The Black Panther

I enjoyed this dramatisation of a true crime committed in the early 70's, but feel guilty for doing so. I remember the enormous headlines that this series of armed robberies, murders and the kidnapping of a teenage girl received at the time and how shocking they were. Donald Sumpter gives a convincing portrayal as the unpredictable Donald Nielson the ex soldier who rules his home as if he his still in the army. His wife and daughter are clearly afraid of him, although they have no inkling of his evil activities, with his long spells away from home accounted for by carpentry contracts. This drama centres almost entirely on the perpetrator and his activities including the extensive planning he does before he carries out his crimes. So, we get little insight into the long running police investigation where many people were dead before Nielson was finally caught. Maybe that could be another film, or perhaps it has been done already.

Living in the surrounding area of where the crimes took place I was pleased to find that the film followed the truth of what actually happened very closely.I enjoyed the film immensely,I thought it was well acted and well shot.

We were all sick to our stomachs when this thing came out in 1977.

The Leslie Whittle case had rolled across the news for months and months and most kids were afraid to go out at night.

Kaye Alexander looked sick to her stomach every time she read the news.

For some opportunistic cast, producer and director to capitalise on the crime and Whittle family misery to make a few quid was absolutely disgusting.

It was centre stage in our local video shop for months and I don't think anyone hired it about from the local weirdos and paedos.

Cheapskate media is always willing to have a laugh at our expense.

Video nasty? Made all the porn films look tame. Hang your heads in shame.

Donald Sumpter is flawless in his portrayal of Donald Neilson, a pretty weird guy. I saw this on tape when I was about five or six, and fifteen years later I still remember certain scenes very vividly. By all accounts one of the most factual true crime pictures ever made.

Depressing, authentic-looking account of the real-life kidnapping of wealthy heiress by a desperate ex-serviceman whose attempts to collect a relatively modest ransom unravels at every juncture placing the abducted girl at risk. We know how it ends, but not necessarily the brutal build-up which is depicted in violent, unflinching detail.

The mundanity of the kidnapper's bland home life paints a rather bleak existence in which he's compelled to commit more crimes to support his modest lifestyle, unwilling to accept the employment opportunities he's afforded, regarding them as undignified for a person with his service record. As he becomes more detached from reality, he manages to convince himself that the victims of his heinous crimes have only themselves to blame.

Sumpter plays the pathetic narcissist with selfish realism, an insecure criminal with a hair-trigger temper motivated by money; patient and pedantic in his preparation, but unable to execute his crimes efficiently, leading to multiple reckless and unnecessary murders.

There's been some speculative decisions made regarding the fate of the abductee at the film's anti-climax with the aftermath largely explained via on-screen text, but the emphasis is on the depravity of the crimes, moreover than their restitution.

Whilst the subdued, no-frills approach is gripping, the film's proximity to the actual events made it a contemporaneous commercial failure. Time has afforded it more favourable attention, now appreciated for its unglamorous portrayal of some of the most callous crimes committed in England in modern times. Understated and well worth a look.