Night of the Hunter, The (1955) Rank 4 Reviews

Cine-club de Caen (Jean-Luc Lacuve)

En Virginie, au bord de l'Ohio, dans les annÃ©es 30. Avant d'Ãªtre arrÃªtÃ© par la police, Ben Harper a le temps de remettre le produit d'un hold-up, dix mille dollars, Ã ses deux enfants, le jeune John et la toute petite Pearl. Il leur fait jurer de ne ...read the complete Night of the Hunter movie review at Cine-club de Caen (Jean-Luc Lacuve)

Slant Magazine

Night of the Hunter remains one of the most twisted evocations of godliness gone awry. Charles Laughton's shadowy compositions and omniscient perspective (see the film's transfixing point-of-view shots) suggest that the film's characters are in ...read the complete Night of the Hunter movie review at Slant Magazine

Ozus' World Movie Reviews (Dennis Schwartz)

Charles Laughton's only directorial effort is a work of inspired brilliance. It's a weird and chilling tale of biblical proportion on good and evil, with Robert Mitchum as the psychopathic preacher with 'love' and 'hate' tattooed on his knuckles. The ...read the complete Night of the Hunter movie review at Ozus' World Movie Reviews (Dennis Schwartz)

Combustible Celluloid (Jeffrey M. Anderson)

Charles Laughton began acting in films as early as 1928 and became a star a few years later with The Old Dark House, The Sign of the Cross, Island of Lost Souls, and winning the Best Actor Oscar for 1933's The Private Life of Henry VIII. He continued a ...read the complete Night of the Hunter movie review at Combustible Celluloid (Jeffrey M. Anderson)

Time Out

Laughton's only stab at directing, with Mitchum as the psychopathic preacher with 'love' and 'hate' tattooed on his knuckles, turned out to be a genuine weirdie. Set in '30s rural America, the film polarises into a struggle between good and evil for the ...read the complete Night of the Hunter movie review at Time Out

Chicago Sun-Times (Roger Ebert)

The following is an excerpt from Roger Ebert's "Great Movie" essay on "The Night of the Hunter" (1955), which opens today at the Music Box Theatre in Chicago with an archival print to mark its 50th anniversary. Read the full review here. ...read the complete Night of the Hunter movie review at Chicago Sun-Times (Roger Ebert)

rec.arts.movies.reviews (Max Scheinin)

Few films can send genuine shivers down your back; The Fugitive, Jaws and of course Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho. Charles Laughton's The Night Of The Hunter is capable of doing this. It's a smashingly scary romp that demonstrates big, important special ...read the complete Night of the Hunter movie review at rec.arts.movies.reviews (Max Scheinin)

Dallas Morning News (Jane Sumner)

One of the most chilling suspense films ever made, it's also the finest role of Robert Mitchum. ...read the complete Night of the Hunter movie review at Dallas Morning News (Jane Sumner)

TV Guide's Movie Guide (--)

Actor Charles Laughton's only directorial effort is a brilliantly eerie tale of religious madness, greed, innocence, and murder set in the rural Ohio River Basin during the Great Depression. Harry Powell (Mitchum), a psychopathic preacher with the word ...read the complete Night of the Hunter movie review at TV Guide's Movie Guide (--)

Three Movie Buffs (Patrick Nash)

The Night of the Hunter is the only movie that the mellifluous voiced actor Charles Laughton ever directed. That's too bad because this one is a masterpiece of filmmaking. It stars Robert Mitchum, Lillian Gish and Shelley Winters and tells a frightening ...read the complete Night of the Hunter movie review at Three Movie Buffs (Patrick Nash)

Science Fiction, Horror and Fantasy Film Review Database (--)

This was the first and only directorial outing from actor Charles Laughton, best known for classic acting roles like Dr Moreau in The Island of Lost Souls (1932), Captain Bligh in the Mutiny on the Bounty (1935) and Quasimodo in The Hunchback of ...read the complete Night of the Hunter movie review at Science Fiction, Horror and Fantasy Film Review Database (--)

At-A-Glance Film Reviews (--)

There isn't another movie quite like The Night of the Hunter, a nightmarish journey through a surreal landscape. Nothing is quite realistic in the physical sense, but the film bears an uncanny resemblance to the way dreams and fears feel. It stars Robert ...read the complete Night of the Hunter movie review at At-A-Glance Film Reviews (--)

San Diego Reader (Duncan Shepherd)

Robert Mitchum's silky, sleepy evangelist, L-O-V-E and H-A-T-E tattooed on his knuckles, is a monster under the skin, perceptible only to innocent children (in the horror-movie tradition that allows dumb animals to sense the presence of ghosts, vampires, ...read the complete Night of the Hunter movie review at San Diego Reader (Duncan Shepherd)

eye WEEKLY (Adam Nayman)

In the pantheon of great screen villains, none is quite so despicable as Harry Powell, the heavy-lidded serial-killer-turned-preacher played by Robert Mitchum in Charles Laughton's classic thriller Night of the Hunter. As the film opens, he's just ...read the complete Night of the Hunter movie review at eye WEEKLY (Adam Nayman)

San Francisco Chronicle (Edward Guthmann)

In his greatest role, in ``Night of the Hunter,'' Robert Mitchum played Harry Powell, a hymn-singing, widow-slaying psycho. A bogus preacher with the honeyed tones of a born charlatan, Harry is one of the screen's great villains -- and one of the ...read the complete Night of the Hunter movie review at San Francisco Chronicle (Edward Guthmann)

Decent Films - faith on film (Steven D. Greydanus)

â��Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God,â�� quotes Lillian Gish at the very beginning of Charles Laughtonâ��s lone directorial effort, The Night of the Hunter. This text is immediately contrasted with another one: â��Beware of false ...read the complete Night of the Hunter movie review at Decent Films - faith on film (Steven D. Greydanus)

Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times

Charles Laughton's "The Night of the Hunter'' (1955) is one of the greatest of all American films, but has never received the attention it deserves because of its lack of the proper trappings. Many ``great movies'' are by great directors, but Laughton ...read the complete Night of the Hunter movie review at Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times

Piddleville (Bill Wren)

I think it's fair to say 1955's The Night of the Hunter is one of the oddest films to ever come out of Hollywood. According to many, it's also one of the greatest. This may be true; I'm not sure. But it's definitely worth seeing a time or two to decide ...read the complete Night of the Hunter movie review at Piddleville (Bill Wren)

The Vagrant Café - Christian Cinema (Seth Studer)

Harold Bloom famously proposed that "the American religion" (commonly called "conservative Protestantism," though Bloom sees nothing Protestant in it) sets itself apart from European Christianity by declaring that individuals have direct contact with God. ...read the complete Night of the Hunter movie review at The Vagrant Café - Christian Cinema (Seth Studer)

filmcritic.com shrieks through the Night

Until I saw The Night of the Hunter, it had been a long time since I had gasped while watching a movie. Forget The Others and The Deep End (which veered toward strained dramatics), The Night of the Hunter is by far the scariest movie Iâ��ve seen so far ...read the complete Night of the Hunter movie review at filmcritic.com shrieks through the Night

DVDBeaver.com - Full Review (Gary W. Tooze)

From a selfish standpoint I would say that this is definitively MY type of movie; Poor reviews and box office showing, Black and White, many camera angles and techniques and a suspense story. I would credit Charles Laughton for the extensive symbolism ...read the complete Night of the Hunter movie review at DVDBeaver.com - Full Review (Gary W. Tooze)

Goatdog's Movies (Michael W. Phillips, Jr.)

I can't think of another film that so deftly established that what you were watching inhabited the space between waking and dreaming. ...read the complete Night of the Hunter movie review at Goatdog's Movies (Michael W. Phillips, Jr.)

New York Times (Bosley Crowther)

All this has been crisply compacted into clear screen drama by the late James Agee and it is put forth under the direction of Mr. Laughton in stark, rigid visual terms. ...read the complete Night of the Hunter movie review at New York Times (Bosley Crowther)

Doug Pratt's DVD Review

Like a bad Bible story, Charles Laughtonâ��s 1955 directoral effort has withstood the erosions of time. The first part of the plot is a contemporary thriller about a stepfather who wants to murder his new family for money. But that is not really the ...read the complete Night of the Hunter movie review at Doug Pratt's DVD Review

The Greatest Films - comprehensive analysis of classic US film

The Night of the Hunter (1955) is a truly compelling, haunting, and frightening classic masterpiece thriller-fantasy, and the only film ever directed by the great British actor Charles Laughton. The American gothic, Biblical tale of greed, innocence, ...read the complete Night of the Hunter movie review at The Greatest Films - comprehensive analysis of classic US film

Nashville Scene (Jim Ridley)

When he died earlier this month, the image of Robert Mitchum that flashed across the minds of most film fans was of two outstretched fists--one tattooed "hate" and the other "love." Night of the Hunter is a film buff's movie, beloved for its stark ...read the complete Night of the Hunter movie review at Nashville Scene (Jim Ridley)

Mondo Digital

Though it enjoys a reputation as one of the most frightening films ever made, The Night of the Hunter offers so many layers of enjoyment even after countless viewings that critics' refusal to categorize it as a horror film almost seems understandable. ...read the complete Night of the Hunter movie review at Mondo Digital

The Terror Trap

Charles Laughton once described his sole directorial effort as a "nightmarish sort of Mother Goose tale." Based on a novel by David Grubb, 1955's The Night of the Hunter is at its essence an elemental elegy to the classic battle between good and evil. ...read the complete Night of the Hunter movie review at The Terror Trap

moviediva

Mitchum charmingly plays a feral psychotic, who practices "the religion the Almighty and I worked out betwixt us." Charles Laughton's only film as a director is a fairy tale nightmare, as two children flee through a black and white dreamscape. "Is there ...read the complete Night of the Hunter movie review at moviediva

Notcoming.com (Ian Johnston)

Charles Laughtonâ��s only film as director, The Night of the Hunter is a strange, mysterious object in the landscape of fifties American cinema. A study, through the figure of the evil serial-killer preacher Harry Powell, in the horror to be found in ...read the complete Night of the Hunter movie review at Notcoming.com (Ian Johnston)

Movie Magazine International (Monica Sullivan)

If you see "Night of the Hunter" when you're too young, you'll have recurring nightmares for the rest of your life. Robert Mitchum, who'd been so sexy and heroic in most of the 53 movies he made prior to this one, IS Preacher Harry Powell, one of the ...read the complete Night of the Hunter movie review at Movie Magazine International (Monica Sullivan)

Fantastic Movie Musings and Ramblings

Charles Laughton only took to directing once in his career; it's a crying shame he stopped with one. The one he left us is fascinating, at once terrifying and lyrical, it's a nightmare/fable/fairy tale, as scary for adults as it is for children. Robert ...read the complete Night of the Hunter movie review at Fantastic Movie Musings and Ramblings

Critic Reviews

Night of the Hunter, The (1955) Rank 4 Reviews

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