17. Max Cady - Cape Fear (1962, 1991)
Max Cady is a convicted rapist who grows insanely fixated on the lawyer who helped to sent him down - Sam Bowden. He only grows more aggrieved when his wife and kids leave him. After he gets out of prison, Max is gunning for the Bowdens. He stalks the wife and child and a restraining order as well as bribery do not affect him. In desperation, Bowden gets some tough guys to beat up Cady, however, Cady has only been further psycho-fied. He follows the Bowdens to their holiday home and tries to kill all the family. However in the 1962 movie Bowden makes a citizen arrest on Cady. In the 1992 version Cady is apparently drowned. Mitchum portrays Cady as a sleazy degenerate while De Niro portrays him as a hardcore psychopath who will damage everything close to Bowden. Both Mitchum and De Niro acquit themselves admirably as psycho Max Cady in two very different films.
Clare Simpson
Contributor
My first film watched was Carrie aged 2 on my dad's knee. Educated at The University of St Andrews and Trinity College Dublin. Fan of Arthouse, Exploitation, Horror, Euro Trash, Giallo, New French Extremism. Weaned at the bosom of a Russ Meyer starlet. The bleaker, artier or sleazier the better!
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Clare