A charming serial killer who seduces then dispatches widows for their money, sets his murderous sights on two children, keepers of a lucrative secret.

Part horror story, part thriller, part fairy tale — The Night of the Hunter unfurls with ever-increasing dramatic tension, as the killer, unrelenting in his pursuit, closes in on his innocent targets.

Although shot in 1955, the film makes brilliant use of chiaroscruro lighting and abstract compositions of the kind we associate with silent-era German Expressionism. The effect is nightmarish and disturbing. A fitting mood for a film that so starkly pits light against dark, good against evil, love against hate.