Cape Fear [M]

After 8 years of prison, ex-con Max Cady has been released and he only has one thing on his mind: revenge upon the small town lawyer who witnessed his crime and testified against him, putting him away. Upon their first encounter lawyer Sam Bowden is unconcerned, but then Cady appears again and again and soon poses threats not just towards Sam, but his wife and daughter too. Soon Sam and his family are thrust into a nightmarish game of cat-and-mouse with Cady being a most clever opponent: so clever that he continues to threatens Sam and his family without providing grounds for legal action to be taken against him. 

Young audiences will recognise the title from that Simpsons episode on the houseboat where Sideshow Bob attacks Bart: this is where that episode came from. One of the most devilishly delightful games of cat-and-mouse possibly ever, Cape Fear is a fantastic movie that stands the test of time, indeed the black and white heightens the suspense and increases the drama and tension brilliantly! 

After 8 years of prison, ex-con Max Cady has been released and he only has one thing on his mind: revenge upon the small town lawyer who witnessed his crime and testified against him, putting him away. Upon their first encounter lawyer Sam Bowden is unconcerned, but then Cady appears again and again and soon poses threats not just towards Sam, but his wife and daughter too. Soon Sam and his family are thrust into a nightmarish game of cat-and-mouse with Cady being a most clever opponent: so clever that he continues to threatens Sam and his family without providing grounds for legal action to be taken against him. 

The story is fantastic! That’s the driving force behind the entire film. This suspenseful and teasing game of cat-and-mouse between Cady and Bowden is just brilliant and loaded with delightfully sinister intentions and allusions, which are only hinted at, giving the movie its power: the fear and suspense frenzy formed within the audience is a result of their imagining and dreading the worst, be it sexual violence towards Bowden’s helpless wife or even his helpless daughter, brutal physical violence towards another character, whatever. Everything is hinted at and the audience is left to fill in the gaps. The plot is just marvellous and the screenplay is so cleverly constructed. 

Gregory Peck stars as Sam Bowden and he delivers a performance that is sophisticated and upstanding until he is deep in this nightmare and he becomes determined and even ruthless and violent. 

But Robert Mitchum is the real star of the show, starring as Max Cady. Mitchum delivered a performance that was reserved and playful in a sinister way, being at his most fearsome when he uses no words at all, merely looks. Ooh it sends shivers down the spine! 

Starring Polly Bergen, Lori Martin, Martin Balsam, Jack Kruschen, Terry Savalas, and Barrie Chase, Cape Fear is a classic thriller that’s filled with action, drama, revenge, and brilliant suspense. Ooh it’s wonderful, rent yourself out a copy if you enjoy black and white Hitchcock-esque thrillers and Bernard Hermann’s musical scores.