Well I talked about Robert Mitchum as the character, now lets talk about Robert De Niro as the character.
WARNING: THERE WILL BE SPOILERS
In the remake, Max Cady was sent to prison for 14 years
instead of 8 and this time it was for rape and battery. His character is a
lot different than Mitchums character. Instead of just smoking cigars, he's
covered with tattoos and usually wears a Hawaiian shirt. He's not only as smart
as the original character but he's also a lot more vicious. If there's one
thing both versions of the characters have in common, it's to get even with Sam
for not fully defending him.
The first time we see Cady in this film is just as eerie as
we first see Mitchum. Instead of first seeing him out of prison, we see him
leaving prison. As the theme to the movie plays, we get a back shot of seeing
him work out and seeing a huge tattoo on his back. He then leaves prison
smiling menacingly and the guards ask if he's being picked up. He shakes his
head in response. The guard then asks him if he's taking his books. Max then
responds in his creepy southern accent "Already Read Em". As he
leaves the prison we see a storm cloud rising over the prison as Max walks
closer and closer to the camera with his evil smile making this a great and
creepy introduction to this villain. Just by looking at him, you can tell he's
got everything planed.
Just like in the original, he starts off by stalking Sam and
his family. However, in this version he does it a lot creepier. As the
family is seeing a lame comedy, Max shadow casts over the screen and he sits
down smoking cigars (Lighting them with his cool looking lighter) while
laughing menacingly. After the film, the family goes out for Ice Cream but
before Sam can pay, the lady points to Max telling Sam he already paid for
them. We then see him sitting in his car, smoking cigars as he watches Sam's
family and after when Sam tells his family to eat inside the store, Max and his
car has vanished. Later on in the film, Max will be mysteriously ordering
and paying breakfast for the families’ protector and this time he will
make his presence known. The next day, Max and Sam meet up the same way they
meet up in the original. Max takes the keys from Sam's car and tells him he's
out of prison and that he'll be settling in the town where Sam lives. Later
that day as Sam and his wife make love, Sam's wife looks out the window and
sees Max sitting on their fence as Fireworks explode behind him. As Sam runs
out to investigate he's gone. Max later on is seen at the parade staring at
Sam's wife and after he comments on Sam's wife, Sam (Just like in the original)
punches him. The scary thing about Max in this version is he can appear
anywhere at any time and when you turn to look at him again, he's gone.
Knowing that Max is out of prison and in fear that he might make an attempt
on his family, he has the cops arrest him and give him a strip search. Instead
of Sam being in the same room with him, he watches him through a two way mirror
window and as he slowly takes off his clothes, he's in shock by looking at the
many tattoos he has on his strong body. After the search, Sam tries
to bribe Max to leave town but just like in the original he gives him a speech
on values and refuses to Sam's offer. Max's speech is just as good as the
original but it's not as twisted as Robert Mitchum's speech and story.
Max throughout the film finds ways to sneak into Sam's house undetected to
either steal or do evil things. The first time when we realize that Max
has broken into the house is when Sam finds one of the wires to his piano is
missing. Another time when we find out that Max has been at the house is when
he leaves a book about sex for Sam's daughter. Just like the original he
poisons the dogs, but later on gives Sam's wife the dogs missing collar while
gazing at her and telling her about the dog which makes her quickly realize
that he's been spying on her. The scary part of him sneaking into the house is
we never see him do it but we can tell by the evidence that he's been inside
the house. I think the most thrilling scene that leaves you into thinking is
Sam sees Max (In Black and White dreamlike cinematography) standing in front of
his bed smoking a cigar and as Sam rubs his eyes and he's gone. Could it be a
dream or was Max actually in the room?
Like in the original, Max dates a girl and beats her up.
However, it’s done very differently. Surprisingly the girl Max beats up is
actually a girl who Sam has an affair with, which makes Max's revenge a lot
more personal. He first takes the girl out on a date and instead of
briefly seeing them together, we actually get to see their relationship. Max
and her then go to make love and this time we get to see Max beat up that poor
woman. As their making love Max tells her the love of his life (Max's ex wife)
is no longer with him and that he "chopped her up into little
pieces". The girl thinks Max is joking with her and as she's laughing, Max
handcuffs her, breaks her arm, bites off a piece of her flesh and brutally
beats her like an animal. This has to be one of the most violent scenes I’ve
ever seen. Sam then visits her in the hospital to have her report Max but the
server injured woman refuses and to make matters worse Sam's wife finds out
about his affair with her.
Max's next target is Sam's daughter. Instead of scaring her
and making the audience think he's chasing her like in the original, we get a
whole different kind of approach. Max calls Sam's daughter while hanging upside
down telling her he's her drama teacher and that class will be held in the
theater. He also tells her to explore her sexual curiosity and not to be afraid
to show it. While you see Max talking to her, the camera angles switches from
him being upside down to making it look like he's standing up which shows the
villain insanity.
The daughter then walks into the dark auditorium but finds
out that no one is there. As she looks around she sees Max sitting on the stage
smoking weed. Max sweetly offers her the drug and instead of rejecting to the
offer she smokes it. The scene plays out in a very thrilling but
subtle way. At first Max acts from being a teacher to slowly revealing himself to
be Sam's foe. Instead of trying to rape her, he sweet talks to her and tells
her he's trying to help Sam and that he has feelings for her. Max then asks if
he could put his arm around her, the girl starts chuckling and gives Max
permission. Max starts by petting her hair with a perverted smile; sticks his
fingers in her mouth; and the two briefly make out. Max then slowly leaves
after he succeeds on seducing the young teenage girl and the girl in confusion
begins to let out her sexual curiosity. This scene is sick, twisted and
disturbing and the scary part is there are sick people out there (Including
teachers) who do this to young girls. Oh and a little fun fact, the
actress who plays Sam's daughter developed a crush on Robert De Niro after filming
this scene.
After when Sam finds out that Max has touched his daughter,
he hires a couple of thugs with pipes and a bike chain to beat up Max and scare
him into leaving town but just like in the original, it back fires. Max uses
his head to knock one of them out; grabs a pipe; uses it to take away the chain;
and bashes the other two thugs including one who is still on the ground.
That's what I call a smart and hard core villain. To make matters worse, Sam is
actually hiding in the shadows watching the fight and as he tries to get away
he makes a sound and Max hears it, knowing that he's here. This then leads to a
very thrilling search, as he begins to look for him while calling out his
name, telling him to show himself and that he's going to pay for this assault.
He even whistles for to Sam to come out as he gets closer and closer to Sam's
hiding place. However, Max gives up and sues Sam in court with recorded
evidence of Sam's threat during a conversation and has a very good lawyer
(Played by Gregory Peck, who played Sam in the original film).
Sam knows that Max will make an attempt on his family while
he goes to the hearing in North
Carolina. Instead of going, he fakes his trip and
hides in the house with the families’ protector to kill Max. As the families’
protector makes a drink in the kitchen, the housekeeper turns around
revealing to the audience that it's Max in disguise and strangles the man with
the missing piano wire. As the man tries to shoot Cady, Max makes him shoot
himself in the head and flees after taunting the dead body. As Sam and his
family see the dead bodies of the families’ protector and Housekeeper, Sam
finds the murder weapon but accidentally slips on the pool blood while grabbing
a gun. This is has got to be one of the best murders that I’ve ever seen on
film, which is one of the many reasons why I chose Max Cady as my 4th favorite
villain.
The family then flees to their houseboat on the "Cape
Fear" river, but Max follows them there by strapping himself underneath
the car; what a sly and slick villain. As the boat docks in the
middle of the river, Max jumps aboard and uses stealth to strangle Sam. Incase
if Sam survived, Max ties up Sam's body and takes away his gun. Then Max unties
the boat and goes after Sam's wife and daughter. Sam's daughter tries to defend
herself by throwing bowling hot water in Max's face but instead of flinching or
being in any pain, he stairs at her and asks "Are you offering me
something hot?". He then grabs a flair and lights it and as the wax is
dripping down on his hand as he tells the family that while he was in jail his
mission was to become "more than human". He then tells the family
about his family being "More than human". His Granny drank strychnine
and his granddaddy handled snakes in church. The cool thing about Max is, he
can take being burned, hit with lead pipes, slashed with a chain, and not feel
any pain. That's what makes him a very clever killer and good villain not to
mention being raised by a crazy family.
Max then locks the daughter in the hold while he rapes Sam's wife. As she
tries to reach for the gun that Cady has on him, he stops, drags Sam's body in
the boat and stomps on his face as Sam tells him to leave them alone. Sam's
wife tells him to stop hurting Sam and leave her daughter alone and take her
instead. Max agrees to her offer and as he lights his cigar to celebrate, Sam's
daughter squirts gas from a small container and sets Max on fire. Just when you
think Max is dead, he jumps back on the boat brutally burned which shows his
true inner demon. He holds a mock trial on the boat as it drifts into
rough waters during a raging storm; and as Max points the gun at Sam's face and
keeps hitting him with the butt of the gun while looking up as god (We the
audience) as the judge, he makes Sam spill the beans on burring the potentially
exculpatory report which causes Max to kill him as Sam's sentenced. He
forces the family to take their clothes off so he can rape them and kill them
but do to no one driving the boat through the rough storm they escape and it
now leads to an epic fight between Sam and Max. They both fight over the gun
but eventually lose the gun but Sam is able to handcuff Max on the shackle of
the boat. The boat then gets destroyed and Sam tries to stone Max to death.
Just as Sam tries to crush Max's face with a giant boulder, the tide takes Max
away and Max screams in tongues like a mad man and sings "I'm Bound For
The Promise Land" as he sinks to the bottom of the river and the last
thing we see of him are his evil eyes.
"We never spoke about what happened, at least not to each other. Fear,
I suppose, that to remember his name and what he did would mean letting him
into our dreams. And me, I hardly dream about him anymore. Still, things won't
ever be the way they were before he came. But that's alright because if you
hang onto the past you die a little every day. And for myself, I know I'd
rather live. The End.”
-Danielle Bowden
Max Cady is a sick psychopathic maniac. He kills, he assaults, he rapes, he
seduces, he's strong, he's smart, he's sneaky and he's played by two great
actors both ironically named Robert. I enjoy this villain so much that I was
originally going to put him as my number 1. Robert Mitchum performance as
Cady was put as number 28 on AFI's top 50 film villains; while, Robert De Niro
was also nominated for an Academy Award for his performance but lost it to
my 2nd favorite movie villain, can any of you guess who it is? Well don't
worry you'll find out soon enough. What I truly find sad and shocking is I
don't see Max on too many villains’ lists, which is more than sad because he
truly is a great villain. If you haven't seen any of the "Cape Fear"
movies defiantly check them out! Which one do I highly recommend? I'll save
that when I review the films.
