Synopsis
The wedding night, the anticipation, the kiss, the knife, BUT ABOVE ALL...THE SUSPENSE!
In the Deep South, a serial-killing preacher hunts two young children who know the whereabouts of a stash of money.
The Night of the Hunter
1955 Directed by Charles Laughton
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Alternative Titles
Mensageiro do Diabo, 猎人的夜晚, 雾夜惊魂, Trasdockan
Genres
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Faith and religion Horror, the undead and monster classics Thrillers and murder mysteries scary, horror, creepy, supernatural or frighten horror, creepy, eerie, blood or gothic film noir, femme fatale, 1940s, thriller or intriguing horror, creepy, frighten, eerie or chilling religion, church, faith, beliefs or spiritual Show All…
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went to a mystery screening tonight and when the opening credits started playing, i couldn't contain my excitement. this works on so many levels for so many reasons, even the occasional hokeyness adds a new layer to the sickly dark humor. but it's the cinematography and unusual directing that kicks this up a notch, and as a result, it transcends
this might be one of the best films ever made
"i can feel myself gettin' awful mad. i'm out of patience, children. i'm coming to find you now."
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The Night of the Hunter is a classic Gothic fairytale: an evil being charms an unsuspecting parent, while only the children are aware that things are not what they seem. It was only while watching the film, enthralled but also deeply unsettled, that I fully realized just how insidiously terrifying the stories of our childhoods are. It's probably not the kind of entertainment that children should be absorbing, but there you are.
When Reverend Powell arrives in town, singing a hymn in his deep, carrying voice, he immediately charms everybody but the children he wants to steal ten thousand dollars from. Little John and Pearl have been burdened with an enormous secret: to keep this vast amount of money safe…
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i love the expressionist style — the use of shadows makes everything scarier than it already is. it’s a damn shame that charles laughton never made another film because he is an insanely talented director.
also has lemony snicket/daniel handler ever cited night of the hunter as an influence for a series of unfortunate events because the plot is like...the same.
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won't somebody please think of the children.
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The year is 1955. I'm in a movie theater watching The Night of the Hunter. I keep shouting "WHAT INTERESTING BIRTHMARKS!" whenever Mitchum's LOVE/HATE knuckle tattoos are shown. Eventually an usher tapes a popcorn tub to my face as a makeshift muzzle. The crowd cheers when he does this. The next time the knuckle tattoos are shown, I attempt to shout again. The popcorn tub doesn't really do anything to stop the noise. If anything it's a little louder now. Everyone groans. The usher wails in agony. And me? I'm simply enjoying the wonderful smell of popcorn. And hidden inside the popcorn tub, I'm smiling.
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A Southern Gothic masterpiece about the insidiousness of shame.
(And with a narrative driven by a con man obsessed with money claiming moral authority who has issues with women... not at all timely.)
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First viewing in 7+ years, and only seems more complex, disturbing, and impossible to fully grasp the various layers working through Laughton’s singular work. Hugely influenced by Griffith and Murnau, Hunter resembles a comic book more than any other film in cinematic history, as in Laughton opts for a series of tableaux shots with very little movement (a few shots recall another 1955 masterpiece, Ordet, and maybe Dreyer in general). All the tracking shots are usually left to right or right to left movement, and there’s definitely a flatness to his images the makes it feel all the more painterly.
But what we really have here is a film built on the power of manipulation; where the same authority (religion,…
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So apparently Charles Laughton made this movie and then was just done. I guess I get it, he wanted to go out on a really high note. But I can’t help but think him selfish. If you can make one great movie you’ve probably got three or four more decent ones in there. Can’t imagine he had a lot of other stuff going on. The 50s seem like they were a pretty boring time. But I guess that’s none of my business...
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