Solemplex To me, this movie is perfection.

CrawlerChunky In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.

Maleeha Vincent It's funny, it's tense, it features two great performances from two actors and the director expertly creates a web of odd tension where you actually don't know what is happening for the majority of the run time.

Rosie Searle It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

Tweekums This classic film is set during the Great Depression; Ben Harper has stolen ten thousand dollars, killing two people in the process. He manages to get home and gives the money to his children, John and Pearl. They hide it in Pearl's favourite rag doll and he tells them not to tell anybody else, including their mother, about it. Shortly afterwards he is arrested and sentenced to hang. In prison he tells his story to his cellmate, Harry Powell. Powell professes to be a preacher but he preys on women who he murders for their savings. After Ben is executed and Powell's short sentence ends he heads off to befriend Ben's widow, Willa. Everybody except John takes an immediate liking to Powell. It isn't long before Powell marries Willa and soon after that he starts pressuring John to find where the money is hidden. Things soon get very dangerous as Powell will go to any length to get the money.After over sixty years this film is still gripping and manages to provide some real surprises for the first time viewer. Robert Mitchum manages to be both plausible and genuinely menacing as the evil Powell. The innocent town where the Harpers live certainly isn't ready for a man like Powell. Shelley Winters is solid as Willa and Lillian Gish impresses as the woman who ultimately helps the children. Young Billy Chapin and Sally Jane Bruce are also good in the roles of John and Pearl respectively. Director Charles Laughton did a fine job building the tension, creating the right atmosphere and providing some moments that are surprisingly disturbing for a film of this era. Overall I'd say that this is a must see for any fans of classic cinema in general and certainly for fans of film noir.

saylub The Night of the Hunter was a movie that kept me either on the edge of my seat or squeamish almost the whole time. Robert Mitchum brings a fantastic performance as the sly yet eccentric antagonist. Shelley Winters, Lillian Gish, and the two children also do a great job. Sometimes the artistry or cinematography can distract from the story or the actors in a movie but it in the case of Night of the Hunter it balances all these well. I like movies that can hold me in suspense while also bringing up deeper questions. The theme of religion's role in American life and its potential to do great harm comes through without feeling preachy or going too far to make a point. It is also impressive that it remains scary 60 years later. I would recommend this to anyone who likes suspenseful movies and would put this on par with Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho.

julesfdelorme Someone I have a deep respect for recently talked about this movie, and, since I've been on a Film Noir kick lately, I figured I'd use the opportunity to revisit this one. Charles Laughton's film is not perfect. I suspect that it might even have taken away from the beauty of the movie if it was perfect. Like all Noir it leans toward melodrama, and like all Noir the acting can often seem overdone. But the cinematography in this film more than makes up for any flaws that might exist. In that sense it is perfect Film Noir. There is a dreamlike quality that seems to echo early German Expressionist film, in which the world that you're looking at doesn't quite seem real and you're left you with the feeling that you're in a kind of beautiful nightmare. There are images of children floating down the river on a skiff that has elements of Huckleberry Finn, yet with a more ghostlike surreal quality. We see Robert Mitchum's villainous preacher cast in impossible shadow as he rides a stolen horse and sings the same old hymn over and over again. That same hymn and that same impossible shadow laid over top of a clear image is used later on when Mitchum sits singing in the front yard of house while the protective old woman with a shotgun in her lap, played by Lillian Gish, rocks back and forth and sings along with the man she is in silent battle with. Images like these, or like that of Shelly Winters' body, with flowing hair in perfect sync with the surrounding seaweed, seen almost angel like at the bottom of the river are what make this movie a masterpiece. Yes, as I said, there are flaws. There are places where the film seems a little silly. But the overall effect is hauntingly beautiful and Night of the Hunter is a darkly wondrous painting that, if you haven't seen, you absolutely should see. You won't forget Night of the Hunter. You can't forget Night of the Hunter. That may not be the only thing to mark a great film. But it definitely should be one of them. And I think that makes Night of the Hunter more than worthy of the title of Film Noir Masterpiece.

Zak Ken Cinematography is great. Music is good and serves to heighten the suspense in the right places. Pacing and direction are decent. However, except for the little girl and Mrs Cooper (most of the time), the acting is generally terrible and quite tacky. Dialogue is so cheesy, sometimes it felt like I was watching a spoof.Overall, it felt more like a stage play. I don't regret watching it but no way it deserves the 8/10 rating it's currently on.