Review of The Night of the Hunter (1955) by Justin S — 10 Oct 2012

Between the amazing story, acting, cinematography, and lighting, it's nearly impossible to point out any major flaws. Robert Mitchum dominates every scene he's in and makes for an extremely menacing, sinister, and three-dimensional villain.

Mitchum's character, Harry Powell is a reverend with a very dark agenda. He has the word "HATE" tattooed on the fingers of one hand and "LOVE" tattooed on the other and uses the two in an incredibly memorable scene where he explains how the two battle one another in life.

The film is about two kids running from Powell as he pursues them for their inherited 10,000 dollars. So many themes and analogies are visited here including love and hate (of course), greed, and the most commonly known theme in the film industry: good and evil.

It's rare to see a film use such themes this well. The cinematography is fantastic, particularly when the two kids are in a boat traveling down a river and the camera shows gorgeous shots of the animal presence in the river.

The cinematography also helps Powell seem more menacing, as he's often shown as a towering and scary dark outline in the darkness. Also, the songs used in the film are creepy and perfectly match the mood of the scenes.

If there's one single flaw with this film, it would be that the final showdown could have been a little stronger. Luckily, the positives of the film are so heavily on the positive side that it's difficult to give it anything less than a 10/10.

The Night of the Hunter is one of the most impressive black and white films I've ever seen.