Cape Fear

Play trailer

Cape Fear

R

1991

2h 8m

Mystery & Thriller

Crime

Drama

Play Trailer

Watchlist

Watchlist

Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

77%

Tomatometer

60 Reviews

77%

Popcornmeter

50,000+ Ratings

When attorney Sam Bowden (Nick Nolte) knowingly withholds evidence that would acquit violent sex offender Max Cady (Robert De Niro) of rape charges, Max spends 14 years in prison. But after Max's release, knowing about Sam's deceit, he devotes his life to stalking and destroying the Bowden family. When practical attempts to stop Max fail, Sam realizes that he must act outside the law to protect his wife and daughter in Martin Scorsese's remake of the classic 1962 thriller.

Watch on Fandango at Home

Stream Now

Critics Consensus

Smart and stylish, Cape Fear is a gleefully mainstream shocker from Martin Scorsese, with a terrifying Robert De Niro performance.

Read Critics Reviews

Steve Murray

Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Sep 25

Scary, gory and able to jangle your nerves in half a dozen ways.

Go to Full Review

Wendy Ide

The Times (UK)

08/14/2023

Yet the grubby story is elevated by a superior cast in both the original and this grimly bloodthirsty remake.

Go to Full Review

Victoria Luxford

BBC.com

05/06/2022

(De Niro) had played a tough guy before, but never quite like this: a very sinister, very jagged, very dangerous character… put that together with Martin Scorsese at possibly the peak of his powers, and it’s a delightful if slightly scary film.

Go to Full Review

Dan DiNicola

The Daily Gazette (Schenectady, NY)

Dec 18

5/5

This is a superbly taut and frightening chunk of suspense at once accessible and tinged with psychological complexity.

Go to Full Review

Matt Brunson

Film Frenzy

Aug 26

3/4

Technically, the film is a dazzling achievement, but De Niro’s performance wavers uneasily between brutish commitment and shallow parody.

Go to Full Review

Terry Francis

Southern Voice (Atlanta)

05/08/2023

2.5/4

The picture's missteps are more than numerous.

Go to Full Review

Read all reviews

Young S

@YoungStevie 1d

Basically a masterpiece

See more

tim G

@timg8747 Jun 24

i found cape fear to an exciting movie this remake has robert deniro as a prisoner released seeking on the attorney who took his case nick nolte and his family played by jessica lange and juliette lewis great preformances by everyone including joe don baker a definite thumbs upper

See more

Dwayne B.

@Dwayne_Barkers_World Jun 16

I went into Cape Fear (1991) completely blind. I’d seen a trailer for the new Cape Fear series and mentioned it to a friend, who told me there was an original movie with the same name. So I watched it with zero expectations — and wow. Robert De Niro is absolutely terrifying as Max Cady, a completely unhinged psychopath who spends 14 years in prison plotting revenge on the lawyer he believes wrongfully put him there. De Niro sells every second of it. Fair warning: a lot of scenes are brutal and not for the faint of heart. The film makes a chilling point about how prison can warp a man — Cady goes in dangerous, but comes out a full-blown monster.

See more

Ahmed M.

@RT84878034 Jun 13

The movie remain as shocking and intense as ever. Robert DeNiro is mesmerizing as the unrelenting menace. Every bit biblical vengeance as he quotes. The other standout is Juliette Lewis. She is 15 year old target of Max Cady’s sexual depravity. And she conveys innocence and precocity with such precision you feel terrified for her when tries to seduce her. Of course the original score,re-used here still packs a wallop.

See more

Tehrah E

@RT12480398 Jun 11

Omg so many jump scares 😂😂😂 crazy movie but a great must see

See more

Hunter T.

@htott Jun 9

Grabs your attention and holds you with the suspense that builds from the very start.

See more

Read all reviews

Read More

Read Less

WRITE A REVIEW

EDIT REVIEW

POST RATING

Martin Scorsese

Director

Robert De Niro

Max Cady

Nick Nolte

Sam Bowden

Jessica Lange

Leigh Bowden

Juliette Lewis

Danielle Bowden

Joe Don Baker

Claude Kersek

Cape Fear: Official Clip - Cady Kills Kersek

2:43

Cape Fear: Official Clip - More Than Human

2:34

Cape Fear: Official Clip - Cady Drowns

2:22

Cape Fear: Official Clip - Leigh Offers Herself

2:17

Cape Fear: Official Clip - Sucking Cady's Thumb

2:58

Cape Fear: Official Clip - Strip Search

2:35

Cape Fear: Official Clip - Come Out, Come Out, Wherever You Are

2:58

Cape Fear: Official Clip - The People vs. Samuel Bowden

3:03

Cape Fear: Official Clip - Cady's Release

1:18

Cape Fear: Official Clip - Smoking and Cackling

2:23

View more videos

A Kiss Before Dying

31%

32%

A Kiss Before Dying

Watchlist

The Trigger Effect

72%

45%

The Trigger Effect

Watchlist

Fear

47%

63%

Fear

Watchlist

Everybody Wins

13%

33%

Everybody Wins

Watchlist

Thunderheart

91%

75%

Thunderheart

Watchlist

Discover more movies and TV shows.

View More

View more photos

Synopsis

When attorney Sam Bowden (Nick Nolte) knowingly withholds evidence that would acquit violent sex offender Max Cady (Robert De Niro) of rape charges, Max spends 14 years in prison. But after Max's release, knowing about Sam's deceit, he devotes his life to stalking and destroying the Bowden family. When practical attempts to stop Max fail, Sam realizes that he must act outside the law to protect his wife and daughter in Martin Scorsese's remake of the classic 1962 thriller.

Director: Martin Scorsese
Producer: Robert De Niro, Barbara De Fina
Screenwriter: John D. MacDonald, James R. Webb, Wesley Strick
Distributor: Universal Pictures, MCA/Universal Pictures [us], Universal Home Entertainment
Production Co: Universal Pictures, Amblin Entertainment, Tribeca Productions
Rating: R
Genre: Mystery & Thriller, Crime, Drama
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Nov 13, 1991, Original
Release Date (Streaming): Apr 19, 2016
Box Office (Gross USA): $76.4M
Runtime: 2h 8m
Sound Mix: Surround
Aspect Ratio: Scope (2.35:1)