Critic Reviews
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Jonathan Rosenbaum, Chicago Reader
It's hard to understand why Martin Scorsese wanted to remake a nasty, formulaic 1962 thriller whose only "classic" credentials are a terrifying performance by Robert Mitchum and a Bernard Herrmann score.
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, Variety
Smart and stylish.
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, Time Out
Overblown horror-schlocker.
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Vincent Canby, New York Times
Stay away if you're squeamish but, if you do, you'll miss an essential work by one of our masters, as well as two of the year's most accomplished performances, those of Mr. De Niro and Ms. Lewis.
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Peter Travers, Rolling Stone
Though Scorsese doesn't always transcend the pulp in Cape Fear, watching him try allows us to share the exhilaration he experiences behind the camera.
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Desson Thomson, Washington Post
It's a helluva movie.
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Emanuel Levy, EmanuelLevy.Com
Scorsese's remake (also hommage in some ways) is inferior to the original 1962 version, though the acting is good, and both Robert De Niro and Juliette Lewis garnered Oscar nominations.
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, TV Guide's Movie Guide
Martin Scorsese's loose remake of J. Lee Thompson's 1962 thriller is an exercise in audience manipulation, with every frame designed to stagger the senses.
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, Film4
It has a lot to recommend it, but did we really need a remake of Cape Fear?
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Pablo Villaca, Cinema em Cena
Scorsese cria com riqueza de detalhes um neo noir que, com um estilo marcado, se diferencia de boa parte de sua obra, demonstrando simultaneamente sua versatilidade e seu conhecimento sobre a história do Cinema.
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Dennis Schwartz, Ozus' World Movie Reviews
The only thing I got out of this film is a sense of deja vu that I could do without.
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Thomas Delapa, Boulder Weekly
In Scorsese's frightfully wrong remake, De Niro seduces a teen (Juliette Lewis), bites off breasts with geek-like fury and breaks the world's record for longest hitchhike on the underside of a car.
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Jeffrey M. Anderson, Combustible Celluloid
The heart-warming story of a hardened convict returning to exact revenge on the lawyer who put him in jail.
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Chuck O'Leary, FulvueDrive-in.com
Auteur Scorsese remakes a solid 1962 thriller and turns it another of his fascinating tales of obsession.
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James Plath, Reel.com
Scorsese & Co. maintain a Nightmare on Elm Street kind of tension. And yes, there are a few slasher moments.
Read all 15 critic reviews
Featured Audience Ratings
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Martin Scorsese is a director that has a massive reputation on the sub-genre of gangster movies but he's never really been known to tackle a specific genre itself. Due to a contractual obligation with Universal studios and the encouragement of friends Robert DeNiro and Steven… More
Martin Scorsese is a director that has a massive reputation on the sub-genre of gangster movies but he's never really been known to tackle a specific genre itself. Due to a contractual obligation with Universal studios and the encouragement of friends Robert DeNiro and Steven Spielberg (who was originally supposed to be the director), he decided to go ahead with this 1991 horror/thriller, making it his first genre and Hollywood movie and also his first remake.
After 14 years in prison, psychopath Max Cady (Robert DeNiro) is released where he begins to seek revenge on his former lawyer Sam Bowden (Nick Nolte). He believes that Bowden deliberately held back a report during his trial that would have saved him doing time and vows to make Bowden's life a living hell by terrorising him and his family.
The original Cape Fear was released in 1962 and Scorsese makes great references to it. He employs the original actors Robert Mitchum, Gregory Peck and Martin Balsam in cameo roles and has Elmer Bernstein adapt the Hitchcokian original score by Bernard Herrmann. Despite the courteous regard to the original though, Scorsese makes this film his own and updates the material for a contemporary audience by using a more layered approach. He delivers more of a backstory and questions the ethical and moral history of not just DeNiro's character but also Nolte's. As we are introduced to them, Nolte's Sam Bowden dresses in pastel coloured suits and exudes an air of righteousness and innocence while DeNiro's Max Cady is a cigar chomping, tattooed brute. All is not exactly black and white between them though and there's also tension and discord between Sam and his long suffering wife Leigh (Jessica Lange) and their awkward teenage daughter Danielle (Juliette Lewis). Meanwhile, a manipulative and calculating Cady gets his revenge by using the conflicts within the family. By delving more into his characters, Scorsese skilfully cranks up the tension and with superb production design by Henry Bumstead and marvellous cinematography by Freddie Francis he manages to create a real sense of claustrophobia within the family household. While everyone are doing their job behind the scenes though, the ones in front are delivering some of their career best performances. The entire cast deliver the goods here; Nolte and Lange's on-edge, afflicted couple couldn't be better and a young - Oscar nominated - Juliette Lewis is a revelation as the awkward, self-conscious impressionable teenager. However, despite these excellent deliveries, this is DeNiro's film. He is absolutely outstanding and delivers a character that is amongst the finest of his career and another highly impressive transformation; his physique is in exceptional peak condition (apparently he brought his body fat down to 3%) and he has a creepy southern accent that just rings in your ears. The foreboding and malevolent presence that DeNiro shows is deeply unsettling and he, like Lewis, also received an Oscar nomination. Personally, I hold the opinion that he should have taken the award that year. He's such a threatening character and one of cinema's most frightening.
The only major problem I had with the film was the denouement. It veers heavily into formulaic territory and despite it sharing the themes of a horror movie, the ending is just a bit too far. For the most part though, Scorsese's audacity pays off and it's an highly admirable addition to his impressive canon.
It may lack the subtlety of the original and if it wasn't for the extreme horror denouement, this film would be worthy of a rating higher than the 4 stars I've given it. That being said, it's still one of the most powerful and memorable performances that DeNiro has ever produced.
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Martin Scorsese effectively updates the 1962 film of the same name, adding dimensions and commenting on society, especially the legal system in this terrifying thriller. The story progresses from Max Cady's (DeNiro) threats of revenge to Sam Bowden's (Nolte) guilt and… More
Martin Scorsese effectively updates the 1962 film of the same name, adding dimensions and commenting on society, especially the legal system in this terrifying thriller. The story progresses from Max Cady's (DeNiro) threats of revenge to Sam Bowden's (Nolte) guilt and personal flaws to sinister manipulation of the law, and finally a life and death struggle. A creepy sensuality pervades this film, especially with respect to Danielle, the teenage daughter. All the characters shine under Scorsese's direction (even Peck and Mitchum appear) but DeNiro operates at another plain entirely. Like his characters in their earlier collaborations Taxi Driver and Raging Bull, DeNiro's Cady is unforgettable.
1991's Cape Fear is a cat and mouse game, operating like the 1962 film hopped up on steroids. There is more of everything: sex, violence, plot twists, shocks, but especially guilt and manipulation. This Sam Bowden and his family are severely flawed, and this Max Cady is understandably mad, but to what extent is his violence justified? I cannot say that this seventh of eight collaborations between Scorsese and DeNiro is their best, but it is DeNiro's most terrifying
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Remaking Cape Fear was always going to be a brave move, even for a director as talented as Martin Scorsese. As remakes go, it's pretty good - bringing the story into the 90s effortlessly and without much problem. The cast is well chosen, De Niro is particularly good as Max Cady,… More
Remaking Cape Fear was always going to be a brave move, even for a director as talented as Martin Scorsese. As remakes go, it's pretty good - bringing the story into the 90s effortlessly and without much problem. The cast is well chosen, De Niro is particularly good as Max Cady, the character made famous by Robert Mitchum in the original. Indeed, the coup of this film is in getting Mitchum and Peck back for a couple of cameos - good cameos at that. In fact all the cast do a great job apart from Jessica Lange. What Scorsese really adds to the story is the fact that the most disturbing factor is that the family is just as unlikable as the bad guy as so you start to wonder about the justice involved, even though you know very well that its wrong. The theatre scene makes the skin crawl, something of an improvement on the original but overall you can't beat the '62 version. The music is also very impressive.
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A stylish neo-noir from Martin Scorsese, more mainstream than the rest of his work but still displaying his personal touch. It is a smart and anguishing thriller that takes a good time to develop the tension and boasts a terrifying performance by De Niro as the psychopath Max Cady.
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I never thought I'd say this, but of all the Martin Scorsese films that I have seen, I have to say that Cape Fear is by far his weakest film. Based on the original 1960's classic, the Cape Fear remake is a borderline decent thriller film with a few horror elements, but… More
I never thought I'd say this, but of all the Martin Scorsese films that I have seen, I have to say that Cape Fear is by far his weakest film. Based on the original 1960's classic, the Cape Fear remake is a borderline decent thriller film with a few horror elements, but it's nothing beyond good. De Niro was good however, but then again, I'm just a little disappointed in this film. I'd expect something from Scorsese to be yet again a masterpiece, because let's face it, everything he does is masterful. But Cape Fear is definitely the weakest film of his career. I take come comfort knowing that it's a remake, and usually with remakes, anyone can mess them up. Only a few remakes in the history of film have been great, even some outdoing the original. But withn Cape Fear there just isn't that spark or fire in the film to really make astounding. The film is a decent time waster, but it's also disappointing when you take into consideration who made this remake. Oh well, even the greatest directors are bound to make a weak film sometime, and in the case of Scorsese, it's the Cape Fear remake. A decent cast with with decent, horrifying chills, don't really go beyond anything remarkable or memorable.
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A disturbing, if flawed, story concerning a happy family of three (Nick Nolte, Jessica Lange, and Juliette Lewis) who are terrorized by an ex-convict, who is seeking vengeance on the father, who served as his lawyer fourteen years ago and lost the case. Although dark material like… More
A disturbing, if flawed, story concerning a happy family of three (Nick Nolte, Jessica Lange, and Juliette Lewis) who are terrorized by an ex-convict, who is seeking vengeance on the father, who served as his lawyer fourteen years ago and lost the case. Although dark material like this is best handled by a master of film like Scorsese, and his casting for this film is impeccable, especially Robert De Niro who provides yet another stunning, magnificent turn as a vicious human being - this movie has it's share of problems. As the plot holes begin to pile up (especially concerning the Joe Don Baker character), the movie loses it's sense of realism and turns into something that proves somewhat ridiculous. Like the family's houseboat, the film's path shares a similar fate, and the ending monologue by Juliette Lewis is a poor attempt at wrapping things up. Definitely not a bad movie, for whenever De Niro appears he makes your skin crawl, but certainly not one of Scorsese's best.
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Another film that just doesn't live up to the original. It just didn't spark the same creepiness factor for me.
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I've never been a fan of remakes. I've always felt that if you wanted to see a movie, the original is very easy to come by and remaking an old movie is just lazy film making or total blasphemy (I'm looking at you Psycho '98). Cape Fear is one of those rare remakes… More
I've never been a fan of remakes. I've always felt that if you wanted to see a movie, the original is very easy to come by and remaking an old movie is just lazy film making or total blasphemy (I'm looking at you Psycho '98). Cape Fear is one of those rare remakes that is able to get beyond the stigma of being a remake, mainly because of the people that made it. Martin Scorsese directing Robert DeNiro is a good start. Throw in Nick Nolte, Jessica Lange, and the legendary Joe Don Baker and you get a film that equals its source material.
Cape Fear is about a southern lawyer (Nick Nolte) who is being harassed by recently released Max Cady (Robert DeNiro) who has been using his quiet time wisely by studying the law and his own case in particular. It seems that the good southern lawyer didn't use a piece of evidence that could have allowed Cady to go free because he knew he was guilty. Shame, shame. The film is basically a cat and mouse game as Max stays within the law to a point while Nolte's character is pushed over the line to rid himself and his family of this menace.
The first thing I have to mention is the irony that Nick Nolte stars as a clean cut guy in a film with a character sporting long hair and looking creepy in general (mugshot). Cape Fear is a nice thriller that complements the Scorsese/DeNiro repertoire that I miss so damn much. Sure, there are things that are plot stretching bu the overall film is a creepy flick that tips it hat to the later noir films of the late 1950's and early '60's, particularly the Saul Bass opening and updating Bernard Herrmann's original score.
Cape Fear isn't the greatest film known to man, but it is a very suspenseful thriller that delivers that edge of your seat feeling that doesn't deal with running to the restroom for a tinkle. It holds your attention throughout and doesn't bore. It's Scorsese's answer to the onslaught of stalker films that came out in the wake of Fatal Attraction and succeeds in being a better picture than the norm.
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incredibly entertaining, but not powerfully so as many of scorsese's films tend to be. the characters were just incredibly unlikable including the protagonists, and the dialogue was pretty far outside of what i would consider believable. the film had solid tension and a fun… More
incredibly entertaining, but not powerfully so as many of scorsese's films tend to be. the characters were just incredibly unlikable including the protagonists, and the dialogue was pretty far outside of what i would consider believable. the film had solid tension and a fun performance from deniro making this film a step back from scorsese's usual genius but still very enjoyable.
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Martin Scorsese presents a very well done remake that improves upon characterization and plot. A great performance from Robert De Niro that made this movie the classic it is. He is by far one of the most disturbed characters brought on screen, in that he never gives up and never… More
Martin Scorsese presents a very well done remake that improves upon characterization and plot. A great performance from Robert De Niro that made this movie the classic it is. He is by far one of the most disturbed characters brought on screen, in that he never gives up and never surrenders. The lengths he goes in order to ruin Nick Nolte's life is unmatched. It is an essential film in Scorsese's work because it is so different.
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What a tremendous performance by Robert De Niro.
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Wow! I never thought I would be so disappointed in Martin Scorsese. A remake is (almost) never necessary, but Scorsese just made a fool of himself trying to revive this 1962 thriller. Although he added a few interesting elements, his and Wesley Strick's reimagining of Max Cady is… More
Wow! I never thought I would be so disappointed in Martin Scorsese. A remake is (almost) never necessary, but Scorsese just made a fool of himself trying to revive this 1962 thriller. Although he added a few interesting elements, his and Wesley Strick's reimagining of Max Cady is absolutely terrible. Different from the cool, smart killer from the original, the 1991 edition of Max Cady is downright ridiculous.
There's homage, and then there's CAPE FEAR: blatant ripoff. Every angle, every light, every shot, even the use of Bernard Herrmann and Saul Bass screams Hitchcock. That's unacceptable, especially coming from an exceptionally talented director as Scorsese. Terrible tribute.
Unintentionally funny, incredibly cheesy and highly unplausible events mark this low point in Marty's career. CAPE FEAR is saved solely by the good performances by Robert DeNiro, Nick Nolte, Jessica Lange and especially, Juliette Lewis.
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Cape Fear is one of the best films from Scorsese. While it surely ows much to it's 60's version directed by J. Lee Thompson, it still manages to top it's predecessor. This the closest to horror-film that Scorsese has ever gone. In many ways Cape Fear is pure horror with… More
Cape Fear is one of the best films from Scorsese. While it surely ows much to it's 60's version directed by J. Lee Thompson, it still manages to top it's predecessor. This the closest to horror-film that Scorsese has ever gone. In many ways Cape Fear is pure horror with it's good vs evil setting. Robert De Niro is pure menace here and Nolte does a brilliant job as a lawyer pushed to the limits. When it reaches it's stormy climax it truly nails viewer against wall. Moody, tense and techinacally superb.
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I liked it. There was some great cutting and there was some horrible cutting. The same goes for the acting...so it was a little confusing. But it's just a good story. And we all like Robert De Niro....but the man who made this movie is defenetly Nick Nolte.
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Robert De Niro is the actor in Hollywood with the most potential to disturb. With his slick greasy hair, rapturous tattoos, and polite southern accent, he creates a Max Cady that makes Robert Mitchum seem like a boyscout. The movie was enthralling in the most disturbing way. I wanted… More
Robert De Niro is the actor in Hollywood with the most potential to disturb. With his slick greasy hair, rapturous tattoos, and polite southern accent, he creates a Max Cady that makes Robert Mitchum seem like a boyscout. The movie was enthralling in the most disturbing way. I wanted so badly to look away from the carnage, but was completely unable. Cape Fear sent my friends running, and is definitely not for the faint of heart, but if fear is what you crave, or you enjoy De Niro's power to disturb, then hop on the boat.
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Scorcese did a masterful job at remaking a classic.
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It's hard to find words to criticize this movie because it was so superbly acted. Robert De Niro was lights out fantastic in this. If you need a reason to watch this it would be to see him outside of his bad guy "mobster" persona, and into this deranged psychopath… More
It's hard to find words to criticize this movie because it was so superbly acted. Robert De Niro was lights out fantastic in this. If you need a reason to watch this it would be to see him outside of his bad guy "mobster" persona, and into this deranged psychopath role.
Even Juliette Lewis, as annoying and unattractive as she is, was great in this film. I have never seen Nick Nolte in anything that impressed me before until now.
The plot is fairly linear, so if you know the story line then, well, you know the whole story. But it was incredibly suspenseful to watch. What really sells this movie is the climax. It has a very memorable climax... but I won't give anything away.
Unfortunately, it's a bit of a marathon getting to the end. This movie, being a little outdated (1991), moves at a fairly slow pace at times. And a good portion of events are a bit unfathomable. Not to mention the music that was supposed to build suspense was really loud and irritating.
Regardless, this movie thrives off the stellar acting and directing by all time great Martin Scorsesse.
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<u><b>Directed by:</u></b> Martin Scorcese.
<u><b>Starring:</u></b> Robert De Niro, Nick Nolte, Jessica Lange, Juliette Lewis.
<i><< "Now you will learn about loss, loss of freedom, loss of humanity...now you and I will… More
<u><b>Directed by:</u></b> Martin Scorcese.
<u><b>Starring:</u></b> Robert De Niro, Nick Nolte, Jessica Lange, Juliette Lewis.
<i><< "Now you will learn about loss, loss of freedom, loss of humanity...now you and I will truly be the same, Counselor." >></i>
I could be a whiner and say how it is clearly not up with Scorcese's masterworks, but why would I when its clearly obvious? What is also obvious here is that this film is underrated. Cape Fear is a brilliantly taut and masterfully directed piece of work that even despite some flaws, is tense, chilling, well thought out and balanced with some extremely outstanding performances.
Full review coming soon.
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An explosive, creepy and mind-blowing edge of your seat thriller. Shocking, relentless and disturbing. A non-stop chiller. It's totally unforgetable. Nick Nolte gives a brilliant and powerful performance. Robert De Niro gives a memerizing and feriousesly tour de force… More
An explosive, creepy and mind-blowing edge of your seat thriller. Shocking, relentless and disturbing. A non-stop chiller. It's totally unforgetable. Nick Nolte gives a brilliant and powerful performance. Robert De Niro gives a memerizing and feriousesly tour de force performance. An absorbing physcological rollar-coaster ride. Director, Martian Scorcesse departs nicely from his popular crime films to this drilling and brooding thriller.
Read all 20 featured audience ratings
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