A short post to describe one of the finest films I've ever seen. Night of the Hunter, starring Robert Mitchum and based on the David Grubb novel, it is in equal measure terrifying, wild, murky and enchanting. The story follows two children pursued by a villanious preacher man, who looks set to steal the money that their father robbed before he got thrown in the can. The film is at times a chase thriller and proto horror whilst also a debate of how one seperates religious devotion from cult worship. Robert Mitchum's Rev Harry Powell quotes scripture and gospel with a bellowing solemnity but his eyes, wide and motionless, reveal his empty pleas as false. He is a complex and haunting presence, more a hypnotist than a healer.
The cinematography and direction traces a blood line from Lynch style noir. Wide pan shots of angular rooms & dark vistas, the eery tension of a wholesome town dismantled by a lurking demon and an entire cast of characters that teeter on the brink of madness - it will strike a chord with fans of Inland Empire and Eraserhead.
Mesmeric in so much as you're never quite sure what you're seeing is real, especially given how modern the film was and still is; it's a crying shame as well that child performances have rarely matched the quality of Sally Jane Bruce and Billy Chapin either. A dominating, shocking and gorgeous film.
Thanks Katie
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