CAPE FEAR (1991)

If you only think of De Niro as someone who acts as goofy senile grandpas, then flashback to yesteryear of his more serious outings such as the remake of CAPE FEAR. Where the classic Robert Mitchum did his thing back in the original, De Niro goes from subtle evil to crazy over-the-top, accented, entertaining crazy as freely released prisoner Max Cady. Upon release, he seeks his defense lawyer who he blames for getting sent to prison for several years and it later comes out exactly how/why his laywer didn't do more at the time. Part psycholgical thriller, part horror, but all around underrated Scorsese (in between his two signature gangsta' flicks, just the opening scene of Cady getting released from prison and the smirk on his face sets up the tone for the entire flick. Much like the 'The Thing', this one improves upon the original with modern flimmaking, differnet generations of actors, and an iconic director. Before De Niro went crazy in real life, check him out going crazy here.

SLASH SCENE: Movie theatre

SLASH SCORE: 4.5/5