Three stars out of four
Everything old is new again — and still quite scary. Cape Fear is best known as the iconic 1991 movie starring an Oscar-nominated Robert De Niro as the convict Max Cady, who goes to prison after his lawyer (Nick Nolte) hides evidence. Once Cady is released, he’s out for revenge. Bloody, sadistic revenge. The film was the stuff of nightmares long after credits rolled.
Now Apple TV is rebooting the Martin Scorsese thriller — itself a remake of a ’60s film starring Gregory Peck and based on the book The Executioners by John D. MacDonald — into a 10-episode TV show (streaming now). Amy Adams is Cady’s defense attorney, Anna; Patrick Wilson is her prosecutor husband, Tom; and an eerie, excellent Javier Bardem— putting his own spooky spin on the role — is Cady.
The show, from creator Nick Antosca (The Act), is far from a shot-for-shot remake of either previous film. “Each version of the story kind of reflects the worldviews of its time,” Antosca recently told Entertainment Weekly. “In the ’60s, there’s a monster and there’s a virtuous all-American family. In the ’90s, there’s a monster, but the family is broken and dysfunctional. And in today’s version, both the family and the monster are more complicated.”
This iteration digs deeper into our collective obsession with true-crime tales and the wreckage that can leave in its wake. It also zeroes in on larger roles for the teenage children of Anna and Tom, played by an increasingly unnerving Lily Collias and Joe Anders, who have their own surprising revelations over the course of the show. As tension builds — and increasingly gory incidents pile up (seriously, this show is graphic) — Cape Fear succeeds at making a horror-thriller with wild twists that keep you thinking.
And the twists are twisty: Even long-time fans of the story will be surprised at some of the choices here, including familiar faces that are sure to delight. It won’t be for everyone, but for those who love a good Southern Gothic scare —and great acting — Cape Fear is still a
place worth visiting.
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