The Night of the Hunter

Robert Mitchum plays a demented preacher who is locked up with a bank robber sentenced to death. His cellmate talks in his sleep and Mitchum realizes the money from the bank robbery is hidden with the man's children. He leaves prison and finds the man's family. He courts the mother and marries her. And quickly kills her and torments the children to tell him where the money is.

This is a SERIOUSLY creepy movie. It has an overwhelming sense of dread throughout. Mitchum is just fucking scary. No other word for it. His performance is stunning.

It was directed by Charles Laughton who is primarily known as an actor, but this is a tremendous effort. Although some of the camera work was self-conscious, it was effective. He particularly did a nice job of using shadows to create a sense of mystery and dread. I'm using that word a lot, but that's what this movie is all about. I also liked the art direction. There were a lot of scenes clearly shot on sound stages, but it made them look surreal and something out of a kid's nightmare.

Mitchum has LOVE tattooed on his right hand and HATE on the left. This is something Spike Lee lifted for Radio Raheem in "Do the Right Thing". Mitchum gives a speech similar to the one Raheem gives in this film. Except it's a lot creepier and fucking awesome.

The final act loses some of the momentum and there are some leaps in logic that I didn't follow. But it's a great film.