Les nerfs à vif

Robert Mitchum was born for this role. He played the evil Max Cady as though Cady's spirit was actually inside him. Cady was a psychopathic murderer who became obsessed with a couple and their daughter. To counteract this persistent attention, the couple hired a security agent. When this went terribly wrong, the family made a run for their houseboat. Unfortunately, Cady was wise to them leading to a nail biting finale. 5 stars go to this great film.

I recently picked up a VHS copy of Cape Fear from a market and watched and found it an excellent movie. This is long deleted on video in Britain, so I was lucky to see it. A lawyer and his family are terrorised by a killer he helped to put in prison. Released after eight years, he wants his revenge. He starts by poisoning the family dog and he kills a woman before picking on the lawyer's daughter. The family flee to their houseboat and the killer is finally arrested after he is set up and faces many more years in prison. This is Robert Mitchum at his creepy best, in a role very similar to the one he played in Night Of the Hunter. The lawyer is played by Gregory Peck and the movie also stars Polly Bergen, Martin Balsam and an early role for Telly Savalas (Kojak). The excellent score is by the great Bernard Herrmann (The Day the Earth Stood Still, The 7th Voyage of Sinbad, Psycho). This movie was rather creepy in parts and is a must for any movie fan. Rating: 5 stars out of 5.

Mitchum was, if anything, even more powerful in "Cape Fear," possibly because his antagonist this time was the perfectly contrasting Gregory Peck Mitchum played a sex criminal, freed after eight years in prison, who returned to a sleepy little town to terrorize the witness (Gregory Peck) whom he blamed for his conviction The ex-con uttered no threats, used no violence, broke no laws – and the police were therefore helpless… But his very presence, the tone of his voice, the look in his eyes as he turned them lazily on Peck's attractive wife and adolescent daughter showed with unmistakable and cumulative menace that he would surely take his revenge Peck planted his wife and daughter on a safely moored houseboat to tempt Mitchum into a trap...

Boy, this shows that you can still make a scary movie without a lot of blood, profanity and whatever. Hollywood didn't learn that, however, featuring all of it less than a decade after this was made. The Martin Scorcese re-make of this movie is exactly what I'm talking about. This original Cape Fear was legitimately scary, thanks to the performance of Robert Mitchum, who doesn't need to resort to the f-word to be a tough, sick and really an evil character as he stalks Gregory Peck and his wife (Polly Bergen) and daughter (Lori Martin). Bergan and Martin are two women I don't see too much in films which is too bad. They did a lot more TV work than movies. Another thing you don't see much anymore - a nice, sympathetic policeman - was also portrayed in here nicely by Martin Balsam. The ending has some holes in it, to be sure, but overall it offers a good 106- minute suspense story.