{"id":1100,"date":"2026-06-03T13:17:17","date_gmt":"2026-06-03T13:17:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=1100"},"modified":"2026-06-03T13:17:17","modified_gmt":"2026-06-03T13:17:17","slug":"what-to-watch-creepy-cape-fear-back-to-rattle-us-again","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=1100","title":{"rendered":"What to watch: Creepy ‘Cape Fear’ back to rattle us again"},"content":{"rendered":"
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This week, we review the remake of a gothic thriller that still thrills, and another great season of an Anne Rice-born vampire series. They arrive at the same time as the new superhero film \u201cMasters of the Universe.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more Review: \u2018Masters of the Universe\u2019 needs to take itself less seriously<\/a><\/p>\n

Here\u2019s our roundup.<\/p>\n

\u201cCape Fear\u201d:<\/strong> Legendary noir author John D. MacDonald gifted Hollywood with one of its most durable, cruel and unforgettable punishers\u00a0 in 1957\u2019s \u201cThe Executioners\u201d: an unrepentant vengeance-seeker named Max Cady, who was played with creepiness by Robert Mitchum and later a tatted-out Robert De Niro in two film versions renamed \u201cCape Fear.\u201d If you met Cady either on the page or in the films, you know he\u2019s a piece of evil work and that portraying this slime bucket is also an actor\u2019s dream. (De Niro scored an Oscar nomination for his depraved madman in Martin Scorsese\u2019s lauded horror film.) Now it\u2019s versatile Oscar winner Javier Bardem\u2019s turn to make everyone\u2019s skin crawl \u2014 and he does so with gusto and with a welcome difference. Both he and showrunner Nick Antosca give Cady a deeper backstory, delving into how his past driven him down the road toward madness. It broadens his psychic roadmap and the story itself, making Cady part monster\/part human even while he coils himself like a viper around the privileged necks of the rich, dysfunctional Bowden brood in Savannah.<\/p>\n

A former hot-shot restaurateur, Cady landed behind bars \u2014 at least in this version \u2014 for a savage slaying, and now he\u2019s out 17 years later and prepped to avenge. He\u2019s not right in the head and has been dealing with the fallout from a sicko past and a gruesome prison fight (flashbacked with full-on gore) that mushed up his brain. Cady relentlessly moves himself into the Bowdens\u2019 world so he settles a bad score with his attorney (Amy Adams) and her husband (Patrick Wilson) for reasons I\u2019m not gonna tell you about.<\/p>\n

In both film versions, we held little to zero sympathy for Cady, but in this thornier, more morally complicated version, the scales of justice aren\u2019t weighted entirely to one side, increasing the dramatic tension and broadening the scope of Cady\u2019s ire itself. Don\u2019t get me wrong, he\u2019s just as prone to savage attacks. But if you\u2019re going to bother to redo a well-worn premise such as this one, it\u2019s the right way to breathe something new into it.<\/p>\n

Anna (Adams) and Tom (Wilson) are also cunning, ambitious cutthroats with unseemly pasts, too, and it is their ethical rule-blurring that adds dimension and a sense of uncertainty about where this version will take us. Both consider Cady to be an inferior being, a lowly pest at first, who turns into a formidable menacing presence with the power and wiles to destroy them and their rebellious teen children \u2014 the unstable Zack (Joe Anders) and the fed-up with her parents former \u201cgood kid\u201d Natalie (Lily Collias). With executive producers Martin Scorsese (who directed the 1991 version) and Steven Spielberg backing this 10-episode series (eight were available for review), creator Nick Antosca got the blessing from heavyweight players. It\u2019s understandable given his vision, which wisely moves the story into modern times, and is loaded up with surprises and new twists galore.<\/p>\n

The cast is sensational. Bardem is on fire in every scene, Adams expresses volumes with one tentative, wary glance (she\u2019s one of our best actresses), Wilson nabs his best role since \u201cLittle Children\u201d and Anders and Collias tap into unnerving teen angst to express and show just how messed up the well-regarded Bowdens are on the inside and out. In a pivotal role you need to see and absorb for yourself, Malia Pyles frightens the hell out of any parent. I\u2019ll say nothing more about that. Equally essential is the evocative sweaty noirish look and texture of the series \u2013 from its old-school opening credits, to its swelling melodramatic music and on to its off-kilter but seductive cinematography by Eben Bolter and Celiana C\u00e1rdenas \u2013 some of the finest work you will find in a series or a film. Those elements make \u201cCape Fear\u201d a breathless experience, a shattering new impression that repurposes what came before and strives to do something similar yet different.\u00a0 Is it better than either film? In some ways. But we\u2019ll just have to see where Antosca docks his story in the end and then get back to you on that one. Details:<\/strong> 3\u00bd stars;\u00a0 two episodes drop June 5, followed by new episodes every Friday through July 31.<\/p>\n

Read more 49ers\u2019 o-line coach endures \u2018gut punch\u2019 by Myles Garrett\u2019s trade to rival Rams<\/a><\/p>\n