Cape Fear [M]

For 14 years rapist Max Cady has been sweating in prison, boning up on his law and reading the Good Book. Now that he is out, he has but one quest to fulfil: revenge upon Sam Bowden, the lawyer who defended him and withheld vital information that could have spared him his sentence. Cady becomes a constant presence circling Bowden and his unstable family, preying on their own personal troubles and rifts to make the nightmare more terrifying. With Cady cleverly preventing Bowden from taking any legal action against him, Sam is forced to turn to unorthodox measures and take the law into his own hands if he is to save himself and his family. 

This has to be one of the best remakes in the history of cinema! I mentioned in my review of the original Cape Fear that the Simpons episode with Sideshow Bob on the houseboat stemmed from there, but it turns out that the version they mimicked was indeed this one. Scorsese breathes a terrifying new life into the 1962 black and white masterpiece, adding more emotional dramas and side stories to the plot as well as hard-hitting twists that will make your head spin. AND THE PERFORMACES! It’ll be a long, long, long time before I’ll feel comfortable with Robert De Niro on my screen again. 

For 14 years rapist Max Cady has been sweating in prison, boning up on his law and reading the Good Book. Now that he is out, he has but one quest to fulfil: revenge upon Sam Bowden, the lawyer who defended him and withheld vital information that could have spared him his sentence. Cady becomes a constant presence circling Bowden and his unstable family, preying on their own personal troubles and rifts to make the nightmare more terrifying. With Cady cleverly preventing Bowden from taking any legal action against him, Sam is forced to turn to unorthodox measures and take the law into his own hands if he is to save himself and his family. 

Scorsese has taken an already thrilling game of cat-and-mouse and upped the stakes by filling it with more emotional and dramatic substance. Both sides, good and bad, are as troubled as each other with Sam Bowden having relations with another, younger, woman, his wife Leigh struggling to find solace in their shambolic marriage, and his daughter Danielle being troubled as a result of her parents’ fighting blended with being on the cusp of womanhood. Add De Niro’s absolutely manic portrayal of Robert Mitchum’s original character and you’re on a freight train to hell! 

As Max Cady, Robert De Niro was absolutely incredible! He was violent, sadistically charming, a real spider. I’ll remember his performance as long as I live! I can’t quite communicate how truly awesome he was: at times very pleasant, other times he was mad and poetic, and then during the climactic scene on the houseboat he was positively manic and so passionate in his speeches and actions. I truly believe that it was De Niro’s performance that made this film so scary and so brilliant. 

Starring Nick Nolte, Jessica Lange, Juliette Lewis, Joe Don Baker Illeana Douglas, and featuring clever little return cameos from Robert Mitchum, Martin Balsam, and Gregory Peck, Cape Fear is a most brilliant thriller filled with action, suspense, violence, sex, death, and drama. I strongly recommend that you run down to your local Blockbuster and grab yourself a copy because this really has to be the best remake in cinematic history!