Cape Fear

Josh Lewis4.0

a series of expertly-crafted inky, sweaty, voyeuristic suspense sequences tied together by the troubling contradiction of trying to contain primal instincts of sex, rage and violence within a civil/legal framework. robert mitchum the goat. thompson directs the hell out of it

meg4.5

This is like Godzilla vs. Kong for Old Hollywood DILF's.

PTAbro5.0

Move over, Anton Chigurh. Sit back down, Hannibal Lector. Step aside, Harry Powell. Max Cady has come to town, and he thinks you're all a bunch of pansies.It's one thing to put on a performance that overshadows all other aspects of an otherwise good film. It's another to put on one that pulls the rest of a good film into greatness. Robert Mitchum, whom I have ashamedly not experienced much of, gives such a show here in Cape Fear. Yes, the score by Bernard Herrmann, ominous and accentuating rather than intrusive, didn't need much help. And yes, Gregory Peck et. al. do just fine on their own (especially so for Polly Bergen as his wife and Barrie Chase as an unfortunate barfly in Cady's amorous path). No, this is an example of an embarrassment of riches; a thrilling plot, generally fine direction, superb performances, and all wrapped up with a bone-chilling score. Maybe it's because I wasn't really expecting this caliber of film, since it has one of the lower conversation-to-acclaim ratios I've encountered here and elsewhere. And if I appear distracted in this review, it's because I cannot get the transcendent perfection of that houseboat scene out of my mind.Now, of course, no film is ever perfect, but my problems here are so infinitesimal compared to the overall scheme of things. Still, they pick and nag at me, so let's start with the silliest so I don't feel so guilty about the rest of 'em: Gregory Peck's voice. Yeah, I should be so lucky to have such a manly, booming, low-enough-to-make-your-chest-cavity-vibrate basso come out of my mouth, but it doesn't quite optimize the power of Cady to have such a superman as his foe. It could be argued that being able to terrorize such an upstanding, enviably endowed, goody-two-shoes shows how powerful Cady is, but I keep thinking that a more 'normal' protagonist would make this film even more terrifying ("It could happen to YOU!"). The daytime cat-and-mouse-and-cat games on the Cape with Cady, the police, and the houseboat (while structurally appropriate) seemed to go on for a bit too long. Showing too much of Cady planning and plotting without simply acting robs him of a bit of the fun of figuring out what his next step will be. And that ending...maybe I was having way too much fun with it, but as satisfying as the rest of the movie is, I was hoping for a little more closure on the great Bowden/Cady War of '62 (or maybe I was hoping for just a little more assurance that Cady wouldn't be hurting anyone ever again).All of these issues are drops in the bucket though, and I can only see them fading into insignificance on further re-watches. I'm giving them a pass here because, out of all the first-time watches in my brief run here on Letterboxd, I have not been as completely and utterly immersed, satisfied, and terrified by a film that came before it. Cape Fear is a keeper.P.S. If you ever find yourself stalked by a deranged psychopath, wouldn't you think moving to a place called 'Cape Fear' might be tempting fate? I can only assume 'Danger Beach' and 'Evisceration Valley' were booked up for the season.