Editing The Night of the Hunter (film) (section)

===Retrospective===
Over time, ''The Night of the Hunter'' has been reassessed and recognized as a classic.{{sfn|Clubb|Rosas|2010|loc=37:26}} It began as a [[cult film]], with a small group of fans, and regularly played at museums and in revival houses. Its popularity grew as a new generation of children were exposed to the film when it played on television.{{sfn|Clubb|Rosas|2010|loc=36:13}} In the 1970s, as the field of film criticism began to expand, many articles were written about the film.{{sfn|Clubb|Rosas|2010|loc=36:55}}

[[Roger Ebert]] wrote, "what a compelling, frightening and beautiful film it is! And how well it has survived its period. Many films of the mid-1950s, even the good ones, seem somewhat dated now, but by setting his story in an invented movie world outside conventional realism, Laughton gave it a timelessness... It is one of the most frightening of movies, with one of the most unforgettable of villains, and on both of those scores, it holds up... well after four decades."<ref>{{cite web |url=http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=%2F19961124%2FREVIEWS08%2F401010344%2F1023 |title=The Night of the Hunter (1955) |website=Chicago Sun-Times |last=Ebert |first=Roger |author-link=Roger Ebert |date=November 24, 1996 |access-date=October 17, 2006 |archive-date=December 7, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081207070242/http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=%2F19961124%2FREVIEWS08%2F401010344%2F1023 |url-status=dead }}</ref> [[Dave Kehr]] wrote that "Charles Laughton's first and only film as a director is an enduring masterpiece—dark, deep, beautiful, aglow... The source of its style and power is mysterious—it is a film without precedent and without any real equals."<ref>{{cite news |last=Kehr |first=Dave |date=October 26, 1985 |title=The Night of the Hunter |work=[[Chicago Reader]] |url=https://chicagoreader.com/film/the-night-of-the-hunter/}}</ref>

On [[Rotten Tomatoes]], 93% of {{nowrap|80 critics}} gave the film a positive review, with a [[weighted average]] rating of 9.10/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "Featuring Robert Mitchum's formidable performance as a child-hunting preacher, ''The Night of the Hunter'' is a disturbing look at good and evil."<ref>{{Citation|title=The Night of the Hunter (1955)|url=https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/night_of_the_hunter|language=en|access-date=September 20, 2022}}</ref> {{Metacritic film prose|97|21|access-date=January 21, 2025}}<ref>{{Cite Metacritic |title=The Night of the Hunter |id=the-night-of-the-hunter |type=movie |access-date=January 21, 2025}}</ref>

In 2015, Taste of Cinema ranked the film 21st among the "30 Great [[Psychopathy|Psychopath]] Movies That Are Worth Your Time", and [[GamesRadar+]] named Powell one of the "50 Creepiest Movie Psychopaths.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Turer |first=Jason |date=2015-04-09 |title=30 Great Psychopath Movies That Are Worth Your Time |url=https://www.tasteofcinema.com/2015/30-great-psychopath-movies-that-are-worth-your-time/ |access-date=2025-03-08 |website=Taste of Cinema - Movie Reviews and Classic Movie Lists |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=published |first=Joshua Winning |date=2013-03-14 |title=50 Creepiest Movie Psychopaths |url=https://www.gamesradar.com/50-creepiest-movie-psychopaths/ |access-date=2025-03-08 |website=gamesradar |language=en}}</ref>