Review of The Night of the Hunter (1955) by Ben W — 06 Oct 2008
Horribly imbalanced but moody as hell. mitchum is virtuosic. for the first 3/4 of this film its black as hell. no sunlight, nothing redeeming and though the last act is a bit preachy its the thing that saves this film from nihilism and I commend it for that narrative turn.
its what saves the movie and makes it available to be great. cinematography is wonderful, story and characters are spectacular. its a movie that warns against fundamentalism, especially in religion. the spoon familiy is the epitome of this.
they love the psychotic "preacher" and think that he can do no wrong but at the end rabidly scream for his lynching. I was worried that this would be an anti-religion film for a long time but thankfully it pulled itself up from such an easy way out.
This review of The Night of the Hunter (1955) was written by Ben W on 06 Oct 2008.
The Night of the Hunter has generally received very positive reviews.
Was this review helpful?
