"Hunter's Night" may seem clumsy and jerky at first glance. I don't know if it was due to Lautton's first directing tube, but if I want to come to Lautton's depressed and painful heart, many treatments in black and even quite formal are also important reasons.
The most interesting thing is that Lawton, who is born as an actor, actually handles the play quite differently in this work from that of directors who are born as actors. He doesn't like to dig deep into the actors' exchanges, so a few replays seem to be rough, and they even passed. If John and Pearl find that the money is in the doll's body, they hurriedly put the money back into the doll's body, and now Harry is talking to them at the door of the room behind them. Another example is Harry tripping over a glass bottle in the cellar without catching John. And John and Pal rowed away. In the shallow water, Harry didn't even grab the side of the boat. Even towards the end, Mrs. Rachel Cooper shot and finally hit Harry in a haste.
But relative to some atmospheric shots with a strong sense of form that win with images, they are amazing. The most weird and beautiful is Vera sinking under the water. The camera first showed the waterweed, and then Vera appeared. She was tied up, her golden hair was flying like waterweeds, and the white pajamas were also fluttering gently, she seemed to hang on the seat of a car. Following her figure, a fishhook swimming by the car, we saw the bottom of a small boat. Then, Old Parry found her. The water was extremely clear. With Old Parry's body, we saw Vera's body that was very clear underwater. Back home, Parry, who was drunk with a horror, told his wife in the photo of his horror and shock: "Her hair is floating like waterweeds, and the knife cut on her neck is like another mouth." Before Vera was alive. She has never been so beautiful.
Mrs. Cooper confronted Harry with a gun in the house. The owl on the wall is very cute, and there is a rabbit on the ground wiping its mouth very cutely. With a sound of flapping wings, the owl outside the picture attacked the rabbit. Although it is said that the owl does not flap its wings when it moves, the picture at this moment is still weird and interesting. In contrast, Mrs. Cooper was in a silhouette inside the house, while Harry outside the house in the depth of field was in a bright place. Ruby brought an oil lamp, and the light of the oil lamp instantly illuminated Mrs. Cooper, but the huge and strong halo made Harry disappear from the depth of field. This use of light and shadow is not only a feature of film noir, but also only the movies of that era dare to use it. The meaning and beauty of the form will suffocate me.
The charm of "Hunter's Night" lies in his evil, undoubtedly Lawton hates humans, but like his emotions and attitudes towards religion, there are huge contradictions mixed in it. Like a modern classic Home Alone, John has been fighting wits and courage with Harry, but when he saw Harry being pressed down and tied up like his father, he screamed and rushed on as if he wanted to stop the brutal behavior of the police. Tear the doll to pieces and let the banknotes fly around Harry. Subconsciously, he seemed to be Harry. At the end, when he exchanged gifts with Mrs. Cooper, he did not prepare carefully in advance. He just wrapped an apple on a placemat and gave it to Mrs. Cooper. Cooper happily said that it was her this year. The best gift she received, because Apple was an important prop for her to build trust with John; John who got the pocket watch said it was the best watch he had, but John, who was born in poverty, had never owned a watch before. John’s words are like Harry’s words when he teased Ruby, "You are the most beautiful girl I have ever seen." Even though Mrs. Cooper only hopes that someone can remind her of the exact time, it’s actually only four in the past. The female's family yearning for a male at home. In connection with the two apple nights, Mrs. Cooper told the story of the king. John emphasized that he was two kings. It is not difficult to think that John's future may be just another Harry in the world of others.
Lawton’s evil is also directly affecting the audience’s emotions and judgments. Harry watched the seductive dancers dancing on the stage shortly after the film began. His fingers had the four letters "HATE" written on them. He put his hand in his pocket, and a blade came out of his pocket, symbolizing the genitals. Although the dancer's posture is attractive, it is indeed inexplicably disgusting.
Faced with Harry's arrival, and even the exposure of his blue-beard-like behavior, the people in a small town went from infinite worship to riotous rants and denunciations. The same is true of Vera's love for Harry. Old Parry seemed to be something John could rely on, but when John was panicked, Old Parry just fell on the floor drunk, and he did not bravely report the discovery of Vera's body.
The stupidity of mankind lies in the so-called belief of mankind, and the need for faith seems to be all in man's vulnerability and desire. As a result, Vera's admirers refused to have sex with Harry, and Harry killed Vera in the bedroom on the roof like a miniature church.
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