The Night of the Hunter | 
| Actors: Robert Mitchum, Shelley Winters, Paul Bryar, Cheryl Callaway, Gloria Castillo
Studio: MGM (Video & DVD)
Category: DVD
Buy New: $24.97
New (11) Used (13) from $14.99
Rating:  184 reviews
Sales Rank: 9652
Format: Black & White
Languages: English (Original Language), French (Original Language), English (Subtitled), French (Subtitled)
Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Region: 1
Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
Number Of Discs: 1
Running Time: 93 Minutes
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.1
Dimensions (in): 7.5 x 5.4 x 0.6
MPN: D907994D
ISBN: 0792843363
UPC: 027616799425
EAN: 9780792843368
ASIN: B000035P5R
Theatrical Release Date: 1955
Release Date: January 25, 2000
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Amazon.com essential video
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
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| Customer Reviews: Read 179 more reviews...
 This is an odd movie November 29, 2008
J. Conder
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
Interesting, and somewhat engaging, but odd. Robert Mitchum's performance is over-the-top, the other performances are lackluster, except for the character of the older woman who takes the children in. Mitchum's role especially presages Robert De Niro in the reamke of Cape Fear.
 Dream within a Dream. November 14, 2008
Mnr L. P. Muller (Alexandria South Africa)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
As you watch this film, the irrational, troubling feeling that you know it... that the horror you mother tried to soothe away with a sip of sugar water saying, hush, it was only a dream... which you've always tried to forget, had been lurking here all the time, waiting for the unguarded moment to get you....
The Night of the Hunter awakens a primal sense of evil and fear as no other film I know. Robert Mitchum embodies evil which is profound and petty, vicious and maudlin, prescient and idiotic, and always, always relentlessly bearing down on what we fear most..
This is sustained, inspired filmmaking of the highest order. Action and character unfold together, seamlessly. There is not one scene superfluous to the film as a whole, nothing you could or would do without.. And the counter to Mitchum's evil (Mrs. Cooper - Lillian Gish) is afforded just the right weight.. As for the two children, well, I have no idea how Charles Laughton coaxed these performances out of them. Superb.
 Ham-handed direction, wooden acting, choppy editing November 12, 2008
T. Davis (Seattle, WA)
1 out of 3 found this review helpful
This movie is so well-loved in certain quarters that I hesitate to trash it, but I simply cannot recommend it.
Charles Laughton's quasi-expressionistic direction is extremely stilted and out-of-date. The actors are dreadfully hammy, particularly Robert Mitchum as the scenery-chewing baddie at the center of the film and Shelley Winters as the zombie-like woman he kills. What little acting she does is not only cut short by Mitchum's knife but by ridiculously rapid cutting from scene to scene, while long scenes in which her children float downriver to escape from the evil con-man preacher are supposed to be artsy but struck me as dull and pretentious. And the corny lines that the actors are forced to utter are frequently beyond embarrassing.
I found the story lacked all suspense, which is the most damning thing I can say about what is purported to be a suspense film. For a character to be menacing, he must be unpredictable, but Mitchum's character is so one-dimensional, telegraphing every move he makes, that I had to groan again and again. To care about characters in peril, they must seem real to you, yet this film is terribly unrealistic and unbelievable.
If you must see this hoary film, catch it on late-night TV, but don't bother buying it. I very much doubt you'll want to see it a second time. If you want to buy a well-acted, well-directed film about a corrupt preacher, choose "Elmer Gantry" with Burt Lancaster in the leading role.
L-O-V-E / H-A-T-E Relationship... September 28, 2008
Bindy Sue Fronkuenschtein (under the rubble)
2 out of 3 found this review helpful
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 Adventure) as the widow of an executed robber / killer (Peter Graves), who has hidden $10,000.00 somewhere on their property. Unfortunately, Powell shared a cell with dear hubby and tried without success to get him to reveal the location of the money. Now released, Powell sets out to find the place, marry the widow, and collect the fortune. Mitchum is supremely creepy as the reverend. He will make your skin crawl and your stomach flip! Set in a far more innocent / ignorant time, Powell is truly a wolf among sheep. The only one who is suspicious of him is Winters' son, who also (along w/ his little sister, Pearl) knows where dad hid the cash. Winters finally grows a brain and questions Powell. This all leads to murder, and a journey into the unknown for the kids, winding up at the home of the Lillian Gish character. The final good vs. evil confrontation is a lot of fun. THE NIGHT OF THE HUNTER is a movie that I can watch again and again. It is a masterpiece of childhood fears and eerie atmosphere. Director, Charles Laughton makes this a joy to watch, almost a dark version of Tom Sawyer, w/ it's down-river adventure. Highest recommendation...
It's the night of the hunter... September 4, 2008
E. A Solinas (MD USA)
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 -- and Robert Mitchum's amazing, chilling performance.
Murderous preacher Harry Powell (Robert Mitchum) is arrested for car theft, since the police don't know that his hatred of women has led him to repeated murder. He shares a prison cell with bank robber Ben Harper (Peter Graves), who stole ten thousand dollars. Powell tries to coax the location of the money from Harper, but the thief takes it to his grave. Only his son John (Billy Chapin) knows its location -- and he's sworn not to tell anyone.
Upon his release, Powell arrives in Harper's town, claiming that he wants to "bring this small comfort to [Ben's] loved ones." Everyone is taken in by his charitable, pious act, including his new wife -- Ben's gullible widow, Willa (Shelley Winters). When she vanishes (you can guess what happened), John and his little sister Pearl (Sally Jane Bruce) must escape their evil stepfather -- even though he's determined to hunt them down and find the money.
When it was first released, "Night of the Hunter" flopped completely. Financially and critically. It's not very surprising -- the 1950s audiences weren't ready for the sinister, unconventional villains, rich symbolism, or the fact that an actor had dared to stray into a director's chair and spin a very unique movie. Fortunately, it lived on as a cult film, and is now rightly regarded as a classic.
It's especially sad that Laughton never directed again, because his sole directorial work is simply astonishing. It feels like a fairy tale, with Powell as the wicked witch, and the children as the protected innocents who are helped by a "fairy godmother." Laughton also loads it down with sexual and religious symbolism -- the LOVE and HATE tattoos, the switchblade, the eerie sacrifice scene all add a sense of weight and foreboding.
Best of all is the cinematography. Beauty and horror are inextricably tied together: the dead Willa with "her hair waving soft and lazy like meadow grass under flood water," or the little river animals watching the children escape under a starlit sky. But there are also moments of pure terror in the finest horror tradition, such as the preacher's shadow falling over the kids, or calling out as they're hiding, "I'm out of patience, children. I'm coming to find you now..."
Robert Mitchum played another evil stalker several years later in the superb "Cape Fear," but this performance is even better -- partly because it's somewhat insane as well as full of evil. His Powell is a seething mass of murderous fervour and sexual hatred -- his intense eyes are enough to give you goosebumps, and even the harmless scenes around the children are enough to creep you out.
He's also backed by some excellent performances -- Chapin is amazing as the little boy determined to obey his father and somehow stop Powell, yet is hampered by the preacher's charismatic hold over the adults. The kid really did well. Bruce and Winters turn in some solid performances, and veteran Lillian Gish has a good supporting role as the kindly Rachel.
As chilling and compelling as when it was first released, "Night of the Hunter" is a vibrant, primal experience, and nobody has quite come close to what it portrays.
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