Raising Cain | | Cast : | John Lithgow, Lolita Davidovich | | Director : | Brian De Palma | | Studio : | Universal Studios | | Format : | Color, Closed-captioned, Dolby, Widescreen | | Released Date : | August 07, 1992 | | DVD Released Date : | January 06, 2004 | | Language : | French (Dubbed), Spanish (Subtitled), English (Original Language), Spanish (Original Language) | | Audience Rating : | R (Restricted) | | | BUY THIS DVD FROM AMAZON |
Customer Reviews
| Rating |  | | Date | January 07, 2005 | | Summary | Split-Personality Horror Suspense That Outdoes Even Psycho | Content
 | One of the most jolting and disturbing horror thrillers ever made, "Raising Cain" centers around the character(s) played by John Lithgow, as a man outwardly known as Carter but in whom lie submerged a number of other personalities, including the malevolent title character Cain. Carter, as it turns out in the first few minutes of the film, was the original personality but was split off into new side personalities as a result of the deliberate infliction of trauma by his father for the purpose of researching multiple personalities (one of the most disturbing incarnations of the 'mad scientist' idea ever seen on film). The re-emergence (or raising) of Cain and the subsequent abduction of the child of Carter and his wife Jenny (well played by the underrated Lolita Davidovich) sets off one of the scariest movies in history, with riveting suspense and visual shocks that are literally jolting, like few movies have ever achieved. Extremely recommended for horror, suspense and mystery fans. To see more of the cream of the crop in the same vein, also be on the lookout for "When A Stranger Calls Back", "Mute Witness", the 1990 "Buried Alive" (the one with Tim Matheson, Jennifer Jason Leigh and William Atherton) and the first 3 "Psycho"s. |
| Rating | | | Date | October 19, 2004 | | Summary | Very Entertaining but Rather Slight | Content
| When Jack, an old flame (Steven Bauer), resurfaces, Jenny (Lolita Davidovich) justifies the adulterous fling she embarks on to herself by the thought that her husband Carter (John Lithgow) is starting to act a bit weird. Not half he is. In fact, influenced somehow by his bonkers child psychologist father, he has taken to killing off the local women who hang out at the same play park as his daughter Amy and kidnapping their children for psychological experiments. He's a bit tender-minded about all this, it must be said, but he has a weird alter ego by the name of Cain who has lacks any scruples and makes sure he goes through with his various crimes.
De Palma is very clearly a man who really wishes he was Hitchcock and this is very much his tribute to `Psycho' in its picture of a strange mixed up serial killer. It's very silly but pretty good fun. It doesn't work as well as it might largely because it really does call for a tour de force of a performance from the actor plying Carter/Cain and Lithgow doesn't quite deliver. He's not bad, just not as good as he needs to be to make this odd role work. (Bauer, on the other hand, is positively bad as Jack, Davidovich rather good as Jenny.) Great fun then but for sure it falls a long way short of `Psycho'.
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| Rating | | | Date | December 09, 2003 | | Summary | superb ! | Content
| One of my favourite DePalma movies - this is an incredibly contrived but hugely enjoyable thriller with some fantastic fluid camerawork from Stephen Burum and a tremendous score from DePalma regular Pino Donnagio.
John Lithgow delivers a towering performance (or is that performances?) that holds the attention right through the film.
Top stuff. A definite keeper. |
| Rating | | | Date | April 12, 2003 | | Summary | Over-the-top Or Not, LITHGOW ROCKS! | Content
| Alright, look. So many people say that this is DePalma's worst. Okay, fine. Who cares. Apparently it meant enough to you to spend your time writing a review. The bottom line is this is a cool movie. To say that this is a Psycho rip-off, is to single it out from the dozens of other films that have stolen from Hitchcock. Everybody steals from everybody. When something works, you use it. You make it your own. Get over it. Norman Bates and Carter Nix comparison: both have a female multiple who has them wearing a dress and both dump bodies in a lake. That's it. Otherwise, they're nothing alike. A split personality is a good ailment to pair with murderous tendencies. Hollywood latches on to a lot of lame ideas that didn't work from the getgo, but this one they got right. And if nothing else, it has John Lithgow giving one of the finest performances in his career and people need to recognize that. Quite a stretch from Third Rock From the Sun, eh? Range is everything. I was confused by the dream sequences and continue to wonder exactly how Lolita Davidovich got from Steven Bauer's hotel room back to her and Carter's home if her car ride was a dream. Bizarre, yes. Bad, no. Deserves to be seen becasue Lithgow is amazing to watch. |
| Rating | | | Date | November 28, 2002 | | Summary | More Good Fun from a true Movie-Loving Director | Content
| Those who expect movies to teach moral lessons ought to stay away from most of the work of De Palma (with the weird exception of "Untouchables" which the moral lesson-types will enjoy until the very last scene, when the real De Palma has the last laugh, indicating that the entire "moral drama" of the picture has been a big joke!). For those who enjoy giving themselves over to De Palma when he is at his most inspired with in-jokes, absurdly brilliant cameras moves, and bravura scares, this is a total gem. One of De Palma's best for those with a sense of humor! |
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