Cape Fear
Finally sitting down to take in Cape Fear was a bit of a cathartic experience; we had the VHS kicking around the basement when I was younger, and I had vague memories of the film itself, although truth be told, most of those memories were probably formed by the smartly done Simpson’s parody episode. The chilling music is something that would pop into my head on an alarmingly regular basis, but actually watching the film somehow slipped my priority until recently, and I’m quite taken aback with the idea of having seeing this as I was younger: it was quite a bit more disturbing, in both content and style, than I was prepared for. Indeed, the basic premise was straightforward enough: ex-con Max Cady makes it his mission to terrorize and ruin the life of Sam Bowden and consequently, the Bowden family. Robert De Niro plays the creep too well, and I can’t help but feel that Nick Nolte is over-amped in his portrayal of father Bowden. These aren’t complaints, mind you: it all fits into the psychological warfare that…