Rating: 
Summary: Theological American Rural-Noir. Good God!
Review: But is He? Both Mitchum and Gish's characters quote Him and talk to Him non-stop. In Gish's case she's good hearted, in Mitchum's case--well, he's got a slight problem with women. . .It would be a mistake to think of Mitcheum's 'Love/Hate' tatoo'ed gothic murderer as a phony. He is a con man but he is not a hypocrite to himself because he's in touch with his version of The Almighty. One who doesn't mind killing but 'lacey things. ' This is part of the film's horror. We are in W. Virginia depression Bible-thumping rural Americana in this one. A Protestant tour de force, with angels and devils in dust filled roads. Very ambiguous towards the feminine. Charles Laughton's only shot as a director and brother, does he ever hit the mark! The film has obvious influences from German expressionism--the 'A' framed steeple/ bedroom- which turns into a 'shadow church' just before Winter's murder, to give one example. But it also borrows effectively from other genres including Greek tragedy, where not a single act of violence takes place "on stage". Paradoxically, this serves to intensify the suspense. The audience feels that something horrible is about to happen to the children fleeing Mitchum's howling preacher. For the critics who were unmoved, It sounds as if they were expecting too much. After all, if one gave away the ending to any film, (especially a thriller!) and hyped it up as the greatest of all time one could turn the audience off to anything... Just watch it.
Rating:
Summary: One of the great oddball classics in film history
Review: First, for those complaining that this DVD was not released in wide screen, I have to point out that this film was originally released as a 35MM print. In other words, there never will be a wide screen edition. People need to remember that not all films were released in 70MM format. Since the 1950s, virtually every film is 70MM, but in the 1950s, many were still being produced with the smaller ratio. You will also never get a "wide screen" edition of CASABLANCA or SEVEN SAMURAI or THE WIZARD OF OZ and for the same reason. This is without question one of the most improbable films ever made, and one of the most extraordinary. As many have noted, it owes its style to the German Expressionism that we normally associate with the 1920s and early 1930s. In that regard, it is film that looks and feels like no other film made in its time. Furthermore, it is the only film that Charles Laughton, one of the few superstar character actors in film history, directed. German Expressionism also was instrumental in creating film noir in Hollywood, and as in film noir, THE NIGHT OF THE HUNTER is dominated by shadows. But at the same time, it doesn't look like any other film noir that one can think of. The artificial night skies and stars are unique in American cinema. But the film is not only unique in the way it looks. The detached, almost aloof manner in which the characters interact with one another is quite unlike anything else that was being done in 1955. For instance, Lillian Gish's character is willing to kill Robert Mitchum's character, but she is willing to sing hymns with him, and, in fact, seems to actually like him in many ways, though perhaps the way that a person might feel about a beautiful though poisonous snake. The detached attitude of some of the characters underscores a sense of fate in the film, a feeling that we are not always in control of our actions or masters of our destiny. Certainly that notion is reinforced in the famous and shocking sermon that Mitchum delivers, in which love and hate seem to be powers that possess the will of an individual, with the individual an observer and not an actor in his own life. THE NIGHT OF THE HUNTER has some of the most amazing characters one will ever encounter. Rev. Harry Powell is almost without debate the greatest role of Robert Mitchum's career. Even those who have never seen the film know of the device of having "Love" tattooed across the fingers of one hand and "Hate" upon the other. And Mitchum's sermon about "Love" and "Hate" contesting with one another is taken over almost word for word in Spike Lee's DO THE RIGHT THING. Lillian Gish had been, of course, one of the greatest stars of the silent era, and while she appeared in a number of films in the talking era, this is probably her greatest role after the onset of sound. The conflict between her and Mitchum are, to me, the highpoint of the film. The film also engenders regret. THE NIGHT OF THE HUNTER is so unique and brilliant, that one can only wish that Laughton had turned his hand to directing again. Perhaps he had only one film in him. Perhaps he had the potential to make other films just as marvelous and unforgettable.
Rating: 
Summary: The Hunter Stalks With Dreamlike Bullets
Review: I had a chance to see "Night of the Hunter" in one of our local repertory theatres. Going in, based on the film's reputation and, to be honest, the title, I was expecting a dark and gloomy meditation on the nature of evil. I was expecting long shots of Robert Mitchum stalking children in the swamp, maniacal terror engulfing his face, dark shadows framing his evil. I was expecting hidden gore and destruction, as Mitchum's faux-preacher tears down everything in his path in order to retrieve $10,000 that isn't rightfully his. I was expecting a moody, proto-noir thriller that never lets the audience loosen their grips on their seats, for fear of flying away in fright. To my surprise, I got absolutely none of this. Very curious. What I did get was somewhat moody, hardly noir, and not very thrilling. Director Charles Laughton wanted a German Expressionist feel, so he watched hundreds of hours of film from that period. The effect it has on his film is a prevailing sense of unsettledness, where reality is distorted, and things never appear quite real. Twisted camera angles, blinding whites contrasted with dark shadows, and intentionally fake special effects (one night sky looks like a black sheet with holes poked in it for the light of the stars to shine through) contribute to this feeling. Archetypes and stereotypes abound, instead of real characters. Even reality gets a good shoving aside, in favour of the "wrongness", the "bizarre distortion of reality" that best represents the genre. Laughton's goal is certainly achieved; the look and feel of German Expressionism is ably aped. But that doesn't necessarily make it a good, suspenseful movie. Mitchum, despite the advanced word, comes across more as a psychotically unhinged character than a cold killer. The unabashed anger he shows during a scene at a strip club, paradoxically contrasted by a metaphoric erection in the form of a switchblade in his pocket, isn't really horrifying. It's not supposed to be. Mitchum gives more of a psychological portrait of evil, rather than horrific one. But, unlike the evil antagonists we've come to expect, his Reverend Harry Powell is, for the most part, ineffectual. He resorts to weeping like a baby at one point, in order to hide a crime he's committed. His face, even with those trademark droopy eyes, reminded me a lot of Peter Lorre during these very weird scenes. This contributed much to the character; imagine Lorre's creepy deviousness combined with Mitchum's towering physique, and you get an idea of the potential of the character. It's an interesting, revelatory performance. The other actors are, at best, hit or miss. Lillian Gish, as a stern bible-thumper with a brood of orphans in her care, is effective enough. Billy Chapin, as young John Harper, has enough moments where he's in control to consider it a fine performance. Peter Graves, as a murderer who nearly blabs the location of his loot to cellmate Mitchum, is good enough to make you wish he'd have stuck around longer. The rest are just plain awful. Shelley Winters hams it up as the widow who gets taken in by Mitchum. You almost want to cheer when her ultimate fate is revealed. Sally Jane Bruce, as Pearl Harper, gives the most awful performance I've ever witnessed by a child actor. Thankfully, she's got a cute, Christina Ricci-esque moonface, so you can at least derive some pleasure looking at her. Evelyn Varden, Don Beddoe, James Gleason, etc., show no amount of restraint in their acting. It's all loud and proud emoting, which jolts you out of the story instantly. The film hasn't aged well at all. During moments of high suspense, a character will do something, or say something, loaded with unintended hilarity. The audience I saw the film with couldn't stop laughing. Now, maybe I've misread the whole thing and it was all supposed to be a big joke. I just can't believe that's true. What was supposed to be a white-knuckle thrill ride through Depression-era West Virginia, and I'm not denying it wasn't that at the time, is now a hokey and hammy novelty. It's worth seeing, though, for the intense visuals, for the propulsive story (until, that is, the anticlimactic ending), and for Mitchum doing what Mitchum does best. But dare not go in with the wrong expectations, or you're liable to be disappointed.
Rating: 
Summary: Hank the Crank
Review: I hate to be a stick in the mud and a crank but...UNTIL THEY PUT OUT A WIDE SCREEN DVD! Boycott this until they do!!! The picture is beutiful and the sound is great. It always was! The fraction diference DVD provides is nice BUT!!! Where is that extra third of the screen!!!! its my favorite movie BUT!!!! I've seen it in TV format. I'm outragously dissapointed! Buy the video until they take their heads out of the sand. i'll admit I didn't read the print that said it didn't include wide screen so... stupid on me. BUT!!! The very idea that they would put this classic out on TV format... MORONIC on them.... I have to admit, my mistake never crossed my mind. ......... WHY SHOULD IT!!!!!!!!!!!!
Rating:
Summary: Dated, and finishes with a whimper...
Review: In "The Night Of The Hunter" (1955), Robert Mitchum is a cold and ruthless serial killer, on the trail of some hidden bank loot. A dark tale with only mild and implied violence, it is very much a product its time. A murderous bank robber returns home to hide $, just before being captured by the police. Entrusting the secret to his two young children, the man is sentenced to death, and executed without revealing the location of the loot. "Reverend" Harry Powell (Mitchum), an ex-cellmate of the thief, has his sights set on the hidden money, as he courts and weds the bank robber's widow (Shelly Winters). Soon the missus is out of the picture, and it becomes a contest between Powell, and the two children. Forced to flee for their lives, the children drift down the river in a small rowboat. Surviving as best they can, sleeping in barns and begging food from strangers. The creepy Powell trails, following the river's route on horseback, searching for them. The children are eventually taken in, by a woman who shelters orphans. With the Lord firmly on her side, she resolutely deals with the Reverend, sending him running, like a whimpering dog. While this movie is certainly dated, and the ending weak and anti-climactic by modern standards, it does still have its moments of suspense. An ending of this type will probably not play well to today's audiences used to strong finishes.
Rating: 
Summary: Cinematic Genius or Melodramic Comedy-Thriller?
Review: I can see that this film was probably ahead of its time for 1955.
I can even see where it was a little artsy...the close-ups of the animals was a stroke of quiet genius! I enjoyed this film because I thought it was Funny. I actually laughed out loud several times. The story is really over-the-top and Mitchum and Winters don't ACT very well (still early in their careers...). The kids were the BEST! I'd recommend this film for laughs.
But not much else.
Rating:
Summary: the crystaline perfection of a poetic vision
Review: The night of the hunter contains scenes of such beauty that any one could be stripped of its narrative tenure and would still be a work of such poetic grandure as to unfailingly constitute great art.
Rating:
Summary: Unforgettable
Review: Chilling, atmospheric, eerie thriller, directed by Charles Laughton in a style that borrowed from a variety of influences, including German Expressionism and D.W. Griffith. Mitchum, as the maniacal Harry Powell, gives the performance of his career. Despite the reviews here on Amazon, "Night of the Hunter" was written by Davis Grubb, not by James Agee. Grubb's novel needed very little adaptation for the screen, although screenwriter Agee did his best to prove otherwise. Agee, battling severe alcoholism, died before the movie was ever released. His bloated, unworkable screenplay was entirely re-written by Laughton. At Laughton's insistence, Grubb provided his own illustrations to help the director conceive the right look and tone for the various scenes. Grubb was happy with the finished movie and considered it true to the book. Although the movie was not successful in its day, "Night of the Hunter" endures as a beautiful, terrifying, and utterly unique movie classic.
Rating:
Summary: Overrated
Review: This movie has not aged well. Several of the Amazon reviews of this film use the words "terrifying" and "frightening". How could anyone truly be terrified or frightened by this film? Like at least one other reviewer, I found myself laughing at this film (when I wasn't yelling at the television). Granted there are some good scenes, most notably the one where John is telling Pearl a bed-time story, and Mitchum's silhouette appears on the wall behind John. However, for every scene like this, there are many more bad ones, some of which are B-grade movie material at best: the scene where the children elude Mitchum by running up the cellar stairs, despite the fact that it takes them an eternity to climb ten steps; the scene where Mitchum, running after the kids as they first climb into the boat, decides to stop just as he reaches them, conveniently allowing them to escape; the scene where Ruby declares her love for Mitchum, despite the fact that she spent about 2 minutes with him in the soda shop; the scene where the drunk uncle decides not to tell the police that he saw Shelly Winters' body in the lake because "they'll hang it on me" (why??); the courtroom scene where John inexplicably refuses to identify Mitchum, which leads to the scene where the judge asks Lillian Gish what she's getting the kids for XMas (huh?), which leads to a mob scene, which leads to an idyllic Xmas scene at Gish's orphanage (huh??????); the scene where Gish spends half the night guarding the children from Mitchum and then decides to call the police AFTER she has shot him. These are only some of the lowlights of this film. Also, aside from Gish and Mitchum, the actors in this film are AWFUL. Billy Chapin and Sally Jane Bruce are two of the worst child actors I've ever seen, and it's not surprising that their film careers essentially began and ended with this movie (as did Gloria Castillo's). I simply cannot understand why such a poorly written, acted and directed film has received so much praise.
Rating:
Summary: Timeless thriller
Review: Nearly twenty years had gone by since I saw it last, and what did I remember? Robert Mitchum's portrait of total evil; it could rank with Laurence Olivier's Richard III...stubborn, resourceful Billy Chapin and a luminous Lillian Gish... Shelley Winters underwater, her hair waving like sea kelp. Equally haunting are the scenes of the children floating down the moonlit river. There are flaws, of course - the most glaring being the little girl Pearl, played by the worst child actress since Bonnie Blue Butler. But director Laughton usually kept her quiet as much as possible. The photography is startlingly good, and lets you know why some masterworks were made in black and white. Walter Schumann's score is sometimes ham-handed, but I promise you will never hear the hymn "Leaning" the same way again.
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