THE BLACK RIDER is a tidy little British thriller set in the days when coastal villages were still largely rural, motorized transport was in short supply, a newspaper could be run by the owner and his future son-in-law, the pub was the size of your living room, and a ruined, lonely castle stood nearby.
Our story is set in motion when a villager partakes a little too freely at the local inn and then takes a shortcut through Brockham castle, reputedly the haunt of The Black Monk, the Devil 'imself, on moonlit nights such as this one. Sure enough, he sees The Black Monk, a forebodiing still life posed at the castle gate, and goes running for his life. Once he's gone The Black Monk stirs, retrieving his motorcylce and riding off into the night. As you might expect, the legend of The Black Monk is being used to cover up more nefarious activities headed up by Lionel Jeffries. Yes, kindly, bumbling, eccentric Prof. Cavor is our criminal mastermind. The Black Monk is actually his henchman played by actor and voice artist Robert Rietty (the voice of Emilio Largo in THUNDERBALL among many other Bond voices and films).
It's a breezy "B" that doesn't waste time on deep characterization or plot complications and explanations but neatly and efficiently moves along at a quick pace. It could just as easily have been done as a BBC live TV transmission. Directed with a nice eye on the castle atmospherics by Wolf Rilla (VILLAGE OF THE DAMNED).
Our story is set in motion when a villager partakes a little too freely at the local inn and then takes a shortcut through Brockham castle, reputedly the haunt of The Black Monk, the Devil 'imself, on moonlit nights such as this one. Sure enough, he sees The Black Monk, a forebodiing still life posed at the castle gate, and goes running for his life. Once he's gone The Black Monk stirs, retrieving his motorcylce and riding off into the night. As you might expect, the legend of The Black Monk is being used to cover up more nefarious activities headed up by Lionel Jeffries. Yes, kindly, bumbling, eccentric Prof. Cavor is our criminal mastermind. The Black Monk is actually his henchman played by actor and voice artist Robert Rietty (the voice of Emilio Largo in THUNDERBALL among many other Bond voices and films).
It's a breezy "B" that doesn't waste time on deep characterization or plot complications and explanations but neatly and efficiently moves along at a quick pace. It could just as easily have been done as a BBC live TV transmission. Directed with a nice eye on the castle atmospherics by Wolf Rilla (VILLAGE OF THE DAMNED).
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