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Poster for The Night of the Hunter

The Night of the Hunter

It’s a hard world for little things.

1955 · 1h 33m · Approved Crime, Drama, Thriller
Directed by Charles Laughton

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Overview

In Depression-era West Virginia, a serial-killing preacher hunts two young children who know the whereabouts of a stash of money.

Director and cast

Critics on Rotten Tomatoes

Top critics, in their words

All reviews
93%
Tomatometer
Fresh

One of the great movie horror tales, with one of the greatest of all movie villains.

Michael Wilmington, Chicago Tribune
Fresh

Ultimately the source of its style and power is mysterious -- it is a film without precedents, and without any real equals

Dave Kehr, Chicago Reader
Rotten

This start for Gregory as producer and Laughton as director is rich in promise but the completed product, bewitching at times, loses sustained drive via too many offbeat touches that have a misty effect.

Variety Staff, Variety
Fresh

All this has been crisply compacted into clear screen drama by the late James Agee and it is put forth under the direction of Mr. Laughton in stark, rigid visual terms.

Bosley Crowther, New York Times
Fresh

It's the most haunted and dreamlike of all American films, a gothic backwoods ramble with the Devil at its heels.

Tom Huddleston, Time Out

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