I remember catching 'The Night Visitor' on UK late night TV in the late 70's. At that time I'd not heard of it but was hooked from the outset. Many of the haunting images stayed with me and recently I got all nostalgic and started searching for either video or DVD releases of several lost gems from the early 70's, amongst them 'And Soon The Darkness', 'I Start Counting' and of course 'The Night Visitor'. Success!!! as all titles were available on DVD (some are deleted from obscure labels but all frequently pop up on Ebay for reasonable amounts). Strangely, having caught up with several long forgotten film or TV shows from my childhood, most have been disappointing, however 'The Night Visitor' retains it's menacing, almost surreal air and Max Von Sydow carries the film with great support from Trevor Howard (who seems to be setting the tone for his later appearance in 1973's 'The Offence') and I even recalled Arthur Hewlett as the prison guard with the gnome-like features. All in all a MUST for any Von Sydow fan and any lover of quirky psychological thrillers, low on budget but high on plot and intrigue.

I wasn't expecting much when I saw this movie some years ago, but was I pleasantly surprised. This is a highly underrated suspense movie that is one of my favorites. It grabs you from the very opening ("why is that man jogging through the snowy countryside in his underwear?") and delivers a clever plot that deals with a series of murders with a Columboesque twist - you're shown who's doing them at the beginning, yet you're also shown that it's physically impossible for him to be committing them. The story then involves why he's doing them, the cat and mouse interaction between him and the police inspector investigating the cases, and the amazing way he accomplishes the seemingly impossible. Does he get away with it? You'll have to see for yourself. This one won't disappoint mystery fans.

Max Von Sydow brilliantly portrays Salem, a patient at an insane asylum. The chilling cinematography of some guy in his underwear running around in the chilling snow fields makes this thriller even more chilling. But wait till you hear the chilling score by Henry Mancini. He wisely uses de-tuned piano notes that set a perfect mood.

Atmospherically set in freezing Jutland, this clever revenge drama starts slowly but will grab your interest as Salem's plan unfolds. The acting is good and the film is well-handled by director Laslo Benedek. Worth a viewing.

This film grabs you from start to finish.The clever way that Max Von Sydow,s character Salem executes his plan is engrossing.All the acting in this film is brilliant,but special credit has to go to Trevor Howard,s performance playing an ageing world weary inspector perfectly.It says a lot for the power of this film that although i have not been able to see it for over 10 years due to no dvd or video being available in the UK, it would still be in my top 20 movies ever.The plot was so good that i thought the ending would have to let it down,but instead turns out to be one of the best bits.

A forgotten masterpiece that far too few people have seen if the number of people that have voted for it is anything to go by.

It's awhile since I saw this movie but it really hooked me, especially seeing two old pros like Max Von Sydow and Trevor Howard going head to head. In looking at a few reviews I don't see much reference to his motivation which is what got me in and explains much of what he does. As I recall, an innocent man is found guilty of a murder committed by his unfaithful wife who frames him. To escape the death penalty he has to be certified criminally insane. If he's that way then he's in for life. Either way a no win. How he seeks to get square is ingenious and really tests Trevor Howard as the inspector. A real twist at the end that you will never forget. I haven't after 15 years or so since I last saw it. Terrific movie. Great acting and scenery. Definitely on my 'must have' list of movies.

We actually saw this on original release in 1971 in the old downtown Tucson theater. We walked a few blocks home to the delightfully serene ex-mortuary we rented during our college years and were compelled to discuss it for hours. Such was the emotional pull. After seeing Max in a few more intriguing films as this, he became my favorite actor for many years. He really knew how to pick clever roles. Like Jack Nicholson! Or, Michael Caine for a British actor. Along with the compelling interplay between him and old pro Trevor Howard, it makes this movie a must see for fans of the off-beat. His character, as the dark plot evolved, begged the question: "Is he crazy-or genius?" Definitely, an underrated and under-viewed film for many years.

This is what they call a sleeper but actually Von Sydow is an insomniac ! Very close to the Bergmanesque feelings of despair and anguish, with his actors, Max Vob Sydow and Liv Ulmann and a Colombo/esquire inspector by Trevor Howard. Closer to Bergman in any respect than it is to Hitchcock. It's in color but it feels like black and white, has a literary quality, some clumsiness (especially with the weird accents and the whole atmosphere of countryside way backwards in time and development) and a twist ending like the old Twilight Zone or Ray Bradbury mystery stories. Shot in the blazing winter in Sweden and Denmark, featuring a bravura physical performance from Sydow it's a rare and weird team up from director Benedek (veteran of The Wild One and a lot of TV), with a producing Mel Ferrer (!) and a haunting scary score who works a sound design by Henry Mancini (Mancini and Ferrer worked together on Wait Until Dark before, another creepy classic). Saw this almost 20 years ago on TV by chance, made an incredible impression that stayed with me, couldn't get hold of it but now I saw it again and was struck again. Creepy as hell and you can feel the freezing cold ! A gem waiting to be rediscovered and i have a feeling somehow that someone will mess with this in a shitty remake.

A man is running away from a large brick building surrounded by a high wall. He's running across rocks and snow in his underwear and boots. He sneaks into a farmhouse and steals some odd items, and sneaks into another house where he kills a woman. It's not the last person he'll kill either; he's trying to frame someone, but why - and how is he getting away from the place that establishes his alibi?

This is a very good movie. As a horror movie, it doesn't have a very high body count, or much gore, and there's no on screen violence - it cuts away from that. Some horror movies benefit from that, some don't; this one doesn't need it. The locations: isolated locations surrounded by snowy fields are very nice to look at. Acting is very good, as is the musical score by Mancini.

Definitely deserves to be better-known. I'm surprised some critics didn't like it. Some didn't like that the movie gives some things away early on that could have been withheld. I don't agree; not every movie that has secrets needs to save them for a big reveal at the end. Others felt that the characters' motivations weren't established. I can only suppose they weren't listening to the dialog, because that was fully discussed.

I guess that if Ingmar Bergman had ever made an out-and-out horror film, THE NIGHT VISITOR is what it would have looked like. This obscure USA/Sweden co-production brings together two of Bergman's favourite actors (Max Von Sydow and Liv Ullman) in a tale of madness, desperation, revenge, and sinister murder. It's quite a vicious film even though the on-screen violence is limited and the viewer never sees much of what's actually taking place.

The film's chilly, snowbound northern setting (Jutland) is as much a character as the cast themselves, and the story certainly has a unique feel to it: slow, stately, very much like an art-house film, but with dark revenge/thriller plotting. I liked it; there's style to spare, and some ingenious situations as we see Von Sydow's character putting the impossible into action.

The film is also notable for an exemplary cast. Aside from the Swedish luminaries, we get a real old timer as the detective (Trevor Howard) alongside popular Swedish actor Per Oscarsson, and supporting roles for two Hammer star Brits, Rupert Davies and Andrew Keir. THE NIGHT VISITOR certainly isn't for all tastes, but it's an odd film indeed: quiet and yet spellbinding at the same time.

Would this be called Norwegian Noir? Not sure how to categorize it- just see it without knowing anything about it and let it chill you.

If Ingmar Bergman had written and directed an episode of THE TWILIGHT ZONE, it may have looked something like this. Wrongly convicted mental patient Max von Sydow leaves the asylum each night to exact revenge on his nasty family members (who, he believes, set him up). Conniving sister Liv Ullman and weak willed brother-in-law Per Oscarsson are no match for von Sydow's vengeance. There's a lot of moody, stark images captured by director Laslo Benedek (the film was shot in a particularly chilly Norway & Sweden) and the music score (by Henry Mancini!) is very creepy. von Sydow is dynamite and Ullman gives a great performance (rare for a non-Bergman film). Trevor Howard is the cop on the case who very slowly peels the case open. Featuring a great, almost comic, ending!

It has been thirty years since I first saw this title, at a drive-in movie theater, with my girlfriend. She and I both had eyes glued to the screen. The "feeling" of the setting still lingers and we could almost experience the cold. But what I remember the most is that The Night Visitor gave new meaning to the old line,

"a little birdy told me...".

Superb direction and wonderfully twisting ending!

Max von Sydow plays Salem, wrongly convicted of a murder and sent to stay in an asylum for the criminally insane. As the movie opens, he has successfully pulled off an escape, and he wreaks vengeance upon his hapless family. However, because he is able to actually return to his cell in time, suspicion falls upon his brother in law, Anton (Per Oscarsson), instead. An inspector played by the always solid Trevor Howard must solve these baffling crimes.

Slasher fans might hear of this one and get their hopes up, due to the violence suggested in certain scenes, but we never see any actual killings. This is more of a straightforward thriller. It overcomes a rather trite story set up to deliver an incredibly engaging yarn; it's what director Laslo Benedek ("The Wild One") and company do with the material that matters. It's filmed on location in Denmark and Sweden, in some mightily forbidding looking country; you can practically feel the cold while you watch. The atmosphere is stark and impressive, helped all the more by an unusual but amazing Henry Mancini score. It's deliberately paced but fascinating, especially when Benedek and screenwriter Guy Elmes (who works from Samuel Roecas' original story) lay out for us the tons of preparations that Salem has to go through in order to pull off each escape from and return to the asylum.

Von Sydow is typically excellent, as is Liv Ullmann as his sister, Oscarsson as the volatile, panicky Anton, Rupert Davies as a savvy but sickly lawyer, Andrew Keir as the asylums' head doctor, and Arthur Hewlett as the genial old Pop. Watching this, it's easy to root for Von Sydow, especially during the finale where he must "beat the clock", and the tension is undeniable. This intoxicating film sure does keep you on your toes at times. And "The Night Visitor" does end on an irresistible, rather humorous note.

It could definitely stand to be better known.

Eight out of 10.

i was looking for "the night visitor" for long time cuz im a big max von sydow fan,and i finally i found it under

a strange title"Lunatic"which SURPRISINGLY not mentioned here

in a.k.a section . the story are the same here: a mental patient (MVS as salem)just

escaped from his asylum in his underwear and... sorry i won't spoil anything more here, , but this a real thriller and i recommend MVS fans to watch this movie its one of his better performance(after the exorcist 1 and 2 of course)

hani (king of horror movies)

Going straight in at the deep end, The Night Visitor begins with a lone man heading silent over a snowy landscape to arrive at a farmhouse. Entering through a window, this tale of a man called Salem and his dark deeds begins. See, Salem has been wrongfully imprisoned for a couple of years and now has come the time for a spot of vengeance. Directed by Laszlo Benedek of teen rebellion classic The Wild One, The Night Visitor is a highly unusual item, filled with warped intensity. Snowy fields and forlorn buildings, treachery bubbling beneath almost every character, the film is in a state of constant unease, and by leaping straight into events and offering explanations in erratic bursts the viewer is kept mostly just outside of the loop, hooked but never quite certain of things. The film has a madness to it and everyone is either afflicted or drawn into the fray, only an investigating policeman remains pretty much sane. Apart from the interest of Salem's inscrutably macabre deeds, his very presence is a bad influence on other characters, stirring their dark secrets and quiet unease to storming froth, creating madness by a near supernatural force of proximity. As played by Max von Sydow Salem is determined and malign, but mostly calm, a contrast to the jitters of everybody else. Per Oscarsson's character of a doctor falls most notably prey to the maddening situations, high strung and on the verge of collapse, while Liv Ullmann as his wife is impressive too, parlaying her own enervation into fearful suspicion and desperate behaviour. Trevor Howard as the policeman is fine too as a sobering presence, he looks like he can play this sort of role in his sleep and has just the right authority and calm presence. Apart from psychological turmoil, the film offers a neat selection of interesting images, some evocative dialogue and great fun in Salem's deeds, with the centrepiece display of his ingenuity a suspenseful, if improbable delight. The film does tend to run on contrivances which will likely irk some, there are plot holes, improbabilities and the odd short lull in pacing. Its also not one for people expecting tits 'n gore and all that jazz, there's only a tiny bit of blood and things are pretty restrained in action terms. There are a few great chilling moments though and Salem has become one of my favourite villains, there's something about his intelligence that comes across as a faint ancestor of the likes of Lecter. Despite its cast, this isn't some Bergman-esquire meditation either, arty it certainly is, but not so deep. Thriller geeks will likely be put off as well, tug hard at the plot and it kinda unravels. None of the above are the best way to approach the film though, it comes out best as a kind of chilling tale in an unreal realm, where things happen by disturbed inevitability rather than logic. An inspired head-swirling oddity then and a film I heartily recommend, though it is one of niche appeal.

This film opens up with Max von Sydow running across snowy fields in his underpants. Good lord, we wonder, what's he doing out there? Isn't he freezing? Soon he cleverly figures out a way to get into a house via an upstairs window, and it becomes apparent that he knows the three people who are engaged in a disagreement in the kitchen below. We're not sure what he's up to, and as it's best you don't know a lot about the plot before watching this one, I won't say more.

The story is taut and well-told by director László Benedek, who wisely avoids extraneous detail, and there are moments of real tension. It's dark, but Benedek exercises restraint, which I liked, but which may turn off viewers seeking more explicit thrills. Trevor Howard, who you may recognize from Brief Encounter (1945) and The Third Man (1949), is strong as a detective, and the rest of the cast are all good as well. I liked the way we eventually see how von Sydow is able to do what he does, though you'll have to suspend disbelief a bit. Clever ending too.

Watching Bill "Chilly Billy" Cardille and his Saturday night double features on WIIC-TV (now WPXI) channel 11 was a great treasure trove of terror titles for the city of Pittsburgh PA. Cardille and his show became such a phenomenon that he was asked to appear in a local 1967 production done by commercial filmmakers that enjoyed the movies. Originally titled "Night of Anubis," it had a title change to "Night of the Flesh Eaters," but was finally issued in 1968 as "Night of the Living Dead" (the rest is history). I was too young to view anything during the 60s, but remained loyal to CT right up to the end in 1984. It was NBC's Saturday Night Live that pushed the show back from 11:30PM to 1:00AM, reducing the double feature to a single, but one of the very last twin bills (Oct 7 1978) toplined 1970's "The Night Visitor" followed by 1968's "Brides of Blood" (retitled for television "The Island of Living Horror"). My father was particularly taken with this film, and once I found it on video in 1988, we have enjoyed it ever since. It aired twice more on CT (June 28 1980 and July 4 1981), and was a sterling example of the delightful surprises in store week to week, at that time before cable and video, when just about anything could turn up on local stations, and often did. Local horror hosts are mostly a thing of the past, but the films are still available, even the most obscure titles can be found someplace. "The Night Visitor" is quite obscure, but those of us who saw it in Pittsburgh never forgot the experience. How can a man committed to an asylum escape to wreak revenge on those who did him wrong, then actually return to his cell to provide the perfect alibi? A willing suspension of disbelief is a small price to pay for an ingeniously crafted gem, produced in Denmark by actor Mel Ferrer, with music by Henry Mancini! The 1971 review of this film in Cinefantastique posed what the movie might have been like with a different cast- Christopher Lee as Salem (he actually signed for the part before the budget was increased), Peter Cushing as the Inspector, Barbara Steele as the doctor's wife, and Klaus Kinski as the crazed Doctor, stating "why, it almost sounds like a horror classic!" It was indeed that good, and Pittsburghers were often lucky to get a head start on the reputations of cult movies that escaped notice in other parts of the country.

Underrated crime picture that is very deliberate and very effective. Set in rural Sweden, "The Night Visitor" is a cat-and-mouse movie which holds your interest throughout, even though it is slow to get underway. Salem (Max Von Sydow) is framed for murder and is sent to an insane asylum, where he manages to escape periodically to exact his revenge on his antagonists. The detective assigned to the case (Trevor Howard) has his work cut out for him - how can he prove that it is Salem himself, incarcerated in an escape-proof asylum, who is responsible for the grisly murders taking place?

Director Benedek goes to great pains to create the appropriate mood to show us how Salem goes about his deadly business. It is fascinating to watch his painstaking escapes and returns to prison, leaving no stone unturned to cover his traces. Be aware the murders are pretty gruesome, making you feel that maybe he wasn't framed after all.

You will love the surprise ending of this nearly-unknown blood-and-gore indy picture, made when nobody was looking and which quickly dropped out of sight. It's tough to find, but do yourself a favor if you like this genre.

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.

From the opening moments when Max von Sydow is running through the winter night in his gaunch, with a gothic castle in the background, you know you're in for something special. As if Max isn't fun enough, his foil is Trevor Howard's inspector character. I can't say Howard was ever my favorite actor but I came away with newfound respect for his acting. He says more with subtle little facial expressions in this film than 50 pages of script could ever accomplish. Every minute of this film gripped me.

Laslo Benedek's The Night Visitor is quite effective on its own chilly terms, ingeniously reconciling two contradictory premises: we've seen Max von Sydow's Salem running in his underwear through the nighttime snow, presumably the cause of the two dead bodies that show up in the film's first twenty minutes; and yet it's entirely clear that he's locked inside his cell, inside an Alcatraz-like asylum (if Alcatraz was on land). The physical demands made on von Sydow in bridging these competing realities are considerable - I've seldom seen an actor appear to be so authentically freezing his ass off. The plot turns on various propositions of madness, investigated by a police detective played by Trevor Howard: whether von Sydow was correctly judged insane in the past, whether his detested brother-in-law might be insane in the present - the filmmakers surely meant such heavy themes, enacted within Scandinavian landscapes with the presence of both von Sydow (a chess player here again) and Liv Ullmann to evoke the spirit of Bergman (in 1971 about as mighty a spirit as there was). But for the most part it's all much too enjoyably literal-minded and briskly calculated for that to be meaningful. Among the more Bergman-like elements are the displaced conception of the setting (the Volkswagens and phones indicate it's set in the present, but that aside it might almost be taking place at a time of beaten-down workers toiling in the shadow of a towering castle) and the troubling stoicism with which the film's people seem to adjust to the arrival of death, no matter how unforeseen or savage. But ultimately, whereas (say) the title of Bergman's The Silence denoted a definitional existential conflict, the Night Visitor really is just a man with an ingenious revenge plan, too occupied with its logistics to bear much thematic or symbolic weight, and that's without considering the contribution of the parrot.

"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.

I really enjoy this film... I own a tape of it. I don't know if Max von Sydow ever had a bad role.

Being a bird lover, I definitely liked the role of the parrot in this movie.

I did a little research, and I'm pretty sure it's a mitred conure. These are known to be little clowns and also can talk pretty well.

So, that part of the plot is also believable!