Rating: 
Summary: Love Vs. Hate
Review: Robert Mitchum is eerily realistic as one of the most chilling villains of cinema, Harry Powell. A preacher and a false prophet, Harry is on a mission to kill innocent women and steal their money. He soon finds a father of two annoying children who was sent to prison because of robbing a bank. The father is ready to be hanged, when he accidentally blurts out something about the wherabouts of the money to Powell (who is in the cell with him for stealing a car). Powell is soon hell-bent on finding the money, and marries the widow of the husband. The way Powell badgers and taunts the children is sadistic, and the film has some great religious concepts. Mitchum does a superb job as Harry Powell, and my second favorite character is the woman who takes in the children and loves God with all her soul. It is a battle of good vs. evil, one man who thinks he loves God, and a woman who truly does love God. All in all, a good, classic movie, but the children kind of get on my nerves. And, the wife is somewhat irritating too. But, this movie is worht the watch, especially for the scene where Mitchum explains about his tattoos that read Love and Hate. He tells the story of good vs. evil. Classic scene.
Rating:
Summary: Strong Performances By Robert Mitchum and Lilian Gish
Review: In THE NIGHT OF THE HUNTER Robert Mitchum plays the part of a psychopathic preacher who is trying to steal $10,000 from a naive widow (Shelley Winters). Winters has two young children.Winters' husband was executed for murder but before he was caught he hid the money and entrusted the children with the secret. Mitchum has decided to get the money even if he has to kill every member of the family. Mitchum's performance is superb. Lilian Gish is also magnificent as the dedicated foster mother who protects the two children when they try to escape from Mitchum. The strong supporting cast includes Billy Chapin, Peter Graves and James Gleason. The famous actor Charles Laughton is the director.
Rating:
Summary: Very Scary
Review: I saw this movie when I was in the 5th or 6th grade. I am STILL scared to this very day! I enjoyed this movie because it wasn't gory like the movies of today, but it was still terrifying. Also, since I was a child when I saw it, I thought this was something that could really happen to someone. (Unlike Freddy Kruger or Jason). Also, the fact that I knew and liked the song "Leaning on the Everlasting Arms" was scary because I'd never heard a criminal sing a hymn! I've only seen it that one time, but I'll never forget it-it was really creepy. I recommend it, Robert Mitchum is fantastic.
Rating: 
Summary: Three-Dimensional Menace
Review: It is as difficult to describe this film as it is to forget it. The only film directed by Charles Laughton, with James Agee's screenplay based on Davis Grubb's novel of the same title, The Night of the Hunter explores the ageless conflict between pure goodness and pure evil. The former is represented by the two Harper children and especially by their resolute defender, Rachel Cooper (Lillian Gish). Pure evil is represented by Harry Powell (Robert Mitchum), a psychopath who claims to be a preacher. I can think of few other films in which script, direction, acting, cinematography (Stanley Cortez), and musical score (Walter Schumann) work so well together. Credit must obviously be shared. What saddens me is the fact that Laughton was so discouraged by initial reactions to the film that he never directed another. The plot is rather straight-forward and consists of three phases: Powell's arrival and subsequent marriage to widow Willa Harper (Shelley Winters); her death and the gradual revelation of Powell's true nature; and finally, his pursuit of Rachel Cooper and the two children after they flee from him. It would be a disservice to those who read this brief commentary for me to say any more about the plot. Paradoxically, this is among the most beautiful and most frightening of films. Mitchum's portrayal is among his greatest performances. According to some who were associated with the production, he also agreed to direct Billy Chapin and Sally Jane Cooper because Laughton despised child actors. If true, Mitchum reveals an off-screen talent I wish he had developed further. For me, the only problematic performance is Gish's. Perhaps it is because it seems (to me) derivative of an acting style more appropriate to a previous era when she was featured in so many other films. Those who have not as yet seen this film are urged to do so. It is in so many ways an "original" which deserves the acclaim denied it when first released in 1955.
Rating:
Summary: Great terror film!
Review: I didn't see this movie until a few years ago on Turner Classic Movies, by accident, just flipping around channels, but I found it to be one of the best terror movies I've ever seen! I remember watching Poltergiest II as a kid and thought that the preacher Kane was one of the scariest characters I'd ever seen. Of course, once I saw this movie, I realized where they got their inspiration for him. Not to mention the "love/hate" tats - the influence of this movie has really been far-reaching, considering the Blues Brothers "borrowed" that with "Jake" and "Elwood" on their hands! The cinematography really helps create the illusion of terror and evil - for me, one of the best shots is when they show Robert Mitchum talking to the boy at the picnic - it's a nice, sunny day, but the way the scene is framed he looks so evil standing there looming over him.
Rating:
Summary: Believable Evil
Review: A signature role for Robert Mitchum. He touched something within himself in making this movie disturbing enough that he would not speak of it later in his career. Lilian Gish said this was one of the finest movies she was ever associated with - and who would know better - she went back to Birth of a Nation and Intolerance. Mitchum is the soul of evel yet believable as someone the naieve might trust. I saw this movie with my parents when I was ten years old and had nightmares from two of the scenes for years. A classic example that you don't need blood, gore or explosions to scare people to death - only quiet, unrelenting evil. An absolute Must See!
Rating: 
Summary: Mitchum is killer. Everyone else is filler.
Review: I recently screened "Night of the Hunter" with Robert Mitchum and Shelley Winters. Winters, in my opinion, is THE worst actress of all time. She was more fun as a boozy guest on Johnny Carson in the 70's. What a WACKY movie; directed by Charles Laughton of all people. Mitchum, of course, can do no wrong. He is completely sinister and looks to be relishing his role of the widow killin' man of the cloth. However, the direction and acting (others, not Mitchum) is so shrill and heavy-handed that it is rendered uncomfortably silly most of the time. Moreover, the musical score they used to set the mood is as subtle as a flying mallet. This movie promises more than it actually delivers. Some nice cinemetography though. It's worth checking out just for that, and of course, Robert Mitchum.
Rating:
Summary: A Preacher's River, But Without A Baptism
Review: When unctuous Reverend Harry Powell (Mitchum) learns where a convicted criminal has stashed some money, he literally casts an ominous shadow on his Depression-era, West Virginia home. Sharing fudge and hypocrisy at a Sunday picnic, Mitchum ingratiates himself to the gossipy locals, the naïve widow Willa (Winters) and her younger daughter Pearl. But John, the older boy, to whom his father entrusted the cash before his execution, is not fooled by Mitchum's charm, his baritone hymns, nor by the "L-O-V-E" and "H-A-T-E" tattooed across his knuckles. After Powell weds Willa, apparently for the children's benefit, he righteously denies her a wedding night. When he soon murders her and drifts her body into the river, the sight of her in the front seat with her long hair parallelling the waving seaweed creates one of the most arresting visuals imaginable. He then begins the sinister business of unearthing the money ("where's it hid?) in torment scenes which telegraph countless dark films to come ("oooohhhh, chil-dren.)" His menacing pursuit of the orphans includes an eerie cellar from which the children flee and a nightmarish rowboat scene, complete with insects and animals which heighten the film's biblical references. When grandmotherly Rachel Gibson, marvelously played by Lillian Gish, takes the children into her home with four other waifs, kindness, discipline, and the Bible bring comfort. But they still must remain vigilant for the Reverend ("figured I was gone, huh?)" When she and John outsmart him, we learn how effective the Reverend's M.O. has been all these years, and how just his punishment. Charles Laughton's only directorial effort.
Rating:
Summary: The Epic That WAS
Review: "Night of the Hunter" is my favorite movie, bar none. Recently, I was privileged to see, at Film Forum 2, in downtown Manhattan, a documentary called "The Epic That WAS" about the making of this great film. It included almost three hours of rediscovered rushes of the movie, including one scene directed by Robert Mitchum. It also featured various line screw-ups by cast members, the usual film snafus and the hilarious diva-esque behavior of 5 year old Miss Sally Bruce. What was so extraordinary was the feeling that I actually got to know Mr. Laughton - in all his intensity, foibles and humor. And poor Shelley Winters - I'll leave you in suspense about her treatment! This is one of America's great films featuring one of the greatest performances ever committed to film (ah...it's Robert Mitchum's...) Just remember before you buy it: if you only like modern, cliche-ridden, overly realistic films, this is not for you. But if you have a high reverence for beauty and artistry, this one is for you.
Rating:
Summary: Chilling, but not all the way
Review: I first became acquainted with The Night of the Hunter back in 1956 at age 13, from the magazine Screen Stories. This periodical put contemporary movies into narrative form. I was absolutely spellbound by the evil preacher chasing those two innocent kids. I saw the film soon after. Recently, about 45 years later, I acquired the DVD and have since seen it twice. Harry Powell's evilness comes out loud and strong. But somehow the film lacks the effect of the Screen Stories printed narrative. And then there is the anticlimactic ending. Some of the incongruities can be accepted if we look at this as an allegory. Evil Mitchum Powell is singing his "Leaning, leaning" hymn outside the house, while Miss Cooper sits inside with her shotgun harmonizing in a duet with him. This probably reflects irony when evil and good fight each other, using with the same religious words (hypocrisy and sincerity mixed together). Actually a very good touch. And then one more unsetlling thing about the DVD. The intro says:
This film has been modified from its original version, etc." It doesn't look like it, and so far I haven't been able to verify whether they really changed it from widescreen to full screen. If that's what they did, then the DVD goes down to 3 stars. If it really was in full screen in the first place, then it keeps the 4 stars.
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