Review of The Night of the Hunter (1955) by James M — 17 Jan 2010

The Night Of The Hunter has such penetrating moments of dread that it's almost suffocating. It's a psychological cat-and-mouse affair about a criminal posing as a Preacher (Mitchum) worming his way into the life of a young brother and sister via their mother (Shelley Winters). This is done purely to find out where their recently deceased criminal dad hid his stash of cash he robbed not long before he died.

There's no blood, torture or even bad language but still this managed to shock alot of audiences when it was released. Robert Mitchum delivers a performance that is pretty frightening and one that is positively brimming with evil. There's no dose of honey to soften the oppressive feeling of doom and it builds and builds at a tense but subtle pace that leaves you near mental exhaustion.