Review of Cape Fear (1991) by Chris S — 01 Aug 2009

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.