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Free Shipping Released: 2000-01-25 Rating: More Details: The Night of the Hunter The Night of the Hunter @Amazon The Night of the Hunter @aStore |
Product Description
A psychopathic preacher is in relentless pursuit of two children possessing their dead fathers stolen fortune. Special features: theatrical trailer and behind-the-scenes booklet. Studio: Tcfhe/mgm Release Date: 01/18/2000 Starring: Lillian Gish Shelley Winters Run time: 93 minutes Rating: Nr Director: Charles Laughton
In the entire history of American movies, The Night of the Hunter stands out as the rarest and most exotic of specimens. It is, to say the least, a masterpiece--and not just because it was the only movie directed by flamboyant actor Charles Laughton or the only produced solo screenplay by the legendary critic James Agee (who also cowrote The African Queen). The truth is, nobody has ever made anything approaching its phantasmagoric, overheated style in which German expressionism, religious hysteria, fairy-tale fantasy (of the Grimm-est variety), and stalker movie are brought together in a furious boil. Like a nightmarish premonition of stalker movies to come, Night of the Hunter tells the suspenseful tale of a demented preacher (Robert Mitchum, in a performance that prefigures his memorable villain in Cape Fear), who torments a boy and his little sister--even marries their mixed-up mother (Shelley Winters)--because he's certain the kids know where their late bank-robber father hid a stash of stolen money. So dramatic, primal, and unforgettable are its images--the preacher's shadow looming over the children in their bedroom, the magical boat ride down a river whose banks teem with fantastic wildlife, those tattoos of LOVE and HATE on the unholy man's knuckles, the golden locks of a drowned woman waving in the current along with the indigenous plant life in her watery grave--that they're still haunting audiences (and filmmakers) today. --Jim Emerson
at once beautiful and terrifying ![]()
From an email I wrote to a friend:
"You were right when you said I was going to like this. I actually think I like it a little more than you do. Despite my pretensions at being an amateur film historian, I can't remember every hearing of this. Mitchum is completely terrifying -- mainly because he actually does believe a warped version of what he preaches. It's certainly the scariest movie I've seen in about 15 years or so, despite being around 40 years old. I had to keep stopping it because I simply couldn't take the suspense. What's new to me about this movie was that you were admiring the lyrical photography all the while scared out of your wits."
The reason I give it four stars, though, is that Laughton seemed to drop the ball in the ending: I found nearly everybody's actions in the final act both disappointing and hard to believe.
They don't make 'em like this anymore! ![]()
This will keep you on the edge of your seat. A classic: suspenseful, funny, great cinematography. Robert Mitchum at his best.
Beyond All Boundaries Of Bad ![]()
I consider it my civic duty to warn anybody approaching this master-clunker after having been steered to it by numerous All Time Classic guides. Don't believe it! This movie is just plain awful. One of the worst things I've ever poured down my eyehole. The writing has all the subtlety of a Jimmy Swaggart sermon. The plot is ridiculous from first to last. But what makes it nails-to-chalkboard offensive is the acting. The acting, the acting, oh the agony of the acting! It would have to rise a few levels just to be bad. You might have to watch the movie just to believe how awful it really is. But it will take you days to wash the stain from your soul. You may even swear off movies altogether. You'll certainly have to redefine your views of what Classic and Great mean to movie list compilers (not to mention the majority of parrots here and on IMDB).
Out of Print! Hurrah! ![]()
For those of you who have commented about this wonderful film being out of print... that is actually a good thing. That means a special edition and maybe even a blu ray version is on its way.
That goodness. Can wait to possibly see the love and hate knuckles in hi-def.
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The Night of the Hunter: A Biography of a Film |
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The Night Of The Hunter |