The Man with the Love-Hate Tattoo: Review of The Night of the Hunter

Classic from the Vault

The Night of the Hunter (1955)

Director: Charles Laughton

By Alex Watson

The Film noir category was a glorious time of film making and continually brought us films that simply shone with class. Its principle strength was making stories that made great use of the Classical Hollywood narrative, but on occasion some films went against this strategy and as a result some compelling thrillers were born- one such example was British actor, Charles Laughton’s film The Night of the Hunter, which gave a story of man who will stop at nothing to get his hands on the ultimate prize!

It depicts the story of a man called Harry Powell (Robert Mitchum), a preacher who has spend his time murdering across Americas mid west. When in jail he learns from his cell mate Ben Harper (Peter Graves), who is imprisoned for killing two policemen during a bank robbery, that there is a considerable sum of money hidden somewhere in his home, upon learning this Powell travels to the man’s home town and quickly wins over Harpers family including the widow Willa (Shelley Winters), well all except his young son John (Billy Chaplin) who has been entrusted with the secret, and sets out on claiming the money. As his influence grows, the Harper child soon become involved in a deadly game of cat and mouse to survive

Charles Laughton’s The Night of the Hunter is fits firmly into the film noir category and was at first ignored by critics on its first release but now days it is rightly regarded as a classic and its wonderful expressionist style has influenced many directors such as David Lynch, Martin Scorsese and Terence Malick. It is a shame that the failure of this movie disheartened Laughton and as a result- it would remain his sole directorial effort.

The interesting point of the plot is the simplicity of it; we are presented with a story of a father who has a robbed a bank and stashed the money, leaving only his son with the secret. Then along comes the false prophet who knows of the money but not it’s hiding place, in the early stages John’s attempts to keep it secret are very chest tightening and with Powell skulking in the background they are never safe. So when the children finally escape his dangerous clutches, the chase begins and so do the thrills!

It is worth noting that the main character of Harry Powell is very much an anti-hero; this was strange for its time because the classical Hollywood narrative always had strong heroic characters who would find a way out of the most tricky of situations. The character of Powell is portrayed as a harsh, brutal man with Love and Hate tattooed on his hands, who has never known love, but yet oozes sexual prowess from every core. But his biggest strength is his ability to manipulate people into believing his lies, this is shown by the way he easily charms his way into the lives of Harper family with his story of ‘right hand V left hand’.

The Night of the Hunter has an almost dream like beginning to it, because the story opens with Rachel (Lillian Gish) the old woman reading a biblical story to the children saying “Beware the false prophet in sheep’s clothing” which an indicator for the things to come.  But from the words read out the dream is presented as more like a nightmare, here Rachel’s job as narrator comes into view because her role is to render the nightmare to be at least partially safe and she is closest the children have to an adult role model in this film. Her final showdown with Powell as she fights to protect the children is particularly chilling as the two sing Biblical hymns against each other.

Robert Mitchum gives the finest performance of his career as self appointed preacher Harry Powell and his elegant mix of charm and danger gives him a glorious menace on screen. But his best quality is his ability to make Harry near likeable and it is easy to see why the naive townsfolk readily accept him into society! Mitchum is one of the under-rated actors of the classical Hollywood era and The Night of the Hunter serves as reminder of why he is considered one of the great film noir actors.

We can only wonder what Laughton’s directorial career could have produced if The Night of the Hunter hadn’t tanked at the box office, but nonetheless it is still one of the great noir films and alongside its captivating story it give us an iconic character. Be careful of the next charming man you let in your life- especially if he has tattoos like Harry Powell!

Hooray! It’s a Holiday: Review of Sightseers

EXCLUSIVE

Sightseers

Director: Ben Wheatley

By Alex Watson

When people think of a typical serial killer film, they tend of think of it being a very grizzly and unpleasant experience where there will be bullets and blood by the bucket load. But no one ever think that it could be in the least bit funny and that humour can be found in even the most bizarre circumstance. This week we turn to Ben Wheatley’s follow up to his already cult classic Kill List, where he gives us a very British view on murder mixed with a caravan holiday in Sightseers. This week I was privileged to catch an exclusive screening at the Cornerhouse Cinema in Manchester!

Tina (Alice Lowe) lives with her domineering mother who still blames her for the death of their beloved dog Poppy. Desperate for an adventure and to escape her mother’s grasp, Tina takes off on a romance caravan holiday with her new boyfriend Chris (Steve Oram). As the pair views the countryside, a darker side to her man appears and very soon a series of nasty deaths will take place with various tourists who ‘ruin their holiday’ all the while testing the relationship.

Sightseers is a film of rare quality and it is brought to life through the brilliant direction by Ben Wheatley and the script by stars Lowe and Oram shines brightly! Through its very unusual premise, the laughs keep coming by the bucketful. But it’s the casual depict of violence that makes this film really shine. However, it’s the fact they are merely killing people who have annoyed them is such minor ways which provides the laughs. In particular when Chris bludgeons a man to death after he ticks them off for not picking up their dogs ‘excrement’ he justifies his bloody demise with “He’s not human… he’s a Daily Mail reader!”

At its centre, there is a very British feel to it as the pair visits such odd tourist spots as the Crich Tramway museum and Ribblehead Viaduct. With its road trip feel and a female who is desensitised to violence, this is almost like the British version of Badlands!

But like Wheatley’s predecessor Kill List, the film also possesses a surreal edge to it and this is exemplified in a quite disturbing dream sequence where Chris chases after a woman in white which then hints at some potentially life changing events. It almost seems like the after events of the ending of Kill List. When the death scenes come they are indeed shocking and often gruesomely played out, but there is such a gleeful and upbeat feel to them which gives these moments a

The development of Chris and Tina as a couple gives Sightseers its beating heart. Tina is a woman who is trapped in life by her bulling mother (who openly tells her she was accident!) and at first she seems to relish the freedom. But even in the face of the terrible deeds that Chris does, she seems to be drawn to it. The parallels between the two are what draw us to them; Chris simply wants his perfect holiday to run on schedule and tends to lose his rag when people spoil it. Tina’s character goes from simply hitching a ride, to stacking up a body count of her own!

As the pair nitpick about their attempts to outdo one another it provides for some classic British film moments because these two are like so many couple’s we have met while camping and after this we will always be suspicious of who we let in our caravans! Though their ending will divide viewer because much like the end of Kill List- more questions remain!

Oram and Lowe make for a compelling pairing in Wheatley’s film and their unusual chemistry stands out. Already well known on the comedy circuit, the two use their skills to give us one of the best and most humorous scripts of the year. Hopefully we will see them on the BAFTA list come next year!

I cannot praise this film highly enough and I can simply finish by saying- Please See This Movie! Ben Wheatley is one of the most offbeat directors that Britain has and we can only wonder what he has in store for us next, Sightseers is probably the best British film we will see all year will also be the most unusual yet painfully experiences you will ever have in cinema. Remember when going on a road trip, always pick up your litter because you never know who may be paying attention!