ClassyWas
Excellent, smart action film.
Majorthebys
Charming and brutal
Voxitype
Good films always raise compelling questions, whether the format is fiction or documentary fact.
daniel-mannouch
The victim of a hysterical proto-sadist video press campaign which killed its initial theatrical run, The Black Panther is actually anything but the insensitive exploitation piece is was labelled as which damned it so long to distribution limbo.Charting the bizarre killing spree of wannabe criminal mastermind Donald Neilson, this insightful, intelligent thriller feels chillingly authentic in the way it is constructed. No avant- garde pretensions or sensationalist hyper reality to be found here unlike its accused grindhouse brethren. Director Ian Merrick is to the point with his direction and only benefits the film with his "lack of adventure" should i say, but major credit goes to Michael Armstrong who's minute detail script does what the journalists at the time couldn't be bothered with and lays out fully the whole grim affair to the best the evidence available could suggest. Donald Sumpter is fearless as Panther. A little theatrical for some maybe, but you have to consider that this was no ordinary serial killer. A house thief that turned to armed robbery, then kidnap for ransom, this was no clueless man-child or crusading zealot, he really thought himself as a criminal genius and so would be full of himself, yes? Sumpter understood this and his portrayal of Neilson as the tragic fool gives great clarity to the events on top of the well researched script. Overall a horrific, challenging and truthful dramatisation that is a masterclass in true life crime filmmaking, a hidden gem.
david procter
This film is a pastiche and bears very little resemblance to the real man or the true facts of the case. It is riddled with errors from start to finish. Donald Neilson did not murder Lesley Whittle, he was not even present at the scene when she died. He fled on the night of the failed ransom drop leaving her alive and she died several days later after falling from the ledge. Anyone wanting to know the true facts of this case should read Harry Hawkes' book The Capture of the Black Panther and Adam Mars Jones book Lantern Lecture and put this film where it belongs - in the dustbin. Harry Hawkes followed the case from the beginning and was the only reporter to attend every one of Neilson's court appearances including the Court of Appeal in London. Adam Mars Jones is the son of the trial judge and acted as the Judge's Marshall at the trial. Mr Justice Mars Jones agreed with his son's conclusions on the case.
KingDaddy45
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.
santaman
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.
