Absolutely phenomenal film. Terrific villain performance from Robert Mitchum. Amazing that this was the only ever film directed by Charles Laughton. The battle between right and wrong, shown by how far a man will go to get what he wants, juxtaposed by the innocence of childhood. What a film.

But the cinematography..........just wow. I'd go so far as to say it's one of the best looking movies I've seen

Mitchum's performance is the highlight here as the rather disturbing and unpredictable "preacher" and Laughton carefully builds the tension is he gradually worms his way into the children's lives. The film is beautifully shot, most notably the river sequence as the children try to escape their tormentor, enhancing the fairy-tale quality the film is striving for. The only sour note is a rather rushed resolution that doesn't really do justice to the character that Mitchum has created or the buildup of the plot prior to this, but it is ultimately a minor issue in an otherwise fine film.

Beautifully shot (interesting compositions that work really well). Pacing is excellent with the use of interesting cutting techniques to build tention (and this is before Psycho, which it made me think of, so I wonder how much this has influenced Hitchcock in making it or how much Laughton was influenced by earlier Hitchcock's works). The acting was really outstanding too, I don't think there was any one who fell out of the boat, even the children were really believable. Robert Mitchum plays a really good bad guy and I don't know who came up with using the hymn as a leitmotif for him, but it works brilliantly. My favourite shot was the underwater shot with the flowing seaweed, I really wonder how they did that (if anyone knows that reads this, please do send a message my way). Maybe there is one or two things that are left hanging, but it didn't bother me in the overall sense. It's a shame that this is the only movie we have that was directed by Laughton, but on the other hand if this is the only one we get, I'm glad that it is this one. I thought it was excellent!

Appeared very outdated. Started well but the 2nd half was monotonous and dragged on. Together with a rushed ending I give this 4/10.

As discussed, the cinematography its **stunning**. Robert Mitchum portraits an intriguing character that makes the film work but, the plot and the rest of the cast ruins the move for any horror movie fan that found this movie as a reference because, it is not.
As a thriller, it works nicely but the end sounds more like a christmas carol than a movie of this genre. Even if you are not convinced by the comments, the photography, the light and how the cameras are used make it worthy.

Wonderfully shot scenes and a haunting iconic main villain make this movie hard to forget even if the third act sputters on a bit too long in strange ways.

A simple story with a menacing villain and some good cinematography. That underwater shot is great and all the use of shadows works well. The third act loses a little bit of steam.

This is a great film. Momentum builds and your feelings come into play for the young children. Robert Mitchum is phenomenal as the preacher and villain. Recommended watch.

I do not see the appeal, I found it rather dull and a chore to get through... Though I did find the influence of German expressionism interesting. And there's a few genuinely creepy shots in it.

It started well. The idea behind the movie and the main character could have been really entertaining. It wasn't. I thought Harry Powell was a weak character. He's not scary or creepy. He never felt dangerous. He's not playing a particulary clever game. He gets his way too easily. He just becomes part of the family. Basically, he's a nut after money and he teases some kids. Shelley Winters performance is weird. Sometimes the movie looked really good. The progression of the story became boring.

Wow, deeply strange and unsettling movie. Robert Mitchum plays a wolf in sheep’s clothing: an ostensible preacher who is also a serial killer. Watching him cycle between quoting scripture and enacting violence is fun and disquieting–it’s a performance that gets under your skin. Fun seeing Lillian Gish too. There are some head-scratching moments throughout the movie: some out of place scenes, characters that could have used some work, a silly ending, etc. But none detract from the overall squickiness of the whole picture. Really enjoyed this one.