Review of The Night of the Hunter (1955) by Scott M — 17 Dec 2013

Laughton crafts one of the best horror films in early cinema history, and Mitchum gives one of the best performances of all time, certainly ranking up high on the list of best all time villains. Like Psycho, another terrifying horror film from the same era, the movie gets a little bogged down with its themes in the final moments, choosing to describe it wholesale to the audience rather than let them discover the point on their own, but also like Psycho, I can't really let that detract from the greatness of the rest of the film, which in 1955 is just as dark in tone as any film I've seen.

Despite a few moderately hammy performances, the rest are top notch, and the cinematography is quite good. I'm definitely not saying anything that many people haven't said already, but this ranks up there with the best films of its time.