they're both brilliant but i'd have to say cape fear, bob mitchum just blew me away, scared and aroused me. But night of the hunter was a masterpiece bfore its time.
shareI'd say "The Night of the Hunter" but "Cape Fear" was great as well.
shareCape Fear - 8/10
Night of the Hunter - 1/10
It isn't even close. Cape Fear is a very good thriller that's hurt slightly by some wooden acting and a weak ending. Night of the Hunter is just awful on every level, from acting, to the script, to the *beep* duet sang by the preacher and the woman he was harassing...MEH
Formally known as Coilector
Sorry Mate both great films but Night of The Hunter wins by a country mile. That scene on the river chills me to the bone. Decades ahead of its time with the slow build up and sinister progression.
Bob Mitchum was a truly great and underrated actor
I loved this part with them singing......."leaning, leaning, leaning on the everlasting Lord" and then, "leaning on Jesus, leaning on Jesus" and then when she shot at him......he was hooting and hollering as if the devil was in him. Weird, scary stuff. I loved Robert Mitchum. He has a slow, sexy walk in most of his movies which were gangster types. This Night of the Hunter showed a complete change in the roles he had been playing. Then he played in Cape Fear which was a movie that could really happen in real life. He played another role in a TV movie which was also sinister. In all this, he was terrific and terribly sexy.....!!!! I think I must say, Cape Fear rated a little above The Night of the Hunter, but only because Cape Fear seemed more in the real world.
shareCape Fear is perfectly plotted and structured, with not a single bad break in the tension. Night of the Hunter, on the other hand, has numerous spots where the tension breaks, where unrealistic things happen, where characters act in unbelievable ways, etc., that take me out of the movie. Nevertheless, Night of the Hunter is far more original and ambitious than Cape Fear, with all sorts of elaborate and haunting visuals and fair-tale-like themes that really make it unique. Cape Fear is notably explicit and violent for its time, but it wasn't revolutionary and influential as Night of the Hunter.
So I don't know. It took me a couple viewings to appreciate Night of he Hunter, but I think I might put it slightly higher.
I loved the plot to Night Of The Hunter but thought it was over rated. Cape Fear wins by a lot.
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There´re definitely more things wrong with Night Of The Hunter than Cape Fear. In fact, pretty much the only thing to complain about regarding CF is the impossibly squeaky-clean, goody-good nature of Peck´s fam´ly Mitchum is pursuing. But at least it isn´t taken as far as to allow it to make a cartoon out of the whole thing the way it happened in Hitchcock´s Shadow Of A Doubt where the ludicrously one-dimensional upbeat portrayal of the wholesome middle-America drowned out any menace Cotten´s masterfully played Uncle Charlie attempted to inject. And yes, it´s definitely better than Scorsese´s remake.
"facts are stupid things" - Ronald Reagan
I enjoy both tremendously but I'd give the edge to Night of the Hunter.
shareI just saw both for the first time this week and liked Night of the Hunter better. Cape Fear was a thriller with the theme about a maniac that goes after a family for revenge with "law and order" working against them.
Night of the Hunter had the maniac but also the Great Depression, poverty and greed, biblical themes, the weakness and strength of women, the innocence and resilience of children, small town mind-sets. It had a more interesting visual and storytelling style to me, too.
Cape Fear is just a good entertainment whereas Night of the Hunter is the greatest cinematic achievement of all time.
shareAgreed - it's not even close - Night of the Hunter towers over Cape Fear.
Cape Fear plays it all pretty straight. Perhaps it was hampered by the time it was made in, and they could only hint at certain things.
But Night of the Hunter has so many layers to it, ripe with symbolism and poetic imagery. Perhaps that's why I also liked the Scorsese version more than the original - at least the Scorsese one made things more complex by soiling the family a bit and giving the film a certain biblical dimension - automatically we're dealing with themes of retribution, generational sin and guilt, carnal lust...
That's a lot deeper than the Gregory Peck version. I think if Hitchcock made this he could've taken this further and made a much better film. Cape Fear is a good movie but, just as Scorsese saw it, a bit too squeaky clean.
Not easy, they're both classics that I adore dearly. But, I'm gonna have to go with Cape Fear - I knew I was watching a masterpiece the first time I saw it. Night Of The Hunter is one of my favorite films of all time--in the same league as Cape Fear, but there's just something I love about Cape Fear more. One thing I can't choose between the two films though, is Mitchum's brilliant and unforgettable performances.
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