Plot Summary for
Cape Fear (1991) More at IMDbPro »

Sam Bowden is a small-town corporate attorney/"Leave It to Beaver"-esque family-man. Max Cady is a tattooed, cigar-smoking, bible-quoting, psychotic rapist. What do they have in common? Fourteen 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, bibliophile Cady has been released, and he intends to teach Sam Bowden and his family a thing or two about loss. Written by James Craver

Sam Bowden is a womanizing lawyer who has cheated on his burnt out, bitter wife Leigh Bowden. Sam, Leigh, and their 15 year old daughter Danielle have moved to a backwater Florida town for a new start, but Sam is already showing signs of fooling around with his clerk, 16 year old Lori Davis. Meanwhile, Leigh broods at home, venting her bitterness on Danielle. But Sam's unfaithfulness becomes the least of Leigh's worries. Years ago, as a public defender, Sam had a client named Max Cady, who was accused of brutalizing a teenage girl. Sam put up a lousy defense for Max after discovering that Max was guilty of brutalizing the girl. Now, 14 years later, Cady has been released from prison and he's hungry for revenge on Sam, having spent his sentence making himself well-read in philosophy and literature. Cady's plan is to destroy Sam's career and family. Cady fatally poisons the family dog, brutalizes Lori, and comes close to getting Danielle to sympathize with him, successfully goading Sam into violence. Sam has Lieutenant Eigert, of the local police department, try to harass Cady into leaving town, hires sleazy private eye Claude Kersek to have Cady beaten up, and offers Cady money to simply go away. When all that fails, Sam uses his family as bait to lure Cady into his house while Kersek is guarding the place. It ends up as a bloody mess when Cady sneaks in and kills Kersek. This prompts the Bowdens to leave the house, with Cady following them all the way to the Bowden houseboat for a confrontation on the Cape Fear River in North Carolina. Written by Todd Baldridge

Max Cady is a psychopath just released from prison for rape. He is out seeking revenge from his lawyer Sam Bowden who he believes deliberately held back important information about his case during the trial, which could have kept him out of jail. He sets off to terrorise Bowden, his wife and even goes after their 15 year old daughter. Written by Sami Al-Taher {staher2000@yahoo.com}

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