Night Of The Hunter

Plain and simple: Robert Mitchum plays a great villain and no other film captured it as well as Charles Laughton's The Night of the Hunter. He is specter and reality, dream and nightmare; a devil in God's clothing. As the homicidal preacher Harry Powell, Mitchum shows us that those who look the fairest can have the foulest of souls. Night of the Hunter was the first and last film that Laughton would attempt to direct and was panned by critics and viewers alike when it was released in the Fall of 1955. But time has a funny way of changing out perspective on things and the film is now regarded as one of the most stunning and thrilling films of the era, while Mitchum's turn as Powell is regarded as his greatest of roles. It shows up here on our list of the '100 Greatest Scary Movies' with a rank of 90 and to some, the movie may seem a bit dated. While it may be true that some of the line delivery can be a bit stilted and the sets themselves may seem a bit off, allow me a small portion of your time to convince you of its greatness. I do not think you will regret it.

Night of the Hunter does not feel real in any sense of the world. In some ways, it has the same qualities as the fairy-tales of old, dream-like and surreal and acting almost as a cautionary tale for both children and adults alike. We take for granted the copious amount of trust we place in figures of authority, whether it be keepers of the peace or members of the cloth, that if it becomes twisted, even ever so slightly, things an take a wholly insidious turn. Mitchum is all of this incarnate. Like a demon, he weakens people's will and strengthens his hold, using double speak and half-truths to comfort and confuse those who would be his prey. It has been said that watching Mitchum in this film is like watching a bogeyman, riding in on horseback like Death himself, coming seemingly out of nowhere and setting his wicked designs in motion with his evil will. He moves like a phantom, quick and fluid, almost floating just above the ground and then making himself tangible once again to strike with a strong arm and a switchblade.

Thematically speaking, the film can be found to be quite risqu