Cape Fear

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Craig H A slightly campy 90s thriller with De Niro at his best chewing up the scenery with his menacing, charming and psychotic performance, watching him manipulate and dismantle this family emotionally and physically was unsettling and fascinating at the same time. Some other reviews I read said in other directors hands this would of been more trashy and a lesser film and i totally agree Scorcese lifted this material. The whole cast where great also. Not Scorceses best but a mid tier Scorcese movie which is still very good Rated 3.5/5 Stars •  Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 11/13/25 Full Review Kevin P A very tense and entertaining revenge thriller that plays with the rigid and flexible sides of the law in contrast to people's primal instincts for moral justice. Robert DeNiro is creepy, mysterious, funny, and threatening as the villainous Max Cady. He easily steals the show, even if can be a bit over the top at times with his fake southern accent and it is a little unbelievable that so many characters don't take him seriously from the beginning. Nick Nolte is very believable as the timid, yet rigid and deterministic lawyer father who slowly loses his mind from Max Cady's psychological warfare. He starts off as spinless and even a bit romantically skeezy (the compensation and tennis scenes gave me secondhand embarrassment), but intensifies up over time as he's pushed further and further into a corner. I also liked the cameos from the original actors, most notably Robert Peck cameo playing against type as Cady's lawyer. There are several iconic scenes that are very memorable, but I can't help but think of how they were parodied by the Simpsons with Sideshow Bob, such as the laughing movie theatre scene, the tattoo prison workout, or hiding under the car. I really liked the opening title credits with the waves reflection. The soundtrack is terrific, incorporating Bernard Herman's classic motifs with an updated intense score. The villainous Max Cady spends much of the movie playfully skirting around legal loopholes to taunt the main family. But when he gets violent, it's absolutely brutal to watch and really cements him as a terrifying villain. It's also sad that his backstory highlights the injustice of SA laws of the time, as many don't want to come forward due to shield laws bot being updated federally until a few years later (and even then, it's still an uphill battle that many victims still struggle with coming forward to this very day). The fast-paced editing was entertaining, albeit a bit disorienting and schlocky at times. Some of the characters are aware bit stupid early on not taking the ex-battery convict seriously, but I can forgive the daughter since she was partially left in the dark on the subject, all highlighted very well in that super creepy house theatre scene. The climax is very memorable, taking place on a stormy river houseboat. It goes on for a bit too long and gets a little ridiculous, but there's a ton of tension and it really grips you with how much of a menace Max Cady is. This isn't my favorite Scorsese movie, but it's still a very entertaining thriller remake and that's saying a lot for the man's filmography that even his lesser films are still very good. Rated 4/5 Stars •  Rated 4 out of 5 stars 11/06/25 Full Review J B I've watched this from cinema release to dvd - and I want to like it but not all that's scorcese is gold - it is as best a passable remake of a not a brilliant but worthy original but at worse it's a leaden & predictable lazy phone in by scorcese - if his name wasn't on it you wouldn't know - one patch of dark in the gloom is DeNiro's Cady - which can be said of Bob Mitchum in the original- they're both good despite the obstacles. It's a pity, this could have been something very special but it barely pops it's head above water. Opportunity spurn'd. Rated 3/5 Stars •  Rated 3 out of 5 stars 10/15/25 Full Review Mitch C Solid remake with some good ideas that suit Scorcese and his style. Some character tweaks that work, plot adjustments that are down to preference but don't hurt the enjoyment. Cady is played with gusto by Robert De Niro who dedicates entirely - I prefer the more sinister approach but it's very entertaining. Giving Cady a motive is an unusual idea which slightly hampers Nolte's Bowden in terms of sympathy and affection. It's a respectful, neatly produced attempt that just falls short of the charm of the original Rated 3/5 Stars •  Rated 3 out of 5 stars 10/02/25 Full Review Calvin T One of the best performances I've seen from Robert De Niro Rated 4/5 Stars •  Rated 4 out of 5 stars 08/21/25 Full Review L J. Creepy and haunting. Cast is great and Deniro’s acting is superb Rated 4/5 Stars •  Rated 4 out of 5 stars 07/28/25 Full Review Read all reviews

Cape Fear

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