best movie i've ever seen.

If the ambition is to provide two hours of instantly forgettable, popcorn-munching escapism, it succeeds.

Great movie. Not sure what people expected but I found it highly entertaining.

The acting in this movie is really good.

The tension starts from the beginning, as the audience keep wondering if John can keep the money from Powell. The suspense increases when Powell kills Willa. The audience just hope that John and Pearl can escape from Powell. The climax comes when Powell arrives at Cooper's house. The atmosphere reaches a gut-wrenching degree. The movie also succeeds in character development, especially the kids. John is the bravest kid I've ever seen, and Pearl is one of the cutest children in the history of cinema.

Cinematography is great. Music is good and serves to heighten the suspense in the right places. Pacing and direction are decent. However, except for the little girl and Mrs Cooper (most of the time), the acting is generally terrible and quite tacky. Dialogue is so cheesy, sometimes it felt like I was watching a spoof.Overall, it felt more like a stage play. I don't regret watching it but no way it deserves the 8/10 rating it's currently on.

Disturbing or daring movie?? what's genre?? very hard to find the answers after 93 minutes watching carefully this near masterpiece movie l surrender...fantastic atmosphere of fear and dark...Laughton on first e final directing with help of the novel's writer created a visual movie as originality and unusual methods and process...such things given to movie the dimension of the movie have today...it was dropped in theater when released but the time is the master of the truth... Mitchum is fantastic as preacher....the both kids are great too...and Lillian Gish after a long hiatus on the scream was fabulous as old farmer woman who helps homeless kids....James Gleason as Uncle birdie is amazing....so this movie is really a little gem of cinema for those known how appreciate a Cultmovie like this!!!

Where to start? The acting has more ham than Easter dinner. Shelley Winters - fetching in her early years - is trying way too hard. Peter Graves never could act. The older couple - well, the woman, anyway - I wanted to see put in the ground she was so irritating. James Gleason - an old pro who is in too many movies to count - gives the worst performance of his life. Mitchum isn't menacing; he's a cartoon. The opening scene with the disembodied heads? Laughable. The soundtrack? Over-the-top. I watched this years ago and thought it was garbage, despite its reputation. So I watched it again on TCM and, sure enough, it's still garbage. The scene where Mitchem gets gonked on the head with the jar of preserves and then ''chases'' the kids up the stairs with his arms out-stretched is, and I say this without fear of contradiction - the most ineptly staged scene in the history of serious cinema. Charles Laughton made the correct decision to never direct another film. He was an un-talented hack behind the camera.