"The Night of the Hunter" was not a success with either audiences or critics at its initial release, and Laughton never directed another film. Bosley Crowther of "The New York Times" called the film "a weird and intriguing endeavor," adding: "unfortunately the story and the thesis presented by Mr. Grubb had to be carried through by Mr. Laughton to a finish—and it is here that he goes wrong. For the evolution of the melodrama, after the threatened, frightened children flee home, angles off into that allegorical contrast of the forces of Evil and Good." The staff of "Variety" summarized: "The relentless terror of Davis Grubb’s novel got away from Paul Gregory and Charles Laughton in their translation of "Night of the Hunter". This start for Gregory as producer and Laughton as director is rich in promise but the completed product, bewitching at times, loses sustained drive via too many offbeat touches that have a misty effect." "Life" summed up the film, "If sometimes it strains too hard at being simple and winds up being pretentious, it still is one of the year’s most interesting and provocative films."