10 Creepiest Movies About Stalkers

3. Cape Fear (1991)

Essentially Hitchcock updated for a more sensationalist nineties crowd, this remake of the sixties classic amps up convicted rapist Max Cady from sinister stalker out for revenge against the man who stopped the attack and testified against him, to utter raving nutjob stalker, out for revenge against the lawyer who deliberately botched his defence. The difference is a significant one. Gregory Peck€™s hero is a two-fisted version of his Atticus Finch from To Kill A Mockingbird, an honourable man who stepped in for the victim and stands up in court for what he saw. Nick Nolte€™s protagonist is portrayed as a cowardly man, likely having an affair, who elected to screw up Cady€™s case rather than simply refuse to represent him: it€™s almost as if he brings the devil down upon himself through his weakness of character. And De Niro€™s Cady is very much that. Down to around 4% body fat to make himself more of physical threat to the larger Nolte (who lost weight to make himself less intimidating), the scripture-spouting Cady in the remake is a tattooed, heavily muscled madman, speaking in tongues and ripping at victims with his teeth, a Grand Guignol antagonist. It€™s one of the most memorably creepy and psychotic monsters of modern cinema, up there with Anthony Hopkins€™ Hannibal Lecter €“ and De Niro would, ironically, lose out on an Oscar for the performance to Hopkins€™ own killer portrayal that year.