The Night Visitor
| The Night Visitor | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Directed by | László Benedek |
| Produced by | Mel Ferrer |
| Written by | Guy Elmes |
| Starring |
Max von Sydow Liv Ullmann Trevor Howard Per Oscarsson Rupert Davies Andrew Keir |
| Music by | Henry Mancini |
| Cinematography | Henning Kristiansen |
| Edited by | Bill Blunden |
Release dates |
|
Running time | 106 mins. |
| Country | Sweden |
| Language | English |
The Night Visitor (Swedish title: Papegojan) is a 1971 Swedish psychological thriller film in English, starring Max von Sydow, Liv Ullmann, Trevor Howard, Per Oscarsson, Rupert Davies and Andrew Keir, and directed by Laslo Benedek.
Plot
An inmate named Salem (Max von Sydow) escapes from an insane asylum in the dead of winter. His destination is the house of his sister, Ester (Liv Ullmann), and her husband, Anton (Per Oscarsson). His quest is revenge as he sets about framing Anton because Salem feels he was set up for a horrendous axe murder two years previously. On the case is a police inspector (Trevor Howard) who must determine if Anton is really crazy for claiming he saw Salem outside of the asylum and discover if Salem was really framed.
Production
Christopher Lee was first choice to play Salem but was not available.
The film is also notable for its unusual score by renowned Hollywood film and TV composer Henry Mancini. The music was arranged for synthesiser, 12 woodwinds, organ, two pianos and two harpsichords, and Mancini achieved an unsettling effect by having one of the harpsichords tuned a quarter-tone flat.
Release
The film was released theatrically in North America in 1971 by Universal Marion Corporation (UMC). It was subsequently re-released in 1981 under the title Lunatic by 21st Century Film Corporation.[1]
The film was released on DVD by VCI Entertainment in February 2000. This version is currently out-of-print.[2]
References
- ↑ "Company Credits for The Night Visitor". IMDb.com. Retrieved 2012-09-24.
- ↑ "The Night Visitor". amazon.com. Retrieved 2012-09-24.