Review of The Night of the Hunter (1955) by Matthew D — 09 Oct 2018

The dread of a stranger.

Charles Laughton excels in his directorial debut with his horror suspense masterpiece The Night of the Hunter (1955). Utilizing eerie silhouettes, shadows, and lighting alongside creeping panning shots, Laughton makes The Night of the Hunter as unsettling a crime thriller as they come. Too bad Laughton never directed another film after this one. He had an eye for intense close ups, scary sequencing, fearsome suspense, and dreary settings. Nearly every shot of The Night of the Hunter is a stunning black and white picture of unbelievable framing. Laughton gave us all he had in The Night of the Hunter and I'm grateful for it.

The Night of the Hunter is the precursor to so many stories of a man preying on innocent children and unsuspecting women. It reminded me of The Series of Unfortunate Events. I love how much it brought back the expressionist visuals of old German cinema from the silent era. Laughton was clearly influenced by silents films and film noir. This is a wonderful example of a film noir with a scary twist.

The real star is Robert Mitchum as devious and deceitful Reverend Harry Powell. His large stature, dark clothing, cheery nature, haunting singing, frightening knuckles, and omni-present presence are all excellent aspects of his character. Mitchum plays Powell with such irreverence and cruelty in how he mocks religion and abuses women. His sly manipulation of the children is quite clever. Mitchum is truly one of the most horrifying movie villains ever for how realistic and grounded his monstrous widower feels. You can easily imagine a man as heinous as Reverend Powell.

I must mention the nice supporting cast in The Night of the Hunter. Shelley Winters is lovely as the widow Willa Harper. You feel so bad for her and her situation. Billy Chapin is really good for a child actor as John Harper. His cleverness is the real hero. His facial expressions are pretty subtle and fascinating for such a young actor. Similarly, little Sally Jane Bruce is adorable and sweet as Pearl Harper. You just want to see that she's alright. Finally, silent film legend Lillian Gish is awesome as Rachel, the elderly caretaker of the children. Gish proves again why she is in the upper echelon of movie actresses with her stern, yet loving portrayal.

In all, I was impressed by The Night of the Hunter. It not only looks great, but it is so well acted. I found myself engaged to the very end. Give it a chance if you can get your hands on the Criterion Collection Blu-ray restoration.