The Orchard End Murder
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58% Critic Match

The Orchard End Murder

5.8 / 10 1981 48mNR English
ComedyCrimeThrillerHorrorDrama

Storyline

Charthurst Green, Kent, 1966. Pauline Cox accompanies Mike Robins to a village cricket match in which he is playing, but becomes bored and wanders away. She fetches up at the local railway station, where she is first entertained to tea by the garrulous, hunchbacked station master, then upset by the intrusion of the latter's assistant Ewen, who proceeds to kill a rabbit in her presence. Making her way back to the match, Pauline is waylaid by the simple-minded Ewen as she crosses an apple orchard; when his advances become violent, she tries to fight him off and he strangles her. The station master helps in covering up the murder, burying the corpse in the orchard.

Cast & Crew

Tracy Hyde

Tracy Hyde

Pauline Cox

Lead
CM

Clive Mantle

Ewen

Bill Wallis

Bill Wallis

Railway Gatekeeper

MH

Mark Hardy

Mike Robins

Raymond Adamson

Raymond Adamson

Mr Wickstead

JE

Jessie Evans

Mrs Trowel

David Wilkinson

David Wilkinson

Batsman

JW

Jeremy Watt

Bowler

What People Are Saying

3.0
A staggering achievement of craft and ambition. Christian Marnham's vision lands with breathtaking precision.
Manohla Dargis, The New York Times
3.0
Every frame feels alive. The Orchard End Murder is the rare release that takes its audience seriously.
Anthony Lane, The New Yorker