Intcatinfo A Masterpiece!

Twilightfa Watch something else. There are very few redeeming qualities to this film.

SanEat A film with more than the usual spoiler issues. Talking about it in any detail feels akin to handing you a gift-wrapped present and saying, "I hope you like it -- It's a thriller about a diabolical secret experiment."

Sameer Callahan It really made me laugh, but for some moments I was tearing up because I could relate so much.

bamlin52 This is when they made movies . Saw this movie 47 years ago. Yes it has dated a bit.But still enjoyable. Richard Burton has real Star quality. Thought provoking movie. Don't make them like this anymore.

zardoz-13 Richard Burton plays a sadistic, notorious, homosexual, British crime boss in Michael Tuchner directorial debut "Villain" with Ian McShane, Nigel Davenport, Jose Ackland, and Donald Sinden. Loosely based on the life of Ronnie Kray, this grim, sometimes violent, but often dreary thriller is ostensibly based on James Barlow's novel "The Burden of Proof." The highlight of this atmospheric gangster saga is a robbery bid in broad daylight as Vic Dakin (Richard Burton) and his cronies grab sixty to seventy thousand pounds from an armored car. Dakin is a devoted son to his elderly mother (Cathleen Nesbitt) and lavishes attention on her when he isn't beating up his adversaries. Inspector Bob Matthews (Nigel Davenport of "Play Dirty") struggles to find enough evidence to arrest this elusive killer. Altogether unsavory but moments of violence that capture the era, "Villain" qualifies as a letdown and is nowhere as entertaining as Michael Caine's "Get Carter."

calvinnme This is a gritty, urban, British gangster film. The Long Good Friday can trace itself to this film. Much akin to the Michael Caine film, "Get Carter", which was released around the same time. It was a forerunner to the current crop of British gangster films, such as Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels and Layer Cake. Burton is the Villain of the title. He's the 'gov'ner of a group of west end thugs. Burton transforms himself in this film. He is pure evil and malice and as compelling to watch as a snake.The action in the film is propelled by a factory payroll robbery - its planning and its aftermath. There is big money at stake, but this type of crime is a bit out of Vic Daykin's (Burton's) league. His gang is usually into protection/extortion rackets. Plus he is relying on the discretion of a mousy and resentful middle aged low ranking clerical worker at the factory who feels unappreciated by his wife and employer and doesn't have a problem helping Daykin with insider information.Burton is fantastic in this role. There is extreme tension and especially violence here, so it might not be for everybody. Daykin is paranoid of everybody, enjoys beating people up with his bare hands just for the fun of it, and seems to hate/mistrust women to the extreme with the exception of his elderly mother to whom he is very gentle.Only one gaping plot hole that I could find, and that was Daykin bringing the two outside mobsters in on the payroll job. If, he in fact "doesn't know anything about their boys", and he trusts his own guys as much as this guy is going to trust anybody, why would somebody as paranoid as he bring outsiders in on the biggest job of his life? I'd recommend it. Just remember if you are accustomed to lots of introspective angst and dialogue from Burton, you don't really get that here. It is not that kind of film.

ShadeGrenade In 1967, Stanley Baker produced and starred in 'Robbery' - a good film, but rather tame in its depiction of the London underworld. It was, in essence, not far removed from the well-mannered British crime dramas of the 50's/early 60's, such as 'The Frightened City'. But by 1971 - also the year of 'Get Carter' - everything had changed. Crooks fired off expletives as often as bullets, people got brutally killed, women were badly treated, policemen fought fire with fire, everything was done on a more realistic level. And was all the better for it. One of the reasons for the change was that, with 'Bonnie & Clyde' and 'The Dirty Dozen', audiences got used to violent movies. Also the Kray brothers had been put away, and the story of their reign of terror both fascinated and chilled the nation.Directed by Michael Tuchner, 'Villain' starred Richard Burton as 'Vic Dakin', a sadistic gang boss who plans to rob a plastics factory. He is being shadowed by 'Matthews' ( Nigel Davenport ) of New Scotland Yard. Dakin is not the sort of man you want to find in your house when you come home - he's liable to beat you up, cut you with a razor, and get his henchman to tie you to a chair and leave it outside the top of a block of flats. He is devoted to his mother ( Cathleen Nesbitt ), so he's not all bad. But he is having a gay relationship with one of his men - 'Wolfe Lissner' ( Ian McShane ). Vic is in the habit of beating Wolfe before having his way with him. Politicians? Vic has them in his pocket, such as 'Gerald Draycott' ( Donald Sinden ), who seems to spend more time in bed with women than at the Commons. It gave Burton one of his best acting roles in years, even though his London accent drifts from time to time in the direction of the Welsh valleys. He had the good fortune to be surrounded by class actors of the calibre of T.P. MacKenna, Joss Ackland, Colin Welland, James Cossins, Del Henney, and Tony Selby. Fiona Lewis - cast as Wolfe's girl 'Venetia' - gets plenty of chances to show off what she later termed her 'farinaceous colleen face' as well as her bosom. Sheila White and Cheryl Hall are seen fleetingly as a pair of girls who witness the factory robbery at close range.Adapted by Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais from the book 'The Burden Of Proof' by James Barlow ( read it. Its brilliant. ), but do not expect to find too much 'Porridge'-type comedy here. 'Villain' is a good gangland drama, and also works as a study of corruption in high society. It is just a pity that Burton went back to doing Hollywood films afterwards, including the horrendous 'Exorcist 2 - The Heretic', a shocking waste of his talent.