Donald Houston who plays Tom Penney, is released after three years from prison for a crime of serious assault, which he alleges he didn't commit. However, despite being 'inside' he rashly decides to return to the village where the young woman who accused him of assaulting her is still living. Needless to say many of the villagers are not so keen to 'forgive and forget' Penney's crime, and within a short while are not afraid to show their verbal hostility to the ex con. Matters are not helped when a young, attractive women is found strangled in the woods, and very quickly village suspicion turns to Penney. The storyline rattles along at a good pace and with the arrival of the police, Penney now faces the wrath of the village as well as intense questioning by the police. Sadly, it is at this point, that the storyline gets bogged down as if the director is looking for a way to develop a successful second half of the film but is uncertain how to sustain the drama, with the result that the film runs out of steam. The ending is frankly disappointing! The real killer was easy to identify, and the inept policing handling of the murder investigation is embarrassing. An Americans director would have given Houston more edge to his character as he becomes a potential victim of the village vigilante mob. Also, Houston would have been snarling at the police, as well as the villagers as his innocence is proved beyond doubt, An angry, rebellious Donald Houston, walking away at disgust at his accusers would have been thoroughly justified and merited, but the director decides to let the villagers off the hook. A lame ending to a film which could have been far more dramatic!
Review of The Long Rope
