Original poster artwork · Great Cinema Master List
Spoiler-free premise
In the Deep South, a serial-killing preacher hunts two young children who know the whereabouts of a stash of money.
Read expanded premiseLonger, still spoiler-free+
Imprisoned thief Ben Harper hides stolen money before his execution, telling only his children John and Pearl where it is. His cellmate, self-styled preacher Harry Powell, later courts their widowed mother and begins pressuring the children for the secret.
Why it belongs
Charles Laughton transforms a child's flight from predatory authority into a haunting American fable of shadow, song, fear, and sanctuary.
Read expanded why it belongsThe fuller editorial case+
Expressionist lighting, storybook river images, hymns, animal sounds, and Robert Mitchum's sing-song menace place terror and innocence in the same dream space, while Lillian Gish's calm presence offers a radically different form of adult power.
Major award wins
No verified wins in this six-institution crosswalk.
Awards are reference metadata only · zero points in 40/40/20
Good for
Film Club
Descriptive guidance derived from rating, genre, runtime, mood, and GCML scores.
Institutional reference ranks
Sight & Sound25IMDb Top 250—AFI 100—
Reference metadata only · not part of the 40/40/20 score
Great Cinema Master List scores
Greatness9.4
Engagement9.1
Ease8.6
English · Not Rated Narrative Feature Mood: Tense & Absorbing
