Villain is written by Dick Clement and Ian Le Frenais best known for comedies. This is a hard boiled gangster film loosely based on Ronnie Kray. Richard Burton (Vic Dakin) plays the cockney accented, mother loving, razor wielding gangster with a fondness for rough sex with on and off boyfriend Ian McShane (Wolfie Lissner.)
Lissner is a ladies man who will do whatever to survive but cannot escape Dakin or his goons. He is a womaniser, a pimp, sells poppers in clubs and tries to avoids Dakin's sexual urges.
Dakin becomes a wanted man after a violently staged wage snatch job as Nigel Davenport's (Bob Matthews) wry detective doggedly pursues him and his gang. Matthews even stands up to the bent politician who does Dakin's bidding.
This is a rough, seedy film with plenty of 1970s location shooting in and around London. It stays just on the right side of ham. Burton looks lean and mean, he certainly has not turned up for a payday.
McShane shows he had lots of early talent in his role as Lissner. Davenport and Colin Welland almost steal the film as the smart coppers who just want to catch villains but engage in a lot of dry wit as well. It is also a roll call of 1970s British/Irish actors who played heavies in movies.
Lissner is a ladies man who will do whatever to survive but cannot escape Dakin or his goons. He is a womaniser, a pimp, sells poppers in clubs and tries to avoids Dakin's sexual urges.
Dakin becomes a wanted man after a violently staged wage snatch job as Nigel Davenport's (Bob Matthews) wry detective doggedly pursues him and his gang. Matthews even stands up to the bent politician who does Dakin's bidding.
This is a rough, seedy film with plenty of 1970s location shooting in and around London. It stays just on the right side of ham. Burton looks lean and mean, he certainly has not turned up for a payday.
McShane shows he had lots of early talent in his role as Lissner. Davenport and Colin Welland almost steal the film as the smart coppers who just want to catch villains but engage in a lot of dry wit as well. It is also a roll call of 1970s British/Irish actors who played heavies in movies.