I first encountered this movie when it was released back in 1978, and my initial impression was that it felt rather exaggerated. I recently revisited it (in 2020) after noticing it appeared on a list of films depicting an English cricket match—a very short list, incidentally; "The Go Between" from around the same time is another example, also starring Alan Bates in a comparable part. Now, it strikes me as somewhat better than I initially recalled, despite some noticeable flaws and gaps in the story. Alan Bates, despite his intense presence and brooding demeanor, doesn't quite manage to convey the unsettling threat that the character of Crossley—the man with The Shout That Can Kill—requires. John Hurt, playing Anthony, the philandering composer who is betrayed, seems surprisingly passive when confronted with Crossley’s intrusion into his life, but this appears to be what the script intended. Tim Curry portrays Robert Graves (though not the actual Robert Graves) and listens to Crossley's story with an appropriate look of naive wonder in a hut while they are recording the locals versus inmates cricket match at the institution. The film includes numerous recognizable English actors from that era, including Susannah York, who appears nude as expected, and a younger Jim Broadbent, who removes his uniform to run around in his underwear during the thunderstorm that ends the game and the movie. The Devon settings are an additional positive aspect. Overall, it's an enjoyable 90 minutes, though certainly not a masterpiece. (And there isn’t a huge amount of cricket featured!). It probably deserves a rating of 3 out of 5, or perhaps 4 out of 7 if you like to be more precise.

Source on TMDB