Night of the Hunter is one of my favorite movies. Partly because it has sentimental value for me, as I was named after one of the characters. And partly because its easily one of the best movies ever made, ever.

I could probably write a whole essay about this movie. Others have probably written much better essays about it then I could ever write. Because this is kind of an "art blog" I'll talk about the visuals mostly. But the story is just as good. Whenever I watch it I find it hard to stop. Some older movies are difficult to get into, no matter how good they are, but this one is really engaging to me, and sort of surprisingly complex. Here are a few images from the film. Keep in mind that this is a Hollywood movie made in 1955, half a decade before the French New Wave.











And probably the most famous shot, of Shelley Winters after her car has been pushed into a lake:


Pretty much everything about this movie is perfect, but it's also exciting to watch because you can see where all the things we find fresh and exciting about movies today got their start. The Coen Brothers probably would be accountants or something if this movie never existed. It used to be on Hulu but it doesn't seem to be available anymore, but its definitely worth the cost of a rental.