Cape Fear or Night of the Hunter?
Well?
I say Night of the Hunter, but they're both good.
NOTH
shareI don't see the point in having to choose one over the other--they are both excellent films and terrifying in their own ways. Robert Mitchum is superb in both--he scares the crap out of me in both movies.
Tough to choose. The Night of the Hunter was more poetic in its story and even its violence, less raw, more ethereal and unreal. Cape Fear is a straightforward thriller, more immediate and accessible, and therefore, in my opinion, much scarier, since it's much more believable.
Of course, Mitchum got the CF role directly because of his chilling portrayal in TNOTH seven years earlier. Both great performances by this superb and consistently underrated actor.