Many directors (including Spike Lee), consider Night of the Hunter to be one of the best movies ever made. I’d always heard about it but never saw it until now and… frankly, it’s bizarre. I don’t know how this movie ever got made at the time it did. I can see why 1955 audiences were puzzled by it and in some cases even feared it.
There is biting criticism of depression-era religiosity in the South, a creepy child-murderer main character, and a surrealism that pervades the entire picture with stylized shots meant to evoke images and emotions more than tell a reality-based story.
Those might all sound like objections but for those reasons, I really enjoyed this. I’m not sure I could recommend it to most people because it seems more of an acquired taste but it is quite amazing. Probably the biggest reason to watch it is to see Robert Mitchum’s performance as the psychopathic murderer. Not as good as his Cape Fear role but still really great and eerie. Oh, and if you love light and black & white cinematography, this is a must-see.