keithhmessenger

If one were doing the makers of 1971's Villain a (slight) disservice one could regard the film as 'nothing more' than a feature-length version of TV's The Sweeney. (Slight) disservice, since The Sweeney is actually one of the most authentic 'cop dramas' there has ever been, but also since Villain has the writing talents of Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais behind it plus, equally crucially, an outstanding cast of British acting talent of the period (which are very much brought to life by the writing). The line-up includes Richard Burton in the lead, doing a passable (slightly dodgy 'cockney' accent aside) impersonation of a (presumably Ronnie) Kray twin as the coolly violent, gay, mummy's boy with tastes above his station, Vic Dakin. Burton is, though, just the start of the film's impressive turns which include (in Vic's 'crew'), Ian McShane's fixer (and lover to Vic) Wolffe and Tony Selby, (in Vic's rival, though here collaborating, crew), Joss Ackland and TP McKenna, (in the 'boys in blue') Nigel Davenport and Colin Welland and not forgetting a brilliantly suave and creepy Donald Sinden as the corrupt MP, Gerald Draycott.

Given the film's period we are repeatedly reminded of the contemporary 'gangster films' Get Carter and, particularly, 1970's Performance (well, the 1st half, at least), even if Villain does not quite reach the heights of the earlier (in Get Carter's case just by two months) films with its familiar plot, comprising a botched robbery. Nevertheless, there are plenty of 'period touches' to enjoy here, including the barnets, kipper ties, classic Rover cars, slang ('ice creams', 'claret') and (in my mind, at least) the likening of Vic's methods to those of Monty Python's Dinsdale brothers ('they screwed his pelvis to a cake stand'!). For me, the film also benefits (despite being 'infamous' for its level of violence) from the violence being very sporadic (and, by today's standard, less explicit). Memorable sequences are many but include the robbery sequence (with its spectacular stunt car crashes and a Jag driving on a flat, borderline non-existent, tyre) and the Vic-police confrontation on Brighton's impressive pier (presumably 'standing in' for Southend).

Badged in various places as a comedy-horror in the vein of Simon Pegg's Shaun of the Dead, writer-director Chris Baugh's 2020 film only raised the odd titter (the 'comedy' being the main reason I watched the film) from this viewer. As a backdrop for a vampire film, Ireland is an interesting setting, given (we are told) that Dracula author Bram Stoker was inspired by the local legend of the 'bloodthirsty' Abhartach, the figure having been buried beneath a local stone cairn (a 'theory' that Jack Rowan's 'waster' and construction worker, Eugene Moffat, is using as the basis for a 'tourist trap scam'). The film's set-up of an imminent curse (and its gory aftereffects) is completed as Eugene, as part of his job building a local bypass, intends to destroy the cairn, thereby setting him against John Lynch's landowner, George Bogue, who would lose much of his land.

Baugh's film is certainly low-budget - some of the early blood-letting sequences are noticeably shot in near darkness presumably to disguise the rudimentary special effects - even if much of the acting here is solid, particularly from Rowan and the always reliable Lynch. As things liven up - Bogue's son having died in tragic circumstances, but now making a 'comeback', as does the hitherto interred Abhartach - the pace is also maintained by a memorable rock-based soundtrack (Eddie Cochran's C'mon Everybody being used to particularly amusing effect). The film's second half follows a fairly well-established horror genre path but, even if the special effects are stepped up somewhat, I was still holding out (forlornly) for more laugh out loud moments.