Cape Fear Soundtrack CD
Cape Fear.
1991, Universal.
Bernard Herrmann’s Original Score. Adapted and Conducted by Elmer Bernstein.
MCA/Spectrum CD, 1991, MCD10463
Rating: 
From the first cue, Bernstein’s re-working of Herrmann’s 1962 score for the 1991 re-make of Martin Scorsese’s Cape Fear, is powerful and disturbing. The opener, ‘Max’, with its four note descent sets the tone and there is no real let-up until the final chord is struck. Dominated largely by strings and woodwind instruments, there is much of the dramatic zeal evident in Herrmann’s work for Hitchcock here. Even in quieter moments, a sense of foreboding and tension is bubbling just beneath the surface. Cape Fear is essentially a revenge story about a bible-quoting rapist (Max Cady, played by Robert DeNiro) and the attorney who suppressed evidence that may have kept him from jail (Sam Bowden played by Nick Nolte). In Scorsese’s version, Cady becomes an almost untouchable spirit from the past who arrives to unleash vengeance of Biblical proportions. The original film, released in 1961 was a somewhat more sedate affair, starring Robert Mitchum as Cady and Gregory Peck as Bowden, both of whom make cameo appearances in Scorsese’s version. Of course, the censors of the period would have had a lot to say about the violent content of the new movie; Bernstein has since commented that he believes Herrmann’s heightened dramatic score to be more suited to the newer version - judge for yourself. Bernstein’s recording of the score has benefitted greatly from an improvement in sound and he has taken the dramatic themes to new heights, making it almost preferable to the original.
Cape Fear Movie Soundtrack. Review: Tim Mowbray.
Track Listing:
1. Max
2. Sam’s Story
3. Love?
4. Strip Search
5. Rape And Hospital
6. Frightened Sam
7. Cady Meets The Girls
8. Sam Hides
9. Drive
10. Teddy Bear Wired
11. Kersek Killed
12. Houseboat
13. The Fight
14. Destruction
15. The End
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