The Night of the Hunter

In Depression-era West Virginia, a serial-killing preacher hunts two young children who know the whereabouts of a stash of money, in a brilliant allegory about the battle between good and evil. The film is a nightmarish fairytale that stands up now as a true masterpiece, directed by Charles Laughton in his sole directorial credit and starring Robert Mitchum, Shelley Winters, and Lillian Gish.