Review of The Night of the Hunter (1955) by Joe C — 26 Oct 2009

I can only think of a handful of other films that have given such strong reason for faith and doubt simultaneously, or for serenity and terror simultaneously. The film is intense, delightfully so, without ever giving into the pornographic gore fests that parade as suspense in most cinemas today.

Much of it will come across as kitsch, but I suspect it did 54 years ago as well. It's a fantastic film - the performances (particularly those of Robert Mitchum and the young boy) are very convincing and the stylization and direction are worth studying.

It's like Laughton eventually stopped caring about realism all together. The world of the film becomes progressively more surreal. It shouldn't work but ultimately it does. This parable about false prophets eventually becomes something of an Oliver Twist story, with it's kindly, elderly parent taking in lost children.