Night of the Hunter

Directed by Charles Laughton and released in 1955, Night of the Hunter has some of the most memorable and extreme examples of classic noir film shots.

Robert Mitchum's performance in Night of the Hunter is widely regarded as one of his best. The films narrative focuses on a preacher/serial killer seducing a woman to try and get her kids to tell where $10,000 dollars is hidden. Typically of film noir the film does indeed have a bases in crime, but is more in this case to do with greed and focuses much more on the insane and haunting elements of the story.

Very gothic, Night of the Hunter really takes its inspiration from the German expressionism films, taking the noir elements and turning them into a dream-like nightmare. There are a few shots of the film that stand out as among the most powerful in the film. The above image shows a harsh pointed room which really reminds me of a gothic like cathedral. The image left is that of the cellar where the bar like lights really adds to the feeling of being trapped.


The film particularly uses silhouettes throughout the film to shows characters at important moments. Two such moments can be seen in the image to the left and bellow.

The whole of the film has an undertone of the haunting noir like style but the moments that particularly stand out are always the moments where the characters are particularly venerable. They are few but very powerful.

There is no doubt that Night of the Hunter's terrifying performances and haunting images create one of the most atmospheric films I've seen.