THE NIGHT VISITOR

Director: Laslo Benedek

Starring: Max Von Sydow, Liv Ullmann, Per Oscarsson

An escaped convict seeks revenge on the family who caused his imprisonment.

A resourceful inmate (Von Sydow) escapes from a remote top security insane asylum and seeks revenge on the family members who caused his imprisonment in this 1970 curio, which was shot in Sweden and Denmark.

The film boasts a handful of excellent performances, an intriguing story and atmospheric direction. Per Oscarsson, particularly, is outstanding, as the man Von Sydow is trying to frame for a new series of murders. Given the location and the nationalities of the leading cast members, it’s surprising to see a number of British character actors featured so prominently, including Rupert Davies, Arthur Hewlett, Eastenders’ Gretchen Franklin, Hammer regular Andrew Keir (as the asylum governor) and Trevor Howard (typically solid as the dogged police inspector).

The picture is quite soft throughout, and drained of colour (this may be intentional though). The full-screen transfer generally seems adequately composed, but there are signs of patchy compression and digital video noise suppression. The mono audio, which includes a moody score by Henry Mancini, is generally acceptable. A handful of unrelated trailers are included on the disc, including a montage from Gargoyles.