Review of The Night of the Hunter (1955) by Donald L — 24 Jun 2009

Its hard to review a movie like "The Night of the Hunter". The movie is quite old (1955 to be exact), and like many great movies of its time there have been countless movies to come after and stand on its mighty shoulders.The movie has been used as a stepping stone for great reasons.

First off the bad: There are flaws. Most noticeably in acting...though you'll find the weak performances often belong to temporary and non-important characters (most notably an awful Evelyn Varden as Ms. Spoon). I also noticed there are occasions when the dialogue feels a tad thin or out of place though I am open to the idea this is a problem with the "generation gap".

Now, on to everything this movie did right. Cinematography/lighting/secenery was astonishing and at times so intense I felt myself crushed beneath the weight of the scenes. The murder of the wife in her own bedroom especially deserves credit for having with it an unusual power. I have not been wowed by the stage behind the actors that much in a long time.

The writing was, simply put, impeccable. I especially liked the understated tones of distrust of religion, and the dreamy fairy tale aspects of the children's journey down the river.

Music played a surprisingly enchanted role in the movie. Not especially reliant on a score, The Night of the Hunter carried with it numerous character enacted songs in such a way that it both comforted and terrified me in all the right ways. Note: this is NOT a musical. All songs actually fit the story in a way I would expect real people to sing them. When Mitchum sings "Leaning" on his entry into various locations, the normally benign hymn vibrates with a ominous air that by the end of the film was raising the hair on the back of my neck.

Speaking of Mitchum: The best, and most shining example of genius in this movie is character. Mitchum provides one of the best villains ever to grace a silver screen. His voice both soothes, and grates. His demeanor both scares, and attracts. Its hard not to trace every great movie villain of our generation back to his style, writing, and execution (I'd say Hannibal Lecter, and Heath Ledger's Joker both owe quite a bit to Harry Powell). This would be enough to launch this movie into fame, but the best part is there are other gems in the cast. Notably Lillian Gish as Rachel Cooper provides a perfect opposite to Mitchum's Powell. The scene of them sitting in the night singing their hymn together is both startling and beautiful. Even the children, normally a weak point in any good film, provide the perfect mix of innocence, normality, and stylized oddity as to be believable but interesting.

All in all its surprising this movie isn't more a staple of every day american culture (though most people will recognize that there are parts ingrained in our everyday...I noticed several pop culture references in other shows that lean heavily on this movie). Its definitely one of the best movies I've ever seen and a shining example that even today the films of the past can scare, and amaze us.