heavy on Spanish moss and sick behavior. Mitchum is a giant of evil in this movie; a slithery, completely corrupt, malevolent force. Along with his role as the crazed preacher in The Night of the Hunter, this is arguably his finest performance. A vicious ex-con, Mitchum shows up in the small North Carolina town where Gregory Peck is the chief prosecuting attorney. It was Peck who put Mitchum away for eight years for a hideous sex crime and Mitchum has used that time well, plotting his revenge on Peck through Peck's wife and daughter. The art is in the details, the gradual build-up of fear, the play on the title. (Mitchum is) the angel of death-with-pain, put on earth to give men pause...a swift lesson in the validity of Bad. Mitchum is The Other and there's no ignoring him.-Barry Gifford, from "The Devil Thumbs a Ride and Other Unforgettable Films," PFA '91