Good movie but grossly overrated

It is not deep, but it is fun to watch. It does have a bit more of an edge to it than other similar films.

A movie that not only functions as a solid scarefest but a razor-sharp satire.

Very good movie overall, highly recommended. Most of the negative reviews don't have any merit and are all pollitically based. Give this movie a chance at least, and it might give you a different perspective.

Robert Mitchum singing "Leaning on the Everlasting Arms" is just about one of the creepiest things on film! And his silhouetted outline is another! Dang, that man can play a bad guy! And this time he's a bad preacher terrorizing two children! Yikes! And Lillian Gish makes her character, Rachel Cooper, come alive as his opposite! It's a good movie, mostly due to Mitchum, but it does have some issues with choppy story telling and/or film editing. But the overhead shots are pretty cool for an older film, and overall, this is was a pleasure to watch! And those LOVE/HATE tattoos on the preacher's knuckles are creepy as heck! As is this quote, my final thought on the film: " I can hear you whisperin' children, so I know you're down there. I can feel myself gettin' awful mad. I'm out of patience children. I'm coming to find you now." eeeeee.....

The Night of the Hunter is directed by Charles Laughton, his first and unfortunately sole film that he directed. The film is written by James Agee adapted from Davis Grubbs novel. It sees a fanatical murderous preacher Harry Powell (expertly played by Robert Mitchum), marry the widow of his former cellmate Ben Harper(Peter Graves), in an attempt to find the location of $10,000 that Harper had stolen in a robbery, prior to his arrest.This is one of the best films I've ever seen, and one of my all-time favourites, which is a phase I don't use lightly. The direction is near faultless. Despite many of the off-screen issues surrounding this film, It's amazing how well it congealed together. The framing and stylish noir set design gives this film an incredibly eerie atmosphere, which in turn adds a dreamlike sense of impending dread throughout the entire run-time. This is felt most notably in the scenes where the terrifying Harry Powell is hunting Harper's two children Ben(Billy Chapin) and Pearl(Sally Jane Bruce).Shelly Winters plays Willa Harper. After her husband dies in prison at the hands of Powell. She Is seduced, and taken in by Powell, and soon finds herself helpless, as the lingering omnipotent stature of Powell looms large over her and her children. Winters gives a terrific performance of someone that is both smitten and trapped at the same time.The standout of the film without a doubt is Robert Mitchum as the Preacher Harry Powell. Mitchum delivers one of the finest performances in cinematic history. He's able to effortlessly switch between being charming and charismatic to frightening and hateful on the turn of a dime. His performance is utterly compelling and as his character permeates through every scene of the film. His performance is matched pound for pound by Lillian Gish as Rachel Cooper. Gish plays a steadfast woman, who takes the children in when they are trying to evade Powell. She does a great job of being a warm and unshakeable saviour figure for the children, against Powell's menacing and unrelenting wrath.It's truly a shame that Laughton never got the chance to direct another film. The Night of the Hunter was so far ahead of it's time. There are moments in the film where the subject matter and imagery are still shocking and unrelenting even for today's audience. The film does have a couple of missteps. The child actors do tend to overact in some places, but it's not enough for it too become distracting. There are also a couple of pacing issues in the middle act which is quickly smoothed out when the film enters into the final act.The Night of the Hunter is a film beyond it's years, and still holds up as-well if not more-so today. It's an un-compromising thriller wrapped inside a noir, wrapped inside a Grimm fairy-tale, and it's a masterpiece.

There are many things that makes The Night of the Hunter so iconic. The film is an almost childishly innocent tale about a preacher of a faith of his own making (Robert Mitchum, note perfect). This preacher is a man who not only talks to God, but thinks God talks back, giving him permission to court, marry, and murder lonely widows to obtain their fortunes to build a church grand enough for the preacher to adequately worship God in. At the same time as the preacher is arrested for an innocuous offence, Ben Harper, a man tired of always being down and out, robs a bank and gives the money to his children to hide before he is arrested and taken away to be hanged. Harper and the preacher's lives intersect briefly in jail, but it's enough time for the preacher to catch wind of Harper's hidden fortune, and when he gets out of jail he comes a knockin' fully intent on getting Harper's ill-gotten money by any means necessary. There is honestly nothing not to enjoy about the film. The showiest performance of all is Robert Mitchum, but every actor in this is good, grasping the fairy tale tone of the plot. Charles Laughton's direction is impeccable, the cinematography, the lighting, the shots, everything will take your breath away with its stark vicious beauty. And the score is haunting and exotic, adding to the frighting atmosphere. I've seen this movie many times and each time been completely seduced by the film. One of the greatest.

This film is a melodramatic morality tale about the struggle of good against evil against the backdrop of an idyllic small southern river town. You'll see more shots of cute wildlife than a Disney Nature Film. Stereotypes of nice southern bible thumpers abound! A better version of this "evil visits nice small town" story would be Hitchcock's "Shadow of a Doubt" (10/10). I was disappointed by "Night of the Hunter" and gave it a 6/10. A mediocre movie with many nice moments. Great to see Lillian Gish.