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Night of the Hunter (1955)
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Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Binding: VHS Tape
EAN: 9786301973236
Format: Black & White, Closed-captioned, NTSC
ISBN: 6301973232
Label: MGM (Video & DVD)
Languages: English (Original Language), Analog
Manufacturer: MGM (Video & DVD)
Number Of Items: 1
Publisher: MGM (Video & DVD)
Release Date: September 01, 1998
Running Time: 94 minutes
Studio: MGM (Video & DVD)
Theatrical Release Date: 1955
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Editorial Review:
In the entire history of American movies, The Night of the Hunter stands out as the rarest and most exotic of specimens. It is, to say the least, a masterpiece--and not just because it was the only movie directed by flamboyant actor Charles Laughton or the only produced solo screenplay by the legendary critic James Agee (who also cowrote The African Queen). The truth is, nobody has ever made anything approaching its phantasmagoric, overheated style in which German expressionism, religious hysteria, fairy-tale fantasy (of the Grimm-est variety), and stalker movie are brought together in a furious boil. Like a nightmarish premonition of stalker movies to come, Night of the Hunter tells the suspenseful tale of a demented preacher (Robert Mitchum, in a performance that prefigures his memorable villain in Cape Fear), who torments a boy and his little sister--even marries their mixed-up mother (Shelley Winters)--because he's certain the kids know where their late bank-robber father hid a stash of stolen money. So dramatic, primal, and unforgettable are its images--the preacher's shadow looming over the children in their bedroom, the magical boat ride down a river whose banks teem with fantastic wildlife, those tattoos of LOVE and HATE on the unholy man's knuckles, the golden locks of a drowned woman waving in the current along with the indigenous plant life in her watery grave--that they're still haunting audiences (and filmmakers) today. --Jim Emerson
Customer Reviews
Average Rating: 
Rating:  - L-O-V-E / H-A-T-E Relationship...
Lillian Gish opens this movie w/ a warning to beware of wolves in sheep's clothing. This sets the stage for the Reverend Harry Powell (Robert Mitchum from the equally classic Cape Fear), who roams the countryside searching for converts (aka: victims) to his special brand of fire-and-brimstone religion. This religion includes Powell's "listening to the voice of God", which will lead him to a town where he can prey upon the ignorant souls within. Enter Shelley Winters (Whoever Slew Auntie Roo?, Poseiden ... Read More
Rating: - It's the night of the hunter...
The best kind of horror comes not from monsters or ghosts, but from other human beings. "Cape Fear," "Heavenly Creatures," and other such movies are brilliant examples of this.
But one of the most compelling examples is "Night of the Hunter," a haunting movie that slowly descends into an exquisitely-filmed, brilliantly-acted nightmare about a malign preacher and the two children who are trying to escape. Like an old fairy tale by a modern Grimm, it's full of terror, magic, beauty and darkness ... Read More
Rating: - Great Classic
This is a tuly excellent classic movie. My entire family enjoyed it! Great dramatic performances from Robert Mitchum and Shelly Winters. I am so glad that movies like this are still in circulation , I just can't stomach much of what is on the silver screen today! This movie is a keeper!
Rating: - Night Of The Psychopathic Religious Fanatic
NIGHT OF THE HUNTER is an excellent film. Set in depression era West Virginia it is based on an prize winning novel of the same name that was inspired by a real life murderer who lived in that area. The surreal beginning and the fluffy ending in a cozy cottage at Christmas seem like the stuff of fairy tales but in between all is pure nightmare.
Robert Mitchum is both chilling and spellbinding as a criminal/preacher who marries the gullible widow of an executed cellmate in hopes he can force ... Read More
Rating:  - Love and Hate do battle
A family man steals money after a robbery and hides it with his kids without their mother knowing. He makes them promise not to tell. In jail he reveals to a self appointed evangelical Minster Powell (Robert Mitchum) that he still has the loot before he is hanged. The Minister marries into the family after wooing the widow to try to get the kids to reveal the whereabouts of the money. He even resorts to murder. Eventually the kids escape and he chases after them for a final showdown in the home of an elderly ... Read More
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