Too much of everything

It's entirely possible that sending the audience out feeling lousy was intentional

The film makes a home in your brain and the only cure is to see it again.

There is, somehow, an interesting story here, as well as some good acting. There are also some good scenes

Derren Nesbitt is the kind of actor who should have been given more leading roles as he does very well in "Life in Danger." He always tended to specialise in playing smiling villains or characters who had a rather quirky and secretive agenda. In this film, he needs to keep a low profile after being on the run from prison. It is rather unfortunate that as Derren Nesbitt takes refuge in this English village, some murders have taken place......... It isn't long before he needs to fend for himself against some of the locals. The supporting cast are very good and included are a gallery of familiar faces who give good value.

LIFE IN DANGER is a low budget British crime drama about a child murderer who busts out of an asylum and is at large in the local community. While the police and authorities begin a slow and largely ineffectual investigation, the local gun-toting landowners decide to take the law into their own hands and hunt for the escapee themselves.The story boasts an excellent performance from a youthful Derren Nesbitt as the lead character, who hides out in a barn for much of the running time. Nesbitt has always exuded an edgy and dangerous persona and never more so than here. The rest of the cast aren't quite as memorable, but the writers use the story template to explore some interesting topics: trial and retribution; psychological disturbance; the mindset of a murderer; and vigilantism. It's fairly suspenseful stuff, enlivened by a great edge-of-the-seat climax.

Derren Nesbitt leads an extremely capable cast in this rarely seen B movie. Indeed, Nesbitt's performance is consistently first-rate throughout the film. The limited number of settings (a country lane, an office, a old English pub and a farm) may be quite basic, but these allow the well-crafted plot to shine through. Indeed, the story-line is surprisingly strong, building a tension which makes the movie's hour long running time pass remarkably quickly. The underpinning theme of the movie is that a child murderer has escaped from an asylum. The actions and reactions of the inhabitants of the neighbouring village are really well-explored by director Terry Bishop.Released under the Parroch Films banner and distributed by Butcher's Films in 1959, Renown digitally remastered the movie in 2009. It's revival on the Talking Pictures channel is really welcome.

The fact that there are only 2 other reviews testify to the fact that this is virtually unknown.Yet it is an exciting,thoughtful and well made film with an excellent cast.Derren Nesbitt is especially good particularly since in some ways he is playing against type.There seem to be so many threads and characters running through this film that it is difficult to realise that it runs just over an hour.One gets the feeling that Butcher's spent the absolute minimum on this film,though they still manage to get a reasonable standard of production out of it.The film made a welcome return to the TV screen with its recent showing on Talking Picture TV.