Regular reader David  thinks that Will Osborne was thinking about Vic Dakin in ‘Villain” when he writes “…..Or the good old English equivalent of taking your Mother down to Brighton in a brand new Roller for some whelks on the Sunday after you’ve hit the Glasgow to London Mail train.” In his post ‘The Getaway‘:

Over To David:

Vic Dakin is the quintessential villain. He is a murderous, sadistic East End criminal. Vic loves his mum but, having said that, he hasn’t got one other redeeming feature. Vic is one of the nastiest pieces of work since er, er… Ronnie Kray.

Think of classic British gangster movies and ‘Get Carter’ and ‘The Long Good Friday’ immediately come to mind, followed by a long list of more recent ones. ‘Villain” often gets overlooked, maybe because it didn’t exactly get rave reviews when it was released. It’s true that Richard Burton’s East End accent did wander off in different directions at times, but in the character of Vic Dakin he was so truly believably nasty it just didn’t matter. I saw this film when it was first released in 1971 and I watched the DVD today wondering if , as so often happens with the passage of time, I was going to be disappointed.

I wasn’t. The screenplay by Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais was based on Al Lettieri’s adaption of James Barlow’s novel ‘Burden of Proof.’ It had pace and great dialogue. There was a star studded cast including a very handsome young Ian McShane who played Wolfe, Vic’s somewhat reluctant and frequently battered love interest. This film features some great action sequences and locations but it is not for the faint hearted. It doesn’t pull any punches in its depiction of the most unglamorous and graphic violence. There are beatings, shooters, cut-throat razors and lots of blood, all enhanced by the excellent sound and picture quality that has been reproduced on this DVD. Enjoy!