If Ingmar Bergman had written and directed an episode of THE TWILIGHT ZONE, it may have looked something like this. Wrongly convicted mental patient Max von Sydow leaves the asylum each night to exact revenge on his nasty family members (who, he believes, set him up). Conniving sister Liv Ullman and weak willed brother-in-law Per Oscarsson are no match for von Sydow's vengeance. There's a lot of moody, stark images captured by director Laslo Benedek (the film was shot in a particularly chilly Norway & Sweden) and the music score (by Henry Mancini!) is very creepy. von Sydow is dynamite and Ullman gives a great performance (rare for a non-Bergman film). Trevor Howard is the cop on the case who very slowly peels the case open. Featuring a great, almost comic, ending!

This is what they call a sleeper but actually Von Sydow is an insomniac ! Very close to the Bergmanesque feelings of despair and anguish, with his actors, Max Vob Sydow and Liv Ulmann and a Colombo/esquire inspector by Trevor Howard. Closer to Bergman in any respect than it is to Hitchcock. It's in color but it feels like black and white, has a literary quality, some clumsiness (especially with the weird accents and the whole atmosphere of countryside way backwards in time and development) and a twist ending like the old Twilight Zone or Ray Bradbury mystery stories. Shot in the blazing winter in Sweden and Denmark, featuring a bravura physical performance from Sydow it's a rare and weird team up from director Benedek (veteran of The Wild One and a lot of TV), with a producing Mel Ferrer (!) and a haunting scary score who works a sound design by Henry Mancini (Mancini and Ferrer worked together on Wait Until Dark before, another creepy classic). Saw this almost 20 years ago on TV by chance, made an incredible impression that stayed with me, couldn't get hold of it but now I saw it again and was struck again. Creepy as hell and you can feel the freezing cold ! A gem waiting to be rediscovered and i have a feeling somehow that someone will mess with this in a shitty remake.

It's awhile since I saw this movie but it really hooked me, especially seeing two old pros like Max Von Sydow and Trevor Howard going head to head. In looking at a few reviews I don't see much reference to his motivation which is what got me in and explains much of what he does. As I recall, an innocent man is found guilty of a murder committed by his unfaithful wife who frames him. To escape the death penalty he has to be certified criminally insane. If he's that way then he's in for life. Either way a no win. How he seeks to get square is ingenious and really tests Trevor Howard as the inspector. A real twist at the end that you will never forget. I haven't after 15 years or so since I last saw it. Terrific movie. Great acting and scenery. Definitely on my 'must have' list of movies.

i was looking for "the night visitor" for long time cuz im a big max von sydow fan,and i finally i found it undera strange title"Lunatic"which SURPRISINGLY not mentioned herein a.k.a section . the story are the same here: a mental patient (MVS as salem)justescaped from his asylum in his underwear and... sorry i won't spoil anything more here, , but this a real thriller and i recommend MVS fans to watch this movie its one of his better performance(after the exorcist 1 and 2 of course)hani (king of horror movies)