A horror movie with qualities of a Grimm fairy tale, it stars a sublimely sinister Robert Mitchum as a travelling preacher named Harry Powell (he of the tattooed knuckles), whose nefarious motives for marrying a fragile widow, played by Shelley Winters, are uncovered by her terrified young children.

Graced by images of eerie beauty and a sneaky sense of humour, this ethereal, expressionistic 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.