The Night of the Hunter

The only movie directed by Charles Laughton who is more famous as an actor in movies such as Captain Kidd, The Blue Veil and Salome. It was a bit of a flop when released in 1955 and so presumably Mr Laughton decided to stick to his day job, which is a shame, because The Night of the Hunter is ground breaking. There had never been anything quite like it. A fusion of horror, comedy and expressionism. I don’t know whether David Lynch considers this film a source of his inspiration, but I can see clear parallels. Robert Mitchum is spot on as the smooth talking fake preacher man, who famously has LOVE and HATE tattooed on his knuckles. From a cinematographic point of view there are some very unusual and effective shots, such as Shelly Winter’s hair drifting with the water weeds after her body and car is dumped in the river.