disc collection, and I recommend it to some folks and they always to a man (or woman) come back completely knocked over by it.

Attenborough, in his interviews on the disc, really is a not-commonly-encountered combination of the old fashioned stage thespian-- sweeping in and out of rooms in a large cape, mind and nose somewhere up near the proverbial ceiling, talking about the process of acting with heaving gesture and grand dripping tones and a sense of seriousness and significance usually reserved for the recountings of the discoveries of critical vaccines that preserved a good portion of the globe from the grave-- along with a Completely Good Guy, self effacing, giving off clear vibes that say "In the grand scheme of things I know that who I am and what I do aren't really much at all, and I therefore refuse to be anything but grounded." Seems almost an impossible combination, but there you go. Good ol Dick, an actor's actor.

In terms of portraying meek souls dealing with behavioral aberrations resulting from interior blowouts of stress, unmet urges and simple frustration owing to a life of excessive passivity, Attenborough is about is good as it gets (Seance On A Wet Afternoon, a great favorite of mine, is another glorious performance along these lines).

It really is insane that this film is not available in R1. Maybe they (the US controlling studio that is) think that Christie is a UK-centric serial killer with no eh 'market' in the US. But one would think the cast names, serial killer subject matter, and utter excellence of the film would be enough to inspire confidence for at least a humble first printing batch.

Unless of course it sold poorly even in R2-land. But still.

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jesus the mexican boi
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Re: 10 Rillington Place (Fleischer, 1971)

#10 Post by jesus the mexican boi » Mon Jun 21, 2010 2:58 pm

Available for instant viewing via Netflix.

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LQ
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Re: 10 Rillington Place (Fleischer, 1971)

#11 Post by LQ » Mon Jun 21, 2010 6:34 pm

jesus the mexican boi wrote:Available for instant viewing via Netflix.
Thanks for posting this, I just now finished watching it and it'll be lingering heavy for a while. Schreck is dead-on about the direction: the film crafts such an atmosphere of unease and dread yet never once loses control of it's calm composure or veers into exploitation. Both Hurt and Attenborough were stunning but I was particularly impressed with how well Attenborough conveyed the perceived trustworthiness and gentle manner of his character along with the horrendously creepy, manipulative rot in his soul throughout the film.
SpoilerShow
The one moment that frustrated me...although I suppose she just fell victim to a certain fatal naiveté too, was when it was made apparent that Ethel had an insight into the scope of his crimes -"I know where you should be" made my heart skip a beat- but she didn't immediately get the hell out of there after the trial!


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swo17
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Re: 5 10 Rillington Place

#13 Post by swo17 » Thu Aug 16, 2018 2:23 pm

The limited edition is OOP so here is the wider release sans booklet or DVD

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domino harvey
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Re: 5 10 Rillington Place

#14 Post by domino harvey » Thu Aug 16, 2018 2:27 pm

Actually, aren't there some Indicator holdings that are also released on barebones Blu-rays by Powerhouse for sale in grocery stores in the UK? I think that's what that release is

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swo17
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Re: 5 10 Rillington Place

#15 Post by swo17 » Thu Aug 16, 2018 2:32 pm

I guess so since the non-limited is supposed to have the same cover as the limited (but shorter to fit in a standard BD case)

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rapta
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Re: 5 10 Rillington Place

#16 Post by rapta » Thu Aug 16, 2018 3:17 pm

Yes, this must be for the barebones BD-25 reissue supposedly available in Sainsbury's stores in the UK. I never saw one myself but I did see the same treatment for Christine and a double-bill release of Vampires/Ghosts of Mars (now also available at other retailers; and both films on a single BD-50 for that one).

So if you want the disc extras, obviously go for either Indicator-branded edition. :)

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Jean-Luc Garbo
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Re: 5 10 Rillington Place

#17 Post by Jean-Luc Garbo » Thu Aug 16, 2018 5:25 pm

domino harvey wrote:
Thu Aug 16, 2018 2:27 pm
Actually, aren't there some Indicator holdings that are also released on barebones Blu-rays by Powerhouse for sale in grocery stores in the UK? I think that's what that release is
That's what I thought it had to be - I've seen Oscilloscope do the same with some releases like Kedi - but Amazon initially had it listed with the original Indicator cover. I forgot about that Carpenter double feature release tho.

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MichaelB
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Re: 5 10 Rillington Place

#18 Post by MichaelB » Fri Aug 17, 2018 7:16 am

Yes, Indicator-branded editions contain the same Blu-ray disc, extras and all - the only difference between the limited and standard editions is that the SE lacks a booklet, a reversible sleeve and, if applicable, a DVD.

But any Powerhouse releases that aren't explicitly Indicator-branded will be pretty much barebones - there'll be SDH subtitles and a trailer, but that's it. In theory, they're only available in major British supermarket chains, but there's nothing that can realistically be done about a few sneaking onto Amazon Marketplace.

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Jean-Luc Garbo
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Re: 5 10 Rillington Place

#19 Post by Jean-Luc Garbo » Fri Aug 17, 2018 10:23 am

It wasn't Amazon Marketplace but Amazon itself. A service rep told me a supplier provided those copies to them however. I'm quite happy with the film either way but it was an interesting thing to see this there.

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swo17
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Re: 5 10 Rillington Place

#20 Post by swo17 » Fri Aug 17, 2018 10:26 am

I don't see a separate listing for it. Are you saying you ordered an Indicator edition from Amazon and were sent that?

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Jean-Luc Garbo
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Re: 5 10 Rillington Place

#21 Post by Jean-Luc Garbo » Fri Aug 17, 2018 10:29 am

That's exactly what happened. This was the listing although it had the proper Indicator art right before it shipped.

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