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1%% Administrivia/ZeroContextExample entries are not allowed on wiki pages. All such entries have been commented out. Add context to the entries before uncommenting them.
2
3[[quoteright:315:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/cape_fear_1991.jpg]]
4[[caption-width-right:315:[[SeanConneryIsAboutToShootYou Robert De Niro Is Staring Into Your Soul.]]]]
5
6''Cape Fear'' is a 1962 thriller film directed by J. Lee Thompson, [[TheFilmOfTheBook based on the novel]] ''The Executioners'' by John D. [=MacDonald=].
7
8It tells the story of Sam Bowden (Creator/GregoryPeck), a Georgia lawyer whose family is threatened by a convicted rapist who's been released from prison. Said rapist, Max Cady (Creator/RobertMitchum), wants vengeance on Bowden -- who'd [[AttemptedRape interrupted]] Cady's attack -- for providing the testimony that helped to convict him. After a lengthy game of cat and mouse between the two, Bowden takes his wife (Creator/PollyBergen) and teenaged daughter (Creator/LoriMartin) to their houseboat on Cape Fear in North Carolina, hoping to set a trap that will lead to Cady's re-imprisonment. Needless to say, this does not go as planned.
9
10The film was successfully [[TheRemake remade]] in 1991 by director Creator/MartinScorsese, with Creator/RobertDeNiro starring as Cady, Creator/NickNolte as Bowden, and Creator/JessicaLange and Creator/JulietteLewis as Bowden's wife and daughter; De Niro and Lewis each received UsefulNotes/AcademyAward and [[UsefulNotes/GoldenGlobeAward Golden Globe]] nominations for their performances. In this version, Cady is out to get Bowden because the latter, while defending Cady on a rape charge, deliberately buried possibly-exculpatory evidence about the victim, leading to Cady's conviction. Both films use the music score Music/BernardHerrmann composed for the original, the main theme of which is famously also used as the {{Leitmotif}} for Sideshow Bob on ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons''.
11
12----
13!! Both films contain examples of:
14* AdaptedOut: Bowden also has a son in the novel, who is non-existent in either film.
15* AxCrazy: Max Cady. A SerialRapist and an homicidal maniac all in one.
16* BadPeopleAbuseAnimals: In both versions, Max Cady kills the Bowdens' pet dog.
17* BittersweetEnding: The Bowdens are traumatized by the events of the story but survive, while Cady either goes back to prison for life (1962 original) or drowns in the river (1991 remake).
18* BlamingTheVictim: Explored. Max Cady's rape and battery of a teenage girl appalls his attorney Sam Bowden, who willingly buries the girl's history of promiscuity because he knows it would help Cady get acquitted.
19* BuyThemOff: Bowden offers Cady $10,000 in cash to leave him alone. He doesn't take it, saying it doesn't even equate to minimum wage for all the years he spent in prison.
20* DateRape: Cady's encounter with Diane Taylor (Lori Davis in the remake) ends up this way.
21* DentedIron: Despite his [[AxCrazy savagery]], Cady is no superhuman monster. By the end of the final brawl with Bowden, his ''many'' injuries leave him too weak to stand [[spoiler: and he eventually drowns when the surf washes him away]].
22* FauxAffablyEvil: Cady. He tries to present himself as a pleasant, well-educated southern gentleman (in the remake, he also has pretensions of being a KnightTemplar who talks about justice and God), but it's clear that beneath that facade he is a sadistic rapist and murderer who only cares about revenge and refuses to admit that he deserved to be punished for his crimes, regardless of whether his lawyer could have gotten him off the hook or not.
23* TheFilmOfTheBook: The novel was written by John D. [=MacDonald=].
24* GeniusBruiser: Cady is both physically tough (holding his own in a fight against three men) and extremely intelligent. Both of these are even more pronounced in the remake, where he commands vast knowledge in law, philosophy, theology, and literature while being completely impervious to physical pain.
25* {{Hypocrite}}: Cady in both versions. While the original has him wanting to torment Bowden because his testimony sent him to prison—despite it being rightfully so—he claims in the remake to want to punish Bowden both legally and divinely for burying the report that probably would've gotten him off for a rape—and Cady purposely ignores not only that he was guilty of that rape to begin with, but committed two others before it and after being released from prison, poisons a dog; rapes another woman; murders two people and nearly tortures a family to death.
26* IDontLikeTheSoundOfThatPlace: [[TitleDrop Cape Fear]].
27* ItsAllAboutMe: In both versions, Cady cares absoultely nothing about being an unrepentant rapist who deserved prison and regardless of the reason, blames and wants to punish Bowden for it no matter the reason (his testimony in the original and his burying the report on the victim's sexual history in the remake).
28* MenacingStroll: Cady, even when he's released from prison, even walking into the camera.
29* MuggingTheMonster: The three goons that the Bowdens hire to attack Cady get this treatment. In the book, Sam Bowden and Charlie Sievers theorize that Cady's [[AxCrazy psychopathy]] actually helps him to utilize more of his strength than the average person.
30* NeverMyFault: It seemingly never occurs to Cady that his prison sentence was his own doing or that Bowden might have had good reason to act the way he did in the remake.
31* PoliceAreUseless: When Bowden suspects that Cady is stalking him, the first thing he does is go to the police, but they can't do anything because they lack any evidence of wrongdoing. The one helpful cop suggests using his family as bait. Bowden doesn't care for the implications.
32* PrisonsAreGymnasiums: Cady leaves prison well-shaped.
33* PrivateDetective: Charlie Sievers (Creator/TellySavalas) in the original, Claude Kersek (Creator/JoeDonBaker) in the remake.
34* RageAgainstTheLegalSystem: Cady's vendetta against Bowden is because he was responsible for putting him in jail; he was a key witness in the 1962 version, and in the remake he decided to sabotage Max's defense by sitting on favorable evidence. Cady, however, harbors no malice towards the prosecutor or the judge as he reasoned they were just doing their jobs, and his wrath is solely targeted at Bowden for screwing him over.
35* RapeIsASpecialKindOfEvil: Cady was given a lengthy prison sentence for raping a woman. In the original film it is implied that he also raped Diane Taylor at the hotel.
36* RemakeCameo: Creator/GregoryPeck and Robert Mitchum both play supporting roles in the remake, as Cady's lawyer and as the police chief, respectively. Martin Balsam, who played the police chief in the original, also has a small cameo in the remake.
37* {{Revenge}}: Cady's lust for revenge against Bowden fuels the plot.
38-->'''Cady''': Rape for [[PrisonRape Rape]]. Wife for wife. And child for child.
39* RevengeByProxy: Cady's MO is to brutalize and/or kill people close to Bowden to teach him the meaning of loss.
40* {{Sadist}}: Max Cady seems to be a pathologically one. He loves to abuse women and takes joy in tormenting Sam Bowden and his family instead of just killing'em.
41* ScarpiaUltimatum: Cady promises to spare the daughter if Bowden's wife will have sex with him. In the remake, [[TakeMeInstead the wife offers herself up]] as soon as Cady goes for the daughter.
42* SerialRapist: Cady spent several years in prison (eight years in the original film and fourteen years in the remake) for physically assaulting a woman. Obviously once released he doesn't stop doing it or just trying to.
43* TheSociopath: Cady, obviously. An unrepentant rapist and murderer who never takes responsibility for his actions and doesn't care who gets hurt as long as he's satisfied.
44%%* WouldHitAGirl: Max Cady.
45
46----
47!! The 1962 film contains examples of:
48* AbhorrentAdmirer: Cady towards Peggy, Bowden's wife. Not in look actually but definitely in personality.
49%%* AllGirlsWantBadBoys: Diane Taylor, who pays for it heavily.
50* AmbulanceChaser: Cady's lawyer.
51* AmoralAttorney: He is actually worse in the original film, as it becomes clear that he has a history of twisting the truth and taking advantage of human rights violation fears to accuse police of brutality at the slightest whim and trying to completely exonerate his scumbag clients. When Bowden asked him how he knew about the police watching his house, he shut up, knowing that this would implicate that his client was stalking them.
52* AsYouKnow: Sam Bowden's plan to deal with Cady is helpfully exposited by his wife.
53* BetterToDieThanBeKilled: Cady is ready to resign himself to being killed by Bowden until Bowden realizes doing so would be a MercyKill and that the FateWorseThanDeath Cady deserves is returning to prison for life.
54* BlackAndWhiteMorality: The original film portrays Max Cady as pure evil, with absolutely no legitimate reason to begrudge his conviction and Sam Bowden as perfectly virtuous and upright. The Bowdens also stay true to each other throughout the film, unlike in the remake.
55* CardCarryingVillain: Cady seems to be aware and proud of his vicious nature.
56--> '''Diane Taylor''': What would you know about scenery? Or beauty? Or any of the things that really make life worth living? You're just an animal: coarse, lustful, barbaric.
57--> '''Cady:''' Keep right on talkin', honey. I like it when you run me down like that.
58* CruelMercy: [[spoiler: Sam is in a position where he could easily kill Cady and get away with it, justifying it as being in fear for his life and that of his family. He instead lets him live, explaining in great detail how much Cady will enjoy his inevitable life sentence, being forced to wait for death in the prison he hated so much.]]
59* DefensiveFailure: The daughter threatens Cady with a iron bar but he easily takes it out of her hands without any resistance.
60* DeliberatelyMonochrome: Though most films were color in 1962, the film was shot in black and white probably to add to the menace of the film.
61* DisproportionateRetribution: Unlike in the remake, Cady has no legitimate reason to begrudge his conviction in the original. His RageAgainstTheLegalSystem comes out of left field.
62* EstablishingCharacterMoment: At the beginning of the film, Cady walks past a woman who drops something. He doesn't help her, doesn't even ''look'' at her, thus showing himself to be a jerk. And almost as soon as he begins speaking, he makes several lecherous comments to and about women, showing his predatory side.
63* EvilIsPetty: Cady when he's not busy raping woman or killing human beings he's just a massive dick to everyone. In one scene he offers a married waitress 20 $ for obvious indecent reasons and laughs when she reacts disgusted. In the same scene he silently chuckles when Bowden, distracted by Cady's presence, misses a bowling pin and later comments sarcastically "Nice shot."
64* {{Fanservice}}: In the climax Cady is totally shirtless and Creator/RobertMitchum sure doesn't look bad.
65* FanDisservice: Cady and Diane are shown in an intimate encounter in a room with Cady being shirtless and Diane in a nightgown. They're both good looking people but the effect is ruined when Cady gets violent and brutally beats her.
66* FateWorseThanDeath: Bowden realizes killing Cady would be way too [[MercyKill merciful]] and that prison for life would be a far more fitting and torturous punishment.
67* GigglingVillain: Cady often chuckles smugly.
68* GoodSmokingEvilSmoking: Cady smokes Evil Cigars.
69* GoryDiscretionShot: When Cady attacks the girl at the hotel, her frantic grab at the door just pulls it shut, leaving only a narrow crack for the camera to see through.
70* HandGagging: Cady handgags the daughter when taking her out of the house in the final act.
71* IronicEcho: Cady mentions that when he "visited" his ex-wife, she tried to hit him with a poker. Nancy later attempts to hold Cady off with a poker the same way.
72* KickTheDog: Cady is walking up the stairs to the courtroom and brushes against woman carrying a file, causing her to drop the file. He neither excuses himself nor helps her pick up the file. Clearly introducing him as the worst kind of person.
73* JunglesSoundLikeKookaburras: A kookaburra sound appears during the third act of the film, along the Cape Fear River in North Carolina, USA. Given that a kookaburra sound is usually assumed to be a monkey, note that there are neither kookaburras nor monkeys native to the American South.
74* NeverMyFault: Cady wants revenge because Bowden got him convicted, and seems completely oblivious to the fact that he fully deserved it.
75* NoHoldsBarredBeatdown: Savalas' character hires three thugs to deal one out to Cady. It turns out to be a case of MuggingTheMonster.
76* PlayingPossum: Sam pretends to be dead or at least unconscious when Cady strangles him, enabling him to grab a rock and bash him on the head.
77* TheReasonYouSuckSpeech: [[spoiler: Bowden gives one to Cady after finally catching him at gunpoint.]]
78--> [[spoiler: '''Cady:''' Go ahead. I just don't give a damn.]]
79--> [[spoiler: '''Bowden:''' No. No! That would be letting you off too easy, too fast. Your words - do you remember? Well I do. No, we're gonna take good care of you. We're gonna nurse you back to health. And you're strong, Cady. You're gonna live a long life... in a cage! That's where you belong and that's where you're going. And this time for life! Bang your head against the walls. Count the years - the months - the hours... until the day you rot! ]]
80* RulesLawyer: As in ''Film/ToKillAMockingbird'', Gregory Peck plays one of these. He still manages to be the good guy.
81%%* ScrewThisImOuttaHere: Diane Taylor.
82* ShirtlessScene: Cady has several, all played for the same kind of menace as a FullFrontalAssault.
83%%* SmugSnake: Mitchum, to a T. That relaxed drawl of his is terrifying.
84* SoftSpokenSadist: Unlike the De Niro's version, Mitchum's Cady is more calm and cold blooded and rarely raises his voice even when he's truly angry. Which possibly makes him even more terryfing.
85* SparedByTheAdaptation: Cady is sent back to prison rather than getting killed.
86* ThouShaltNotKill: [[spoiler:Bowden decides life in prison is better than death for Cady.]]
87* TranquilFury: Mitchum has this quiet but insistent animal terror underlying everything he does.
88* VillainousBreakdown: Cady suffers an understated one at the end, not because his revenge plot was foiled, but because Bowden intends to inflict a [[FateWorseThanDeath fate worse than death]] on him by sending him back to prison for life, with Cady having nothing to look forward to but years and decades behind bars, until the day he rots.
89----
90
91!! The 1991 remake contains examples of:
92* ActorAllusion: [[Film/PorkChopHill Gregory Peck's character mentions Korea.]]
93* AdaptationNameChange: Bowden's wife and daughter's names are changed from Peggy & Nancy to Leigh & Danielle.
94* AMFMCharacterization: Danielle has posters of Music/JimiHendrix, Music/{{Megadeth}}, Music/{{The Cure|Band}} and Music/GunsNRoses and watches the video for Music/JanesAddiction's "Been Caught Stealing" while her parents argue.
95* AmoralAttorney: Played with. While Bowden's motives for withholding evidence that could have helped his client's case had an altruistic motive, doing so was still a clear betrayal of his role as Cady's defense attorney.
96* AssholeVictim: The reason why Cady is out for Sam's blood is that the latter buried evidence that could have minimized Cady's sentence by 14 years. While Cady's grievance is legitimate and something he could legally punish Sam for by bringing him to court, he clearly deserved it and chose violent revenge instead.
97--> '''Sam''': [[BothSidesHaveAPoint Just because she was promiscuous didn't give you the right to rape her! You bragged to me that you beat two prior aggravated rapes. You were a menace.]]\
98'''Max''': [[BothSidesHaveAPoint You were my lawyer! You were my lawyer, that report could have saved me fourteen years!]]\
99'''Sam''': You're probably right.\
100'''Max''': You self-righteous fuck!
101* ArtisticLicenseLaw: PlayedWith. The above episode ignores the fact that since the 1970s, most US states have passed [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rape_shield_law rape shield laws]], which seriously limit and in many cases completely prohibit a victim's past sexual behavior from being introduced as evidence or being brought up in cross-examination. [[invoked]][[GeniusBonus However]], North Carolina didn't adopt its Rape Shield Law until 1979, while Cady's trial occurred in 1977.
102* AsTheGoodBookSays: Cady is a fundamentalist Pentecostal Christian and often quotes the Bible with wide-eyed furor.
103* BetterManhandleTheMurderWeapon: When Sam sees the bodies of [[spoiler:Kersek and the maid]], he loses it and totally messes up the crime scene including touching the murder weapon (gun).
104* BadassBookworm: After educating himself in prison, Cady becomes a very sinister version of this. In addition to being a physically powerful, skilled fighter who's seemingly immune to pain, Cady also knows every nuance of the law and knows how to use it to his advantage. Cady also seems obsessed with and very knowledgeable of theology and philosophy, which help to fuel and in his mind justify his obsessions.
105* BatmanGambit: Cady rapes and beats Lori because he knows the incident will create strife between Sam Bowden and his wife Leigh. It was a very risky move on Cady's part that succeeded because Lori chose not to press charges out of fear fear of testifying and being cross-examined in front of/by her colleagues. Had she done so (as would have been quite likely), Cady would have been arrested and probably spent the rest of his life in prison, putting an end to his plot against Bowden and his family.
106* BizarreTasteInFood: Kersek's favourite drink is Jim Beam mixed with Pepto-Bismol. He mentions [[SharedFamilyQuirks it was also his father's favorite]] for stakeouts.
107* BlackAndGrayMorality: Black vs a comparatively ''light'' shade of grey. Generally what happens when an overall good man with anger issues and who partook in an affair is up against a rapist.
108** Despite his other transgressions, Bowden sabotaging Cady's defense to prevent his acquittal for raping a teenage girl by burying evidence of the victim's past lovers was a clear altruistic action, albeit certainly unethical and probably illegal given his role as a defense attorney.
109** Leigh and Danielle Bowden are also a little less squeaky clean than Peggy and Nancy were in the original film. The pressure of Cady's stalking causes Leigh to lash out at Sam in some scenes, and Danielle is portrayed as a troubled teenager who smokes pot and is perversely fascinated with Cady at first. However, when they realize how monstrous Cady truly is, both Leigh and Danielle help Sam to fight him in the climax.
110* BlackComedy: There's a scene that involves around accidentally slipping on a pool of blood.
111* BlackDudeDiesFirst: The first person Cady kills in the film is [[spoiler: Graciella, the Bowdens' Hispanic housekeeper.]]
112* BlasphemousBoast:
113-->'''Cady:''' [[AGodAmI I am like God, and God like me. I am as large as God, He is as small as I. He cannot above me, nor I beneath Him be]].
114* BookDumb: Cady was illiterate well into adulthood but proves himself to be extremely intelligent, training himself in the law enough to act as his own defense.
115* BookEnds: The movie begins with chilling music and a blood-red negative shot on the daughter's eyes, [[CloseupOnHead zooming out into a positive shot of her giving a speech]] in class. The final scene inverts this, starting with a positive shot of her monologing AnAesop and zooming in on her eyes, turning the shot into a b/w and then red negative.
116** In a more extreme example that extends to the production logos, the movie also begins and ends with ambient audio of running water, thunder, and insect calls.
117* BreakTheCutie: Perky, upbeat Lori is brutally assaulted and raped by Cady.
118%%* BoomHeadshot: [[spoiler:Kersek]] dies from a combination of this and being garroted with piano wire.
119* ChekhovsGun: [[spoiler:The piano wire, the gun, and the lighter fuel. Also, Cady's handcuffs.]]
120* CigarChomper: Cady ''loves'' his cigars and is often seen puffing on one, usually in an incredibly obnoxious manner.
121* CompositeCharacter: Robert De Niro's Cady combines the original with another famous villain played by Robert Mitchum; SinisterMinister [[Film/TheNightOfTheHunter Harry Powell.]]
122** Deputy Kersek and PI Charlie Sievers from the original are combined into a single character in the remake, taking Sievers’ role but Kersek’s name [[spoiler:and death at the hands of Cady.]]
123* ComeOutComeOutWhereverYouAre: Cady says this word for word when looking for Bowden who hides behind a dumpster.
124* CombatBreakdown: Played very realistically. By the end of the final fight both men are staggering around, throwing weak punches and sluggishly trying to hit each other with rocks. Despite being much stronger than Bowden, eventually [[DentedIron Cady's injuries catch up to him]] and [[spoiler: he drowns in the surf when he's dragged under by sinking debris.]]
125* ConsummateLiar: Cady is able to deceive others by making up stories about himself, even presenting ''himself'' as the victim to Sam's harassment.
126* DarkerAndEdgier: The remake is this in comparison to the original, partly because of what one could get past the censors in 1991 versus 1962, and partly because of some changes to the story:
127** There's a graphic scene of Cady beating, mutilating, and raping Lori, one of Bowden's colleagues. In the 1962 film, the implied rape occurs off-screen.
128** In the original film, Bowden's actions against Cady were entirely legal and ethical: he was a witness who testified against Cady in a trial. In contrast, in the remake, Bowden was Cady's attorney who intentionally withheld evidence that could have helped Cady's case. Despicable as Cady is, what Bowden did was unethical and probably illegal.
129** In the 1962 film, Bowden has a perfect, loving family with a supportive wife and obedient, dutiful children. In this version, his wife suspects him of adultery (due to past episodes), and his rebellious teenage daughter is initially attracted to Cady.
130* DeathByAdaptation: [[spoiler:Kersek. In the original, the private detective survived, but here he doesn’t fare nearly as well thanks to [[CompositeCharacter being merged with]] a character who ''did'' die.]]
131* DisneyVillainDeath: The piece of boat Cady is cuffed to gets pulled back into the Cape Fear River by a wave and he eventually is dragged under to his doom.
132* DisruptingTheTheater: One of the remake’s most famous scenes. Early in the film, Cady follows Sam and his family into a cinema and sits in front of them. He laughs obnoxiously throughout the showing while filling the room with cigar smoke, ruining the Bowden family’s experience.
133* DumbassNoMore: At first, Bowden doesn't believe that Cady could know anything about how Bowden withheld evidence at Cady's trial since Cady was an illiterate, ignorant "hillbilly" at the time. Little does Bowden know that Cady has not only taught himself how to read, but has become very knowledgeable in law and many other subjects.
134* EvenEvilHasStandards: The otherwise psychopathic and seemingly amoral Cady harbors absolutely no ill will towards the judge or prosecutor at his trial for putting him away. According to him, they, like law enforcement generally, were just doing their jobs. This is in contrast to his hatred for Bowden, who he blames for intentionally failing in his job as defense attorney.
135* ExiledToTheCouch: Presented as a GilliganCut. After a quarrel with his wife about his infidelity, Sam invokes their team work. Zoom upon his wife's face. Cut. Sam with a blanket on the couch.
136* FanDisservice: Cady is in excellent shape and we get some scenes of him shirtless with his abs clearly visible but the effect is more off-putting than anything else.
137* FeelNoPain: Cady does feel pain but he has an extraordinarily high capacity for it, not even blinking when he has scalding water thrown on him.
138* FeetFirstIntroduction: Used for the introduction of the Latin maid.
139* ForcedToWatch: Cady disables Bowden at the boat and then the latter has to watch helplessly as Cady goes for his wife and daughter.
140* FramingTheGuiltyParty: Bowden deliberately buried evidence which would have helped Cady's defense at trial, but it was because he knew that Cady was guilty and had previously gotten away with other rape cases, plus the evidence would've only cleared him of charges by unfairly destroying the victim's credibility.
141* FromNobodyToNightmare: From an illiterate rube rapist to a buff, law-reading homicidal bastard with a liking for teenage girls.
142* TheFundamentalist: Cady and Heller (Cady's attorney, ironically played [[RemakeCameo by Peck]]).
143* GeniusBruiser: Cady is both in exceptionally good shape and terrifyingly smart. He studied law in prison, becoming a lawyer, even acting as his own defense during his appeals, so he knew when and how to harass the Bowdens and also became extremely well-read.
144* GirlsLoveStuffedAnimals: Danielle has a teddy bear on her bed.
145* HeWhoFightsMonsters: Cady attempted and failed to invoke this with Sam. The worst he got out of him was violent aggression, which was a result of his [[PapaWolf natural instinct to protect his family]].
146* HellholePrison: Cady doesn't stop telling Sam all about it. He claims to have been subjected to PrisonRape.
147* HeroAntagonist:
148** Bowden given his own difficulties with both his wife Leigh and daughter Danielle--at first cheating on the former outright in the past and then emotionally cheating later on too--and that he buried a report and violated the law and ethics of his job regardless of the morality--is framed as this along with Cady getting more of the focus in turn too.
149** Lee Heller is implied to put whatever personal issues he has with Cady aside to both represent him and condemn Bowden for his lawfully questionable actions--which is in contrast to Bowden burying something that likely would've helped Cady's rape case regardless of whether or not it was morally right.
150* HumanNotepad: Cady has lines from the Bible tattooed all over his body.
151* IronicEcho: In a meta-sense; where Gregory Peck and Robert Mitchum played the upstanding lawyer and the sadistic rapist in the original, their cameo roles in the remake essentially place them on the opposite sides, with Mitchum playing a police detective sympathetic to Bowden's plight and Peck playing Cady's attorney. Peck stated in an interview that he was offered a few different roles to make a cameo as, and immediately asked for the least sympathetic one. Also, Martin Balsam in the original played the Police Chief helping Bowden and in the remake, he played the judge who rules in Cady's favor.
152* JumpScare:
153** One of them happens when the phone rings during dinner. Actually, the ringer was loud...
154** Another happens when Kersek is talking with the Bowden’s maid, and she turns around to reveal [[spoiler:she is Cady, who had already murdered the real maid and taken her clothing to ambush Kersek.]]
155* KarmicDeath: Cady constantly declares that in God’s eyes, he'll punish Bowden for betraying him and just before Bowden is about to kill Cady with a rock, a wave pulls Cady back into the River where he eventually sinks down to the bottom.
156* LargeHam: De Niro, in fine form. There's rarely a scene where he isn't gleefully chomping off bits of scenery. Unlike most examples, it just makes him scarier. It's taken up to eleven after [[spoiler: Cady is set on fire.]]
157* MadeOfIron: Max gets beaten on for quite a while by some thugs, but as soon as he gets a weapon away from one of them, he takes them all down with ease. Later, Danielle throws some boiling water in his face, and he doesn't even blink. Grasping a lit signal flare didn't faze him, either. However, it's established that Cady [[SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome isn't invulnerable and his various injuries eventually catch up with him and incapacitate him.]]
158* ManOnFire: Danielle sprays Cady with lighter fluid while he lights a cigar, engulfing him in flames and causing him to jump off the boat to extinguish the fire.
159* MoodWhiplash: One minute, Lori is giddy and flirtatious, she's screaming in terror the next.
160* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: When Danielle acts coy at the question of Cady touching her at school, [[PapaWolf Sam]] is infuriated and nearly chokes her when demanding answers. He's immediately remorseful, calms down and apologizes, but Danielle yells for him to GetOut.
161* NeverLearnedToRead: Cady was illiterate well into adulthood and only learned while in prison. However, he repeatedly shows that this doesn't mean he's stupid.
162* NiceToTheWaiter: Danielle is very close to the family maid Graciella, always greeting her and trying to help her out. [[spoiler:Cady brutally murdering her is what finally opens Danielle's eyes to what he really is, leaving her horrified and devastated.]]
163* NoGoodDeedGoesUnpunished: Bowden's decision to ScrewTheRulesImDoingWhatsRight is what led to Cady to get his revenge on him.
164* NoodleIncident: Both Bowdens' past infidelities, requiring therapy and forcing them to move. Leigh suspected Lori and Sam were having an affair, thus explaining some phone conversation in hushed tones (actually, he was checking on her after Cady attacked her).
165* NotSoDifferentRemark: Cady at least ''tries'' to invoke this in his argument with Bowden, and is trying to bring Bowden [[HeWhoFightsMonsters to his level]]. The way Bowden snarls like a rabid animal while violently trying to beat Cady's brains out with a rock in the climax suggests he at least slightly succeeded, though it's not like Bowden's anger is [[PapaWolf in any way misplaced.]]
166-->'''Cady:''' Now you will know how it feels like! Loss of freedom! Loss of humanity! Now you and I [[HeWhoFightsMonsters will truly be the same!]]
167* ObfuscatingDisability: When the judge granted the restraining order against Bowden, Cady hobbled right out of court in crutches.
168* ObviouslyEvil: Unlike in the [[TheyLookJustLikeEveryoneElse original version]], a quick look at Cady's tattooed skin on this version reveals that he is a bad man.
169* OfficeGolf: Kersek is shortly seen golfing in his office.
170* PoorCommunicationKills: It's implied Sam and Leigh didn't tell Danielle the details of what Cady did to get imprisoned or his grudge against Sam. As a result, she doesn't comprehend the full danger he poses and even falls for Cady's flirtations, to the point of disbelieving that he actually killed their dog. Sam doesn't help matters with his angry reaction upon learning Cady got intimate with Danielle at school instead of actually trying to explain things, causing her not to care about the stakeout or want her father to kill Cady. It takes [[spoiler: seeing Cady's murders of Graciela and Kesak for her to finally wise up.]]
171* PrisonRape: Cady's quip about "being a woman" and getting in touch with his own "soft, nurturing side, his feminine side" when Sam Bowden tried to buy him off implies he was subjected to this.
172* PrivateDetective: Kersek.
173* PunchClockVillain: Lee Heller likely has reviewed the facts on both sides of the case and chooses to be a ConsummateProfessional in dealing with Cady as his client. This means his personal feelings are set aside as he does whatever he can to defend Cady. This in turn also contrasts how Bowden didn't set his personal feelings aside and violated Cady's rights while defending him instead.
174* RecycledSoundtrack:
175** The film reuses Music/BernardHerrmann's score from the original, albeit conducted by Music/ElmerBernstein.
176** The music that is heard at the climax of the movie was a piece of music that Herrmann had written for Creator/AlfredHitchcock's ''Film/TornCurtain'', but that piece of music was never used. Bernstein had always liked that original score and he asked Creator/MartinScorsese if it could be used in ''Cape Fear''.
177* RedShirt: Graciella, the Bowdens' maid, gets very little characterization or screentime [[spoiler:before Cady murders her.]]
178* RemakeCameo: The remake featured cameos by Creator/GregoryPeck and Creator/RobertMitchum, the hero and antagonist (respectively) of the original. Also, Creator/MartinBalsam, who played the sympathetic cop role in the original, plays a judge in the remake.
179* RevengeIsNotJustice: Max Cady wants revenge because his lawyer, Sam Bowden, buried evidence that could have saved Cady 14 years in prison (where it's implied that he was sexually assaulted there and he felt especially vulnerable due to his illiteracy). However, it's revealed early on that the evidence that could have saved Cady was that his victim was promiscuous, something Bowden points out as ridiculous and evil. Cady doesn't accept this [[{{Hypocrite}} or care]], and even prepares to still murder Sam for violating his oath as a lawyer.
180--> '''Sam''': Just because she was promiscuous didn't give you the right to rape her! You bragged to me that you beat two prior aggravated rapes. You were a menace.
181--> '''Max''': You were my lawyer! You were my lawyer, that report could have saved me fourteen years!
182--> '''Sam''': You're probably right.
183--> '''Max''': You self-righteous fuck!
184* RevengeThroughCorruption: Cady gets his hooks in Bowden's daughter, almost seducing her, but she eventually sees him for the monster he is. Likewise, he never got what he truly wanted out of Sam, as he was killed in self-defense. Brought up by Cady in discussion with Sam about how his PrisonRape past could be properly retaliated.
185-->'''Cady at the climax''': Now I sentence you, counselor! Now you will know how it feels like! Loss of ''freedom''! Loss of '''humanity'''! Now you and I will truly be the same!
186* SacrificialLion: [[spoiler:Kersek's death shows just how far Cady will go to have his revenge.]]
187* SafeBehindTheCorner: Cady shouts ComeOutComeOutWhereverYouAre and walks towards the dumpster behind which the protagonist is hiding. Then he stops in his tracks, curses, and walks away.
188* ScrewTheRulesImDoingWhatsRight: Bowden, as Cady's defense lawyer, had the sworn duty to give his client the best defense. The best defense would have involved adding additional humiliation on top of grievous injury to the poor girl Cady raped, by exposing her sexual history. Bowden decided "to hell with it" and half-assed his job, wishing Cady to go to jail.
189%%* SlashedThroat: Graciella meets her end this way.
190* SmallNameBigEgo: Kersek is far less intimidating and badass than his thinks he is, and his attempt at intimidating Cady fails.
191* TattooedCrook: Max Cady. His various shirtless scenes show him covered in extensive tattoos.
192* TilMurderDoUsPart: Cady casually mentions he killed his ex-wife and chopped her in 52 pieces when he's intimate with Lori Davis. Hard to tell he's joking or telling the truth.
193* TroubledTeen: Danielle was nearly expelled for smoking marijuana and consequently goes to summer school. She also seems to be struggling with puberty and feeling isolated due to her parents' arguments, which Cady takes advantage of to charm her.
194* {{Ubermensch}}: In-universe, Cady seems to fancy himself as one. Early in the film, he's caught reading ''Literature/AlsoSprachZarathustra'', which at first seems like an aside, but near the end he claims he wants to become "more than human", implying he took the book to heart.
195* UndersideRide: Max Cady ties himself to the bottom of Sam Bowden's car, causing the Bowden family to take him directly to the houseboat. This is probably the most parodied element of the film. Cady luckily avoids [[WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons stepping on any rakes afterwards.]]
196* VillainBall: Cady could've probably gotten Sam disbarred if he'd actually followed through with the legal process, instead of becoming impatient and just going with the violent murderous route.
197* VillainHasAPoint: Cady ''is'' technically correct when he points out that Bowden violated his legal and ethical duty as a defense attorney by burying important evidence that may have secured his client's acquittal. Hence he bears no grudge against the judge or the prosecutor, who were just doing their jobs correctly. Even Sam's boss call him out for burying the evidence. Only technically though, since this leads more to the condemnation of such a warped law than to Cady's justification as Cady is a {{Hypocrite}} who truly doesn't care about the law and just uses it as a petty excuse to ignore his own crimes.
198* VillainProtagonist: Cady's actor in the remake is given top billing and the Academy Award and Golden Globe nomination he received was for "Best Actor". So, it can be viewed that Cady is the main focus of the film for the audience to follow from beginning to end besides also acting as the BigBad, while Sam is a SupportingProtagonist who endures Cady's menace and realized how deeply motivated he is to achieve his revenge against him.
199* VillainousBreakdown: Cady pretty much loses it in the climax, screaming [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Speaking_in_Tongues glossolalic]] gibberish and ranting about being "[[MadnessMantra bound for the promised land]]" [[spoiler: right before he drowns.]]
200* WickedCultured: In addition to studying every law book he could get his hands on in prison, Cady seems to have a vast knowledge of philosophy, theology, and literature, quoting sources as varied as the Bible, [[Creator/DanteAlighieri Dante]] and [[Creator/FriedrichNietzsche Nietzsche]] in conversation. In one scene, he's seen changing radio stations to listen to opera.

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