The Night of the Hunter is a permanent fixture in the pantheon of one-and-done cinematic masterpieces. Acclaimed actor Charles Laughton—best known for his Oscar-winning performance in The Private Life of Henry VIII—directed this “nightmarish Mother Goose story” and never helmed another movie after. Which is a shame because The Night of the Hunter is a labor of love and an astounding vision, with an incredibly severe, intensely expressionistic style that cloaks Robert Mitchum, in his greatest villainous performance, in the deepest shadows ever captured on celluloid. In this Grimm fairytale, a serial killer preacher tries to track down $10,000 stashed by his former cellmate; only the man’s kids know the whereabouts of the ill-gotten cash, so he courts the man’s widow (Shelley Winters) to get closer to the children and uncover the loot. Graced by images of eerie beauty and a sneaky sense of humor, this ethereal, American classic—also featuring the contributions of actress Lillian Gish and writer James Agee—is cinema’s most eccentric rendering of the battle between good and evil.