Review of The Night of the Hunter (1955) by Grant S — 22 Feb 2011

This is officially my 100th review so I thought that instead of reviewing Winter's Bone or The Kids Are All Right like I was going to I've decided to review a classic.

As you all know I am not afraid to dis a classic, if it's good it's good, if it's bad it's bad and I've seen my fair share of overrated, disappointing classics and even a few that downright sucked arse. But this, The Night of the Hunter, who would want to bash it? It's fabulous! Just brilliant! I ain't got a single bad thing to say about it.

It's about a guy who robs a bank and kills two people in the process, stealing $10,000 (obviously a lot of money in the 50s xD) to secure a good future for his kids, John and Pearl. Before he's caught he manages to hide the money and make his kids promise never to tell anyone, not even their mother, where the money is hid. Before he is hanged a shifty con-man named Harry Powell who pretends to be a preacher shares a cell with him and hears about the money and when he is released sets out to find it.

The film is just perfect, Robert Mitchum plays Harry Powell so well! He just makes your skin crawl and makes you laugh at the same time, I must say he is one of the best villains I've ever seen portrayed on screen. The way he stalks the children trying to find the money whilst everyone trusts him because he's a preacher is just horrifying. The little gospel song he sings is sure to resonate with you and even give you nightmares, and his metaphorical "Ol' Right Hand, Left Hand" story explaining why he, a supposed preacher, has "LOVE" and "HATE" tattooed on his fingers like some kind of ex-con is both hilarious and thought provoking.

The cinematography is just brilliant, they use these great long shots with minimal lighting that comes up from below creating huge scary shadows. Many of the scenes look like something out of the evil part of a fairytale. So many scenes in this film will forever be embedded in your memory banks, I just wanna talk about all of them but I won't because I don't wanna make the review too long and some of them would contain spoilers.

This may be one of the greatest thrillers I've ever seen, but it's not just a thriller it's so much more, it's just so wonderfully deep. It's loaded with social commentaries and is one of the most clever examinations of good and evil I've ever seen and the innocence of children is examined so gracefully you could even class this as a bit of a coming-of-age film, it's a truly entrancing and intelligent work of art.

This film is a must see for all cinephiles. 5 stars from me.