1955 · thriller · noir
The Night of the Hunter
Directed by Charles Laughton1h 33m1955
In Depression-era West Virginia, a serial-killing preacher hunts two young children who know the whereabouts of a stash of money.
Our read: The Night of the Hunter (1955) reads as a heavy, steady, inventive thriller · noir entry — measured in intensity, mid-stakes in scope, cold in temperature, ambivalent in outlook, with a strong directorial signature.
Heavy, steady, measured thriller / noir, inventive in texture. Ambivalent, mid-stakes, cold.
- heavy
- intense
- inventive
Watching The Night of the Hunter tonight? Spin for your lens.
Everyone on the couch spins once and gets one craft to watch for. After the credits, compare what you caught.
Your lens for tonight
?
Everyone on the couch gets one craft to watch for. Spin the wheel to get yours. Sound on: the narrator reads your mission.
More info & search links
How The Night of the Hunter feels to watch.
Each axis is scored by hand, not from votes or genre averages. The bar uses the film's own colours.
What watching it is actually like.
“You want Gothic dread and iconic villainy in gorgeous black-and-white craft.”
Skip it tonight — Children in peril and nightmare imagery will ruin your evening.
Eight films that feel like this one.
Closest in the twelve-axis space, not “people also liked”. All films like The Night of the Hunter, with why →
Discussion
Make it a movie night.
Pick a mood, get a film the whole couch will enjoy, and give everyone something to watch for.
Pick tonight's film →