The Night Visitor (1971)

In the chilling heart of winter, the quiet serenity of a rural farming community is shattered by the brutal murders of two young women, each slain in their beds in the dead of night. The victims, Britt Torens and Emmie, meet their end through strangulation and blunt force trauma respectively. The latter case thrusts the community into a maelish swirl of suspicion and fear, as Emmie's brother-in-law, Dr. Anton Jenks, claims to have witnessed the unthinkable - Emmie's older brother Salem in her room, an impossibility given Salem's confinement in a local asylum for the past two years. Salem's institutionalization is a sordid tale of its own. Accused of the murder of a farmhand, Salem was persuaded by his lawyer, Mr. Clemens, to plead insanity. Despite his confinement, the asylum's foreboding walls have not been enough to contain Salem's desire for revenge against those who wronged him and orchestrated his cruel fate. As the investigation into the women's murders unfolds, Anton's frantic claims about seeing Salem serve only to cast a growing shadow of doubt on him, leading his wife Ester, Emmie's sister, to believe that Anton might be the true killer. Meanwhile, the supposedly insane Salem has managed to craft an intricate route of escape from the asylum, a fortress designed to be impenetrable. His haunting presence outside the asylum's walls is not a figment of Anton's imagination but a chilling reality. Driven by vengeance, Salem plans to make his sister and her husband pay for their part in the farmhand's murder and his tormenting incarceration. As the frosty winter tightens its grip, the sinister game of cat and mouse intensifies, plunging the community into a vortex of fear and uncertainty. With each passing night, the truth inches closer to the surface, revealing a tale of deceit, madness, and retribution that will leave no life untouched.

The Night Visitor is a mystery movie featuring Max von Sydow and directed by László Benedek.

The Night Visitor is currently streaming on Fandor Amazon Channel and The Film Detective.

It is also possible to buy The Night Visitor on Amazon Video or rent it on Spectrum On Demand.