True serial killers are mercifully rare. But Reginald Christie strangled six women for no good motive, and an innocent man, Timonthy Evans, was sentenced to death for one of those before Christie's guilt became unarguable. In 'Rillington Place', Tim Roth is excellent as the mass murderer, a sad little man for whom you might feel sorry if not for his method of relieving his frustrations. There's absolutely no hint of Hannibal Lecter about this man; yet he was horrifyingly effective in what he did. Overall, however, the drama is mostly painful, and while this is probably inevitable, what is lacking is a sense of ordinary life going on around the sad world of the Christie family. Instead, we see a world only of smog, austerity, and a mood of unremitting gloom - if London was really as dreary as this, it's a wonder there weren't thousands of Christies, not just one.
Review of Rillington Place
