Dave’s Review

I just watched "Night of the Hunter" and "wow"! Mitchum was great as the menacing false prophet, deceiver, psycho and all around bad guy. I like how the music changed when Mitchum entered a scene. When Mitchum was praying to God about all the women that he’s killed, it made me think, "What kind of childhood did he have to get so twisted?" I got a kick out of my boys watching the part where the kids were hiding in the cellar (John & Pearl), and Mitchum comes down after them. They were so mad at the little girl (Pearl) for being so slow in getting away.

I thought Gish (Mrs. Cooper) was a great counterpart to Mitchum’s villain. She saw right through his deception. My favorite scene in the movie was when Mitchum is singing, for the final time, "Leaning On the Everlasting Arms." It sounded so creepy. And then Gish harmonizes by singing the same song, but without deception, to show that good cannot be intimidated by evil.

I also liked how Gish told the orphan children the two bible stories. Both stories were about someone trying to kill children (baby Moses & baby Jesus), and in both instances the children were saved just like John and Pearl.

I didn’t think Shelly Winters had a real memorable performance, and I guess I have to overlook some of the obvious scenes that you can tell were on a set, being how old the movie is, but overall the movie had some tense scenes and kept me interested.