Review of Raising Cain (1992) by Gareth J — 05 Jan 2009

Following the success of his two great blockbusters (Scarface and The Untouchables) but before the disappointment of The Black Dahlia, Brian DePalma returned to his Hitchcock inspired roots with a classic piece of psychological suspense - Raising Cain.

For fans of his work Raising Cain is DePalma at his frightening best, mixing all the right elements from his other works (the sex apeal of his erotic thrillers, the horrific set pieces from Carrie) combined with the maniacal unease of star John Lithgow, who virsitily slips through each of his mutiple roles to create a distinct air of gutteral fear whenever his character's "other" comes on screen. As Carter Niks, Lithgow is a tour-de-force of fear comparable to DeNiro's Max Cady in Cape fear or even the charater's template Norman Bates. Lithgow captures the essance of the latter so completely in Carter that the film's central love triangle between Carter, his wife and Steven Bauer's tall dark sexbomb is never short of volitile. The ending (a clear homage to the Master of Suspense) is chilling on a level few mainstream films ever achieve and is testament to just how amazing the director used to be.

As a Hitchcock fan myself, I take great pleasure in witnessing DePalma's attempts to reference Sir Alfred and considering the quality of this offering, I look forward to researching him further.