History Film / CapeFear

** Remake: Viewers can be somewhat mystified by the premise for why antagonist Max Cady felt slighted by protagonist Sam Bowden. At the time of release, the prior sexual history of a rape victim was a valid defense that would have lessened Cady's sentence, or might have even kept him out of jail. Nowadays, prior sexual history is inadmissible in rape cases.

* GrayAndBlackMorality: In contrast to the BlackAndWhiteMorality of the original. This version of Bowden had an affair (the consequences of it were still being felt by the family, including having been forced to move away) and performed an illegal (even disbarring-worthy) act by holding back Cady's victim's sexual history, but he still is a good guy next to the ''brutal'' monster that is Cady.

* BlackAndWhiteMorality: The original film portrayed Robert Mitchum as pure evil, with absolutely no legitimate reason to begrudge his conviction and Gregory Peck as perfectly virtuous, not deserving of any retribution.

* SmallNameBigEgo: Kersek is far less intimidating and badass than his thinks he is.

** Deputy Kersek and PI Charlie Sievers from the original are combined into a single character in the remake.

** The film reuses Music/BernardHerrmann's score from the original.
** The music that is heard at the climax of the movie was a piece of music that Herrmann had written for Creator/AlfredHitchcock's ''Film/TornCurtain'', but that piece of music was never used. Music/ElmerBernstein had always liked that original score and he asked Creator/MartinScorsese if it could be used in ''Cape Fear''.

* InfantImmortality: As cited above, Cady kills the family dog in both versions.

* CombatBreakdown: Played very realistically. By the end of the final fight both men are staggering around, throwing weak punches and sluggishly trying to hit each other with rocks. Despite being much stronger than Bowden, eventually [[RealityEnsues Cady's injuries catch up to him]] and [[spoiler: he drowns in the surf when he's too weak to stand or swim away.]]]

* NotSoDifferent: Cady at least ''tries'' to invoke this in his argument with Bowden, and is trying to bring Bowden [[HeWhoFightsMonsters to his level]]. The way Bowden snarls like a rabid animal while violently trying to beat Cady's brains out with a rock in the climax suggests he at least slightly succeeded.

* Kick the Dog: Cady is walking up the stairs to the courtroom and brushes against woman carrying a file, causing her to drop the file. He neither excuses himself nor helps her pick up the file. Clearly introducing him as the worst kind of person.

* TheFundamentalist: Cady and Heller (Cady's attorney).

* RealityEnsues: Despite his [[AxCrazy savagery]], Cady is no superhuman monster. By the end of the final brawl with Bowden, his ''many'' injuries leave him too weak to stand [[spoiler: and he eventually drowns when the surf washes him away.]]

* {{Bookends}}: The movie begins with chilling music and a blood-red negative shot of a [[CloseupOnHead on the daughter's eyes]] zooming out into a positive shot of her giving a speech. The final scene inverts this, starting with a positive shot of her monologing AnAesop and zooming in on her eyes, turning the shot into a b/w and then red negative.

* HeWhoFightsMonsters: Cady attempted and failed to invoke this with Sam. The worst he got out of him was violent aggression, which was a result of his natural instinct to protect his family.

* AmoralAttorney: Gregory Peck's cameo as Cady's lawyer. Bowden intentionally sabotaging Cady's defence, on the other hand was actually done out of morality.

-->'''Cady at the climax''': Now I sentence you, counselor! Now you will know how it feels like! Loss of ''freedom''! Loss of '''humanity'''! Now you and I will truly be alike!

* PrivateDetective: Charlie Sievers (Telly Savalas) in the original, Claude Kersek (Joe Don Baker) in the remake.

* Kick the Dog: Cady is walking up the stairs to the courtroom and brushes against woman carrying a file, causing her to drop the file. He neither excuses himself or helps her pick up the file. The worst kind of person.

It tells the story of Sam Bowden (GregoryPeck), a lawyer whose family is threatened by a convicted rapist. The rapist, Max Cady (Creator/RobertMitchum), wants vengeance for having been imprisoned on Bowden's testimony after the latter witnessed him attempting to rape a woman. After a lengthy game of cat and mouse between the two, Bowden takes his wife (Polly Bergen) and teenaged daughter (Lori Martin) to their houseboat on Cape Fear, hoping to set a trap for Cady that will lead to his re-imprisonment. Needless to say, this does not go as planned.

* RemakeCameo: GregoryPeck and Robert Mitchum both play supporting roles in the remake. Martin Balsam, who played a police chief in the original, also has a small cameo in the remake.

* [[{{Ubermensch}} Ubermensch]]: In-universe, Cady seems to fancy himself as one. Early in the film, he's caught reading AlsoSprachZarathustra, which at first seems like an aside, but near the end he claims he wants to become "more than human", implying he took the book to heart.

* FauxAffablyEvil: Cady. He tries to present himself as a pleasant, well-educated southern gentleman, but it's very clear that beneath the pleasant facade and supposed reverence for God and justice, he is a sadistic murderer and rapist who deserved his prison sentence.