it is finally so absorbing because it plays like a lyrical road odyssey that’s also a detective story.

Fun premise, good actors, bad writing. This film seemed to have potential at the beginning but it quickly devolves into a trite action film. Ultimately it's very boring.

Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.

An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

This movie has plot holes large enough to fly a 747 through. For one example, The Flash could not run as fast and as far as Max von Sydow apparently can, in freezing cold and wind, wearing only his skivvies. Exactly how far is it supposed to be from the asylum to the farm to the town?! For another, Trevor Howard, who is portrayed as a Lt. Columbo but is about as competent as Inspector Clouseau, never thinks to check for footprints in the snow. But it's fast paced and the acting is very good, although how the actors managed to keep straight faces is beyond me.

This film about a man, Salem (Max Von Sydow), sent to an insane asylum after being wrongfully convicted of the ax murder of a farm hand two years ago, who escapes at night to avenge himself of those that did him wrong by having a part in his imprisonment. And then somehow he lets himself back in without anybody at the asylum noticing.I never saw a location mentioned, but one imdb reviewer said it was Jutland, in Denmark.It is obvious from the beginning what Salem is doing once he is loose - he is trying to pin the murders that he is committing on the person he thinks actually committed the murder of the farm hand - Anton. But the police inspector (Trevor Howard) is having none of it. For one thing, Anton actually saw Salem in his house - Salem let the guy see him - so Anton would sound crazy when he talked to the inspector. Why would Anton make up this particular story, casting blame on a man who is locked up? And this has the inspector visiting the asylum to see if it would be possible for Salem to escape and then get back in, and it looks pretty impossible and yet...his doubts linger because he does not arrest Anton in spite of having plenty of evidence.This little thriller was pretty unique despite some implausibilities and some linguistic problems. Why is the asylum so close to the homes of the village in which Salem lived? How is he able to run through the woods for what looks like a few miles in his underwear in sub freezing weather without freezing to death? Wouldn't all of this been easier for Salem in the summertime? Why does half the cast sound Swedish and the other half sound British? In spite of this I really enjoyed this unique little film. And the final irony of the film is delightful.

In 1968, Swedish director Ingmar Bergman released what might be arguably deemed his closest attempt to create an outright horror film, "Hour of the Wolf," starring Max von Sydow and Liv Ullman. The three would go on to work together several more times in the coming years, and although the following pictures that they made together (such as "Shame" and "The Passion of Anna") WERE fairly emotionally devastating, none could be termed outright horror. Viewers desirous to see Max and Liv together in another film that is undisputably in the horror domain, however, may be confidently steered to a picture that they made together in the early '70s, entitled "The Night Visitor." Released in February '71, this was a Swedish production (its Swedish title is "Papegojan"), filmed in English by Hungarian director Laslo Benedek (of "The Wild One" fame) and co-starring British and Scottish actors in the supporting roles. Very much a class production (it was produced by the famed actor Mel Ferrer, who had also produced the great horror outing "Wait Until Dark" four years earlier, starring his wife, Audrey Hepburn, and features still another impressive score by the great Henry Mancini), the film is a remarkably suspenseful, ingenious and only mildly bloody affair, more clever than scary, perhaps, but still a fascinating exercise in terror. The film manages to impress from its very first shot, in which we see a man named Salem fleeing from a grim and imposing castle fortress along the snowy shores of a desolate seacoast. (The viewer will immediately wonder just where this desolate-looking terrian, that looks for all the world like Lapland, perhaps, is situated; as it turns out, the film was shot in Denmark and Sweden.) As we later learn, this man, dressed only in underwear and a heavy pair of boots, is fleeing through the wintry countryside after escaping from a lunatic asylum, where he had been confined for the previous two years after being convicted of the axe murder of one of his farmhands. Salem hightails it directly to his former cottage, where resides his two sisters (one of them, Ester Jenks, is played by Liv) and his brother-in-law, Dr. Anton Jenks (Per Oscarsson). Salem manages to steal a few of the doctor's dress ties and several ampoules of morphine, and with them begins to take vengeance on all the people he deems responsible for his unfair conviction and subsequent confinement. He contrives to make Dr. Jenks look like the one responsible for these new murders, and even though Anton sees Salem in the house at one point and tells the local police inspector on the case (the great English actor Trevor Howard) that Salem has escaped, he is not believed. Salem, it seems, upon investigation, is shown by the asylum director (Andrew Keir) to be residing comfortably in his bed in the institution...an escape-proof pile situated hundreds of feet above the rocky shore. As the new murders continue, however, each one of them made to look like the work of the befuddled doctor, the inspector is forced to wonder: Could Salem possibly be escaping to do these deeds, only to return to his cell afterward? Was he indeed guilty of the original crime that put him there? And just how would the man be able to get out of his cell to begin with? Although "The Night Visitor" does feature the formidable talents of both von Sydow and Ullman once again, to be perfectly honest, the two share only one scene together, but what a doozy it is! For the most part, the film's main selling points are its truly ingenious escape sequences by Salem, during which von Sydow, 41 years old at the time, was compelled to perform any number of physical feats, such as rope and tree climbing, and swinging from ropes at impressive heights. It is a wonderfully and credibly physical performance from von Sydow, who easily steals the film with his derring-do and steely, calculating resolve. (If, as has been reported, the role of Salem was originally offered to English actor Christopher Lee, one might feel gratified at the way things turned out here; great as Lee was at physically imposing performances, I don't think that even he could have matched von Sydow's strength and determination in this role...and I doubt that Lee would have relished the prospect of performing extended sequences running around in the frigid cold in his underwear!) The viewer is not certain whether or not Salem should be sympathized with or not during the film; we know that he is performing ghastly murders--of his sisters, his old lawyer (Rupert Davies), his former girlfriend--but don't know whether or not he is doing this because he was unjustly convicted of an old crime or not. So yes, the film does keep us guessing, while it impresses us with its extremely clever story line. And if the film's final twist, in the last moments, comes off as a bit contrived and unbelievable, well, it's all in good fun, and is a very nice way to wrap things up. Less artful, perhaps, than "Hour of the Wolf," although infinitely easier to follow, "The Night Visitor" is perfect fare for the jaded horror fan who is eager to see something different and rewarding. Personally, I just loved it...final shot and all....

"The Night Visitor" has to be seen to be believed...and even then. This Laszlo Benedek film was long considered to be lost and it's easy to see why it disappeared. The Night Visitor of the title is Max von Sydow who moves in and out of the local asylum (don't ask) where he has been incarcerated so he take his revenge on those responsible for putting him there. These include Liv Ullmann and Per Oscarsson while Trevor Howard, looking like he would rather be anywhere else, runs around as the sceptical police investigator investigating all the killings. Watching this, two words kept coming to mind - balderdash and cods-wallop. The sooner this gets lost again the better.