The Night of The Hunter

DIR: Charles Laughton, USA 1955, 93 mins, Horror. WITH: Robert Mitchum, Shelley Winters, Lillian Gish. 12 cert.

Ulster Hall Group
Tuesday 13th July, 8pm
£3, or £10 for a WeeFT pass

Described by Laughton as a “nightmarish Mother Goose”, this profoundly disturbing psychodrama marked both the beginning and the end of his career as a director. Driven by a performance by Robert Mitchum that goes a long way to defining on-screen evil, both tone and tale are absolutely compelling throughout.

The central story follows psychopathic preacher, Harry Powell, as he searches obsessively for $10,000 hidden by a condemned convict. Marrying then murdering the dead man’s wife, he swiftly turns his attention to her kids, pursuing them to a conclusion of mythical proportions.

Drawing on sources as diverse as German Expressionism and rural American fable, this is a strange, tense and at times dream-like film that still sends a shiver down the spine.