The Night Visitor

The Night Visitor is a 1971 American psychological thriller film,^[1] shot at Copenhagen's Asa and Laterna Studios in 1970, starring Max von Sydow, Liv Ullmann, Trevor Howard, Per Oscarsson, Rupert Davies and Andrew Keir, and directed by László Benedek.

Salem is an inmate of an insane asylum, having been forced to take an insanity plea when wrongly convicted of murdering a farmhand.

After two years of confinement, Salem escapes from the fortress-like asylum in the dead of winter and heads for the family farm, which is now run by his younger sisters Emmie and Ester and the latter's husband, Dr Anton Jenks, who had accused Salem of the murder. For revenge, Salem kills the people he believes responsible for his confinement. He starts with Emmie, arranging the murder to appear as if Anton is the killer. He also kills Britt, a girl he was with on the night of the murder who could have provided his alibi but refused to do so. He then returns to the asylum, not having been missed.

A local police inspector resolves to uncover the truth of the murders and Salem's conviction. Anton, meanwhile, insists that he saw Salem at the site of Emma's murder. But, as far as the inspector can tell, escape from the asylum is a physical impossibility.

Even so, Salem does it again the following night, this time with a corrupt barrister called Mr Clemens in his sights. Following a visit from the inspector, the bedridden Clemens has called Anton to his home, confronting him about their collusion during the trial. Anton leaves after giving Clemens a harmless sedative, but then Salem enters and kills the lawyer in his sleep by administering a lethal injection.

Salem proceeds to the farmhouse. There he acquires a coat, biding his time as the panicked Ester talks to the inspector. After the police leave, Ester is cornered in the barn and hacked to pieces by Salem when she attempts to flee. When Anton arrives, Salem wipes the blood-smeared axe on the doctor's clothes, just as Anton had pinned the farmhand's murder on Salem two years earlier. Salem then heads back to the asylum. Descending into madness, Anton confesses his crime to the inspector, prompting the latter to rush to the asylum.

By the narrowest of margins, Salem manages to return to his cell before the inspector can get there. But, at the last moment, his alibi is ruined in a completely unexpected way.

• Max Von Sydow as Salem
• Trevor Howard as Inspector
• Liv Ullmann as Ester Jenks
• Per Oscarsson as Anton Jenks
• Rupert Davies as Mr. Clemens
• Andrew Keir as Dr. Kemp
• Jim Kennedy as Carl
• Arthur Hewlett como Pop
• Hanne Bork como Emmie
• Gretchen Franklin como la Sra. Hansen
• Bjørn Watt-Boolsen como Sr.Torens
• Lotte Freddie como Britt Torens
• Erik Kühnau como médico de policía

Christopher Lee estuvo estrechamente involucrado con el productor Mel Ferrer en el desarrollo de la película. En el libro de 2001 Christopher Lee as The Authorised Screen History , Jonathan Rigby señala que, "incluso habiendo pagado por reescrituras, Lee se sorprendió desagradablemente cuando Max von Sydow fue elegido para el papel de Salem". ^{[ 2 ]}

La película destaca por su inusual banda sonora, compuesta por el renombrado compositor de cine y televisión de Hollywood, Henry Mancini . La música fue arreglada para sintetizador, 12 instrumentos de viento-madera, órgano, dos pianos y dos clavecines, y Mancini logró un efecto inquietante al afinar uno de los clavecines un cuarto de tono por debajo.

La película fue estrenada en cines en Norteamérica en 1971 por Universal Marion Corporation (UMC). Fue reestrenada en 1981 con el título Lunatic por 21st Century Film Corporation . ^{[ 3 ]}

La película está disponible actualmente [2025] en DVD y Blu Ray de VCI Entertainment.

• El visitante nocturno en IMDb