The Night of the Hunter [Blu-ray]

After a terrible reception upon it’s initial release, it’s first time director, stage/screen actor Charles Laughton was so deflated he never made another film. On the strength of this effort it is a shame that he never did.It follows the nefarious exploits of one Harry Palmer (Robert Mitchum), who uses the facade of a preacher man to manipulate and lie his way into finding some hidden stolen money. While sharing a cell with and listening to one Ben Harper, who is due to be executed for his crimes, he suspects that the man’s children knows of the loot’s whereabouts, and after release and being opportunistic in nature, he subsequently woos and marries Ben’s widow. What follows is a psychological game of wills between Palmer and the children of Ben Harper, and damn anyone that even begins to get in his way of getting what he wants. . . .Featuring some beautiful cinematography, wonderful lighting and production design, camera work, a pitch perfect screenplay and wonderful performances, it is easy to see why this film has been acclaimed so much, and it is testament to the prowess of Laughton’s exacting nature. The one thing that detracts from all the formal beauty is that being a product of the fifties, it is not entirely scary as such by contemporary standards. However, in spite of that fact, it still manages to evoke an emotive response when it comes to the threat brought upon the children of the piece, and to reiterate, it still looks great.There are shots, particularly the tracking shots of the children drifting down a river, that are wonderfully composed and still provoke wonderment as to the vision on show. It is this vision that pervades throughout and is one of the film’s many strengths.I wish that I hadn’t of waited this long to see it, but am grateful that Arrow have provided an excellent restoration of it for me to fully appreciate. It is, justifiably, a classic and a true original, and indeed, worthy of high recommendation. One of the best films of the fifties.

I'm not quite sure why I hadn't seen this film before I bought it on this newly-issued Blu-ray a few months ago as it has many of the features I like in a movie.That it was made some 60 years ago makes it something of a ground-breaking masterpiece, especially as it precedes one of most favourite 'noir' classics from that period, the quite superb 'Touch of Evil' by Orson Welles....So, whilst I should have seen this film many years ago my tardiness has one benefit - I can 'enjoy' (this is a 'horror' film after all !) it for the first time at it's best, courtesy of this wonderfully produced Blu-ray.---Before I forget, this 'Arrow' production has one specific feature I've not seen much of before - the outer paper insert of the case is reversible, so you have a choice of 'covers'.The inner side has a reproduction of the theatrical-release poster which in some ways doesn't properly hint at what the film is about (perhaps a good thing !), but is certainly more nostalgic and relevant than the 'standard' outer cover.I've attached photos of the inner/outer so you can see what I'm on about and perhaps increase the purchase temptation....---This film was the only one directed by that British stage/screen legend Charles Laughton and it appears that it ruffled so many feathers on release (it bombed and got panned) that it is why he stopped directing - before his untimely death 7 years later; what a travesty.It's easy to see why at the time this film would have been misunderstood/disliked/shocked - it has little of a pleasant nature in it and concentrates on the 'activities' of a ruthless ex-convict who is mad, psychopathic, murderous and cruel in equal measure. Add in some 'odd' (for the time) cinematography, forays into the almost psychedelic and elements of religious blasphemy and it must have come as no surprise that it was doomed....As I consider most of the above to be laudable characteristics, the other main aspect of this production which makes it noteworthy is the quite marvellous performance of Robert Mitchum in the lead role of said ex-convict. One often forgets how versatile he was and his turn here must surely have been a pre-cursor for his impressive portrayal of the equally 'nasty' character Max Cady in 'Cape Fear' some 7 years later....The Amazon 'Product Description' covers the film synopsis and disc features admirably, so I won't repeat them here. The 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack is obviously not that lively but is very clear and I think it is definitely more 'spatial' in nature, so adding to the atmosphere for your viewing experience. I will definitely watch the copious and tempting disc extras at some point as this film deserves as much coverage as possible.With the caveat that I've only watched it once, for the period and genre this film for me isn't quite up there with 'Touch of Evil' but it's close - more for the direction techniques of Laughton and performance of Mitchum than the story itself. This Blu-ray also doesn't provide as much on-disc 'coverage' as the recent Blu-ray issue of 'Touch of Evil' does, but what there is seems to be of sufficient quality to support the excellent presentation of the feature itself.It still gets 5 stars though !

The Night of the Hunter is one of the greatest thrillers in film history. Director Charles Laughton, better known as one of the best English actors of his generation, develops an expressionistic style of film noir, worthy of Fritz Lang, and Robert Mitchum produces his most sinister role as a corrupt minister turned serial killer. The fact that the plot is based loosely on the true story of Harry Powers, hanged in 1932 for the murder of two widows and three children in Clarksburg, West Virginia, adds another disturbing layer to this shocking movie. Cinema would have been better served if Laughton had been primarily a filmmaker, rather than an actor, because we would have ended up with two Fritz Langs. The Night Hunter is on a par with Cape Fear, starring Mitchum opposite Gregory Peck, and both films are works of art.