The #30DayMovieChallenge continues…

Day 02: The Last Movie You Watched

CAPE FEAR (1962)

capef

For a Noir blogger, you’d think I’d have seen the original Cape Fear once, twice, or even a dozen times. But you’d be wrong. I thought I had, only to find when I watched it yesterday that I had not! Despite the hideous women’s hairstyles (especially Peck’s daughter’s) and Peck as his usual somewhat wooden self (sorry, Peck fans), I enjoyed this noirish thriller, particularly the first half, in which you feel the anxiety grow and wonder what you’d do in similar circumstances. Mitchum is a disgusting powerhouse who owns the film. And the pick-up and attack of the new girl in town is just hideous. The scene in which she berates him in the car as a form of seduction and how it drives him to want to fuck her and then beat her is terrifying to me. The third-act woods/lake scenes were less gripping, too predictable in their style. You know the bad guy is gonna get it, even if you haven’t seen the film before. (Only a few more years and you wouldn’t be as sure.) Wish I could find this online to show for #BNoirDetour some Sunday.

FILM STILLS
The car scene that says it all.

Read my Day 01 Post and Challenge List.