Samhain Project '24 : The Night of the Hunter

The Night of the Hunter is a film where the concept is of a twisted preacher chasing two children up the Ohio River.  He's chasing them for money stolen by their now-dead father, after said preacher has already murdered their mother. 

A simple concept indeed.

But Night has so much else to offer:

• Faith and its useage.  Our evil preacher, played with malicious vigor by Robert Mitchum uses faith to manipulate and blind all those he crosses the path of.  This includes our two heroes, John and Pearl (in great performances by children in an era not known for them).  A woman with a quasi-orphanage has a monologue that opens Night and is the savior of our two youngsters.  Her faith is used to teach, inspire, and even calm and entertain. 
• The strength of children in the depression.  John and Pearl's father is imprisoned and hung for murder and robbery early in the film (but not before crossing paths with our evil preacher, and passing him knowledge of the money's existence while in the pen) and his reason was to give his kids a better future during the depression.  For he believes the kids have no hope in this era, and is tired of seeing what seems to him all children struggling.  Another woman during John and Pearl's run, hands out potatoes to wandering and abandoned kids before telling them to pound sand, despite her generosity, for she can't stand the sight of their battles.  But our lady of saving grace, who gives a beautiful soliloquy about how "it's the little things that suffer", still believes all children abide and even find a way to flourish thanks to their resiliency.
• A gorgeous film.  This was the only directorial effort of veteran actor Charles Laughton.  And in all its black and white glory, he tells a beautiful visual story to coincide with the plight of John and Pearl.  In all the horrors and ugliness of the depression and the preacher's intent, the beauty of nature stands in the foregrounds as John and Pearl ride their father's battered skiff down the Ohio River.  The sky is speckled with black and white stars that give the night a haunting beauty.  Laughton has ugliness and beauty going toe to toe in this film and because of it, it is one of the most striking movies of its era.  The haunting shot of Shelley Winters body in her sunken car, with her hair flowing among the seaweed, will always stick with me and most filmgoers share the sentiment.  The Night of the Hunter is a film swimming in visual splendor, both wonderful and awful. 

I can't say enough about the greatness and unique quality of this film. Does it qualify as straight horror?  Most certainly, but there's so much here that makes it rise above, that more than one viewing is necessary.