The Night Visitor (1971)

This movie has plot holes large enough to fly a 747 through. For one example, The Flash could not run as fast and as far as Max von Sydow apparently can, in freezing cold and wind, wearing only his skivvies. Exactly how far is it supposed to be from the asylum to the farm to the town?! For another, Trevor Howard, who is portrayed as a Lt. Columbo but is about as competent as Inspector Clouseau, never thinks to check for footprints in the snow. But it's fast paced and the acting is very good, although how the actors managed to keep straight faces is beyond me.

Going straight in at the deep end, The Night Visitor begins with a lone man heading silent over a snowy landscape to arrive at a farmhouse. Entering through a window, this tale of a man called Salem and his dark deeds begins. See, Salem has been wrongfully imprisoned for a couple of years and now has come the time for a spot of vengeance. Directed by Laszlo Benedek of teen rebellion classic The Wild One, The Night Visitor is a highly unusual item, filled with warped intensity. Snowy fields and forlorn buildings, treachery bubbling beneath almost every character, the film is in a state of constant unease, and by leaping straight into events and offering explanations in erratic bursts the viewer is kept mostly just outside of the loop, hooked but never quite certain of things. The film has a madness to it and everyone is either afflicted or drawn into the fray, only an investigating policeman remains pretty much sane. Apart from the interest of Salem's inscrutably macabre deeds, his very presence is a bad influence on other characters, stirring their dark secrets and quiet unease to storming froth, creating madness by a near supernatural force of proximity. As played by Max von Sydow Salem is determined and malign, but mostly calm, a contrast to the jitters of everybody else. Per Oscarsson's character of a doctor falls most notably prey to the maddening situations, high strung and on the verge of collapse, while Liv Ullmann as his wife is impressive too, parlaying her own enervation into fearful suspicion and desperate behaviour. Trevor Howard as the policeman is fine too as a sobering presence, he looks like he can play this sort of role in his sleep and has just the right authority and calm presence. Apart from psychological turmoil, the film offers a neat selection of interesting images, some evocative dialogue and great fun in Salem's deeds, with the centrepiece display of his ingenuity a suspenseful, if improbable delight. The film does tend to run on contrivances which will likely irk some, there are plot holes, improbabilities and the odd short lull in pacing. Its also not one for people expecting tits 'n gore and all that jazz, there's only a tiny bit of blood and things are pretty restrained in action terms. There are a few great chilling moments though and Salem has become one of my favourite villains, there's something about his intelligence that comes across as a faint ancestor of the likes of Lecter. Despite its cast, this isn't some Bergman-esquire meditation either, arty it certainly is, but not so deep. Thriller geeks will likely be put off as well, tug hard at the plot and it kinda unravels. None of the above are the best way to approach the film though, it comes out best as a kind of chilling tale in an unreal realm, where things happen by disturbed inevitability rather than logic. An inspired head-swirling oddity then and a film I heartily recommend, though it is one of niche appeal.

I remember catching 'The Night Visitor' on UK late night TV in the late 70's. At that time I'd not heard of it but was hooked from the outset. Many of the haunting images stayed with me and recently I got all nostalgic and started searching for either video or DVD releases of several lost gems from the early 70's, amongst them 'And Soon The Darkness', 'I Start Counting' and of course 'The Night Visitor'. Success!!! as all titles were available on DVD (some are deleted from obscure labels but all frequently pop up on Ebay for reasonable amounts). Strangely, having caught up with several long forgotten film or TV shows from my childhood, most have been disappointing, however 'The Night Visitor' retains it's menacing, almost surreal air and Max Von Sydow carries the film with great support from Trevor Howard (who seems to be setting the tone for his later appearance in 1973's 'The Offence') and I even recalled Arthur Hewlett as the prison guard with the gnome-like features. All in all a MUST for any Von Sydow fan and any lover of quirky psychological thrillers, low on budget but high on plot and intrigue.

It has been thirty years since I first saw this title, at a drive-in movie theater, with my girlfriend. She and I both had eyes glued to the screen. The "feeling" of the setting still lingers and we could almost experience the cold. But what I remember the most is that The Night Visitor gave new meaning to the old line,"a little birdy told me...".Superb direction and wonderfully twisting ending!