It's a good movie. Robert Mitchum is awesome, in a great villain character. But the movie has some flaws in my opinion. Especially in the end, could be much better.

Robert Mitchum's performance is superb. His nauseating hypocrisy makes the audience fear not an unknown but a stalking, inescapable evil. Unfortunately, the pace is quite different from most films and I was periodically disappointed by anti-climaxes.

I did like Mitchum's character and the story, but the last section of it was just dreadfully abrupt.

One-of-a-kind absolute classic. Not unlike a really scary fairy tale. This movie still scares the shit out of me, decades after I first saw it

A wild, offbeat ride. In particular, it's unbelievably dark given that copyright date, putting the film's children in constant, gloomy danger as they flee the money-lusting villain. The film has a grand theatrical sense, pulling off impactful bits involving distant silhouettes and stark lighting effects that owe something to the rich field of stagecraft. The film's dark heart is the performance by Mitchum, a sly portrait of nasty allure and fierce danger lingering just below the surface.

It's not at all difficult to see the influence this film has had on the Coen brothers, among other directors. Laid-back and dreamy, then wickedly tense in spots. An excellent film.

Mitchum gives one of his greatest performances. Blunted by an overly arty approach, but overall Laughton's direction (his first and only time behind the camera) has moments of brilliance, while Mitchum makes for one of the most memorably menacing psychos in horror movie history.

Oooooh this guy's evil. I wasn't bored for a second.

Awesome until it turns into a completely different kind of movie halfway through.

One of the greatest films ever made, and it's easily the best film of 1955.

I realize Robert Mitchum is supposed to be some bad-assed freaky preacher...instead he hams it up, way over the top, in almost every scene he's in. I hate nearly every part of this movie. It's movies like this turd, a movie that has been stuck on a "best movies made" list for far too many years, that makes me hate old, has-been critics that are anything but current.

A masterpiece, the only directorial effort by Laughton. Mitchum gives his greatest performance.

Mitchum is fantastic in this thriller that manages to effectively present a sentimental view of the innocence of children contrasted with the horrors of the adult world, while at the same time having an incredible visual style that is at different times wonderfully dark, claustrophobic, and surreal.

It's since been overshadowed in terms of suspense, but besides being outstanding for its era, it's timelessly good thanks to its interesting script and wonderful cinematography, its psycho-social subtext and Mitchum's memorable performance.

# 52

The Night of the Hunter is a great film. The best things about it easily being both the acting by Robert Mitchum which is absolutely fantastic, and the Photography which is reminiscent of German Expressionist films. This film contains some incredible scenes, like Gish and Mitchum, enemies, who sing together. Fantastic, a little boring at times, but definitely something worth watching. Fantastic!

Mitchum is excellent and this film contains alot of dramatic moments that more than make it a worthwhile watch. I did however feel the ending, which was anticlimactic, could have been shortened.

Super-creepy and skin-crawly with Mitchum giving it his considerable all. Laughton's only movie as a director, regrettably.

This one threw me for a loop. I _hated_ it, until I realized that it wasn't supposed to be naturalistic at all. Then it dawned on me what an astoundingly subversive and unique film this is, even by today's standards. Still, I have a hard time getting past some of the weird acting (Mitchum excepted, of course), the spastic editing and the strange, winding plot, however intentional they may be.

One of the true gems from the US in the 50s