Review of The Night of the Hunter (1955) by Allen B — 22 May 2011

Strange freaking film with lots of dark, disturbing, shamelessly exploitative moments you rarely see even in films today. Though it isn't the most engaging at times, nor the most realistic, it's very beautiful to look at, and creepy, and features some fine, fine acting from Robert Mitchum who plays the evil homicidal preacher the film is most known for.

The stuff he does in this film, to women, to children, all in the name of God, is just outrageous. And this came out in the 50s? I imagine riots and cars being flipped and lit on fire in protest at its release. Even by today's infinitely more lax standards would this film be considered controversial and prone to many a protest/car burning were it released or remade. Man.

And what makes it even more disturbing, and this may have just been the way films were shot at time rather than anything deliberate on the filmmakers' part, is all the happy music and beautifully lit scenes accompanying the dark, twisted content. It's a weird mix of beautiful, well crafted shots, 50s simple "Leave it to Beaver" type filmmaking, and some of the most demented content you're likely to ever see in a mainstream film from this period. I think.

Overall, yeah, damn. Twisted but well acted. A sick, sick story. They really go all out on this one. Worth a watch.