SimilarScreen
Cape Fear

Cape Fear

Sam Bowden has always provided for his family's future. But the past is coming back to haunt them.

19917.32h 8m

Overview

Sam Bowden is a small-town corporate attorney. Max Cady is a tattooed, cigar-smoking, Bible-quoting, psychotic rapist. What do they have in common? 14 years ago, Sam was a public defender assigned to Max Cady's rape trial, and he made a serious error: he hid a document from his illiterate client that could have gotten him acquitted. Now, the cagey Cady has been released, and he intends to teach Sam Bowden and his family a thing or two about loss.

Directed by Martin Scorsese
Written by John D. MacDonald, Wesley Strick, James R. Webb
Produced by Barbara De Fina
Box OfficeBudget: $35.0MRevenue: $182.3M

Top Cast

Robert De Niro

Robert De Niro

Max Cady

Nick Nolte

Nick Nolte

Sam Bowden

Jessica Lange

Jessica Lange

Leigh Bowden

Juliette Lewis

Juliette Lewis

Danielle Bowden

Joe Don Baker

Joe Don Baker

Claude Kersek

Robert Mitchum

Robert Mitchum

Lieutenant Elgart

Gregory Peck

Gregory Peck

Lee Heller

Martin Balsam

Martin Balsam

Judge

Illeana Douglas

Illeana Douglas

Lori Davis

Fred Thompson

Fred Thompson

Tom Broadbent

Themes & Keywords

prisonsmall townchild abuserapehouseboatcigar smokingremakerevengestalkinglawyerpsychological thrillerfearrebellious daughterrapistprivate detectivekilling a dogthreat to familyfamily terrorized

About Cape Fear

Cape Fear is a drama, crime, thriller film released in 1991 exploring themes of prison, small town, child abuse, rape, houseboat, cigar smoking. Directed by Martin Scorsese, it stars Robert De Niro, Nick Nolte, Jessica Lange. Sam Bowden is a small-town corporate attorney. Max Cady is a tattooed, cigar-smoking, Bible-quoting, psychotic rapist. What do they have in common? 14 years ago, Sam was a public defender assigned to Max Cady's rape trial, and he made a serious error: he hid a document from his illiterate client that could have gotten him acquitted. Now, the cagey Cady has been released, and he intends to teach Sam Bowden and his family a thing or two about loss.

Movies Similar to Cape Fear

Discover titles like Cape Fear — ranked by similarity and community votes

We found 15 movies similar to Cape Fear

If you enjoyed Cape Fear, you'll love these handpicked recommendations. Each title below shares similar themes, tone, and storytelling style. Our algorithm analyzes genres, keywords, director filmography, and cast connections to find the closest matches. Whether you're looking for the same emotional depth, narrative structure, or visual style, these picks are curated to deliver the best viewing experience for fans of Cape Fear.

GoodFellas
31% Match

GoodFellas(1990)

Movie8.5/10

The true story of Henry Hill, a half-Irish, half-Sicilian Brooklyn kid who is adopted by neighbourhood gangsters at an early age and climbs the ranks of a Mafia family under the guidance of Jimmy Conway.

The Departed
30% Match

To take down South Boston's Irish Mafia, the police send in one of their own to infiltrate the underworld, not realizing the syndicate has done likewise. While an undercover cop curries favor with the mob kingpin, a career criminal rises through the police ranks. But both sides soon discover there's a mole among them.

The Silence of the Lambs
26% Match

Clarice Starling is a top student at the FBI's training academy. Jack Crawford wants Clarice to interview Dr. Hannibal Lecter, a brilliant psychiatrist who is also a violent psychopath, serving life behind bars for various acts of murder and cannibalism. Crawford believes that Lecter may have insight into a case and that Starling, as an attractive young woman, may be just the bait to draw him out.

Cape Fear
25% Match

Cape Fear(1962)

Movie7.5/10

Sam Bowden witnesses a rape committed by Max Cady and testifies against him. When released after 8 years in prison, Cady begins stalking Bowden and his family but is always clever enough not to violate the law.

American Psycho
25% Match

A wealthy New York investment banking executive hides his alternate psychopathic ego from his co-workers and friends as he escalates deeper into his illogical, gratuitous fantasies.

Panic Room
24% Match

Panic Room(2002)

Movie6.8/10

Trapped in their New York brownstone's panic room, a hidden chamber built as a sanctuary in the event of break-ins, newly divorced Meg Altman and her young daughter Sarah play a deadly game of cat-and-mouse with three intruders - Burnham, Raoul and Junior - during a brutal home invasion. But the room itself is the focal point because what the intruders really want is inside it.

Sleepers
24% Match

Sleepers(1996)

Movie7.6/10

Two gangsters seek revenge on the state jail worker who during their stay at a youth prison sexually abused them. A sensational court hearing takes place to charge him for the crimes.

Straw Dogs
24% Match

Straw Dogs(1971)

Movie7.2/10

David Sumner, a mild-mannered academic from the United States, marries Amy, an Englishwoman. In order to escape a hectic stateside lifestyle, David and his wife relocate to the small town in rural Cornwall where Amy was raised. There, David is ostracized by the brutish men of the village, including Amy's old flame, Charlie. Eventually the taunts escalate.

At Close Range
23% Match

Brad Whitewood Jr. lives in rural Pennsylvania and has few prospects. Against his mother's wishes, he seeks out his estranged father, the head of a gang of thieves in a nearby town. Though his new girlfriend supports his criminal ambitions, Brad Jr. soon learns that his father is a dangerous man. Inspired by the real events that led to the end of the Johnston Gang, who operated in the northeastern United States in the 1970s.

The Last House on the Left
23% Match

When athletic teen Mari Collingwood opts to hang out with her friend Paige in town rather than spend an evening in with her parents vacationing at the family's remote lake house, it marks the beginning of a night no one is going to forget.

Irreversible
23% Match

A woman’s lover and her ex-boyfriend take justice into their own hands after she becomes the victim of a rapist. Because some acts can’t be undone. Because man is an animal. Because the desire for vengeance is a natural impulse. Because most crimes remain unpunished.

Return to Sender
22% Match

A nurse mistakes a stranger who pays her a visit for her blind date and soon, the man rapes her and turns her life upside down. The woman works to reclaim her life and exact revenge on her assailant after he's paroled from prison.

The Killer Inside Me
22% Match

Deputy Sheriff Lou Ford is a pillar of the community in his small west Texas town, patient and apparently thoughtful. Some people think he is a little slow and maybe boring, but that is the worst they say about him. But then nobody knows about what Lou calls his "sickness": He is a brilliant, but disturbed sociopathic sadist.