Raising Cain ** (1992, John Lithgow, Lolita Davidovich, Steven Bauer, Frances Sternhagen, Gregg Henry) – Classic Movie Review 4,430

Brian De Palma’s self-mocking 1992 psychological horror suspense thriller film Raising Cain is stylistically and thematically extravagant, and gleefully self-indulgent. John Lithgow stars as psychopathic, multiple-personality child psychologist Carter Nix.

Writer-director Brian De Palma’s self-mocking 1992 American psychological horror suspense thriller film Raising Cain is stylistically and thematically extravagant as well as gleefully self-indulgent, but not in a very good or much fun way, because of a bafflingly muddled, ludicrously far-fetched and finally none too thrilling story.

John Lithgow stars as a psychopathic, multiple-personality child psychologist Carter Nix, who kidnaps his own daughter and implicates his wife Jenny Nix (Lolita Davidovich)’s lover.

Carter discovers that Jenny is having an affair with her ex-boyfriend Jack Dante (Steven Bauer), the widower of a former patient, and she plans to leave Carter for him. Carter suffers from multiple personality disorder, and his alternate personalities include violent petty criminal Cain, who takes over and leaves clues for the police implicating Jack in the murders. Next Cain tries to kill Jenny by suffocating her and submerging her car in a lake.

With the box-office flops of Casualties of War (1989) and Bonfire of the Vanities (1990) recently behind him, De Palma runs for cover and goes back to what he formerly was able to do best – raiding ideas and images from the work of Alfred Hitchcock – and adds in homages to Peeping Tom (1960) and his own movies as well. It is his first suspense thriller since 1984’s Body Double.

It is, however, some campy fun for those who are attuned to De Palma’s sensibilities. But both the movie and the performances should have been much better. Stephen Burum’s cinematography and Pino Donaggio’s score help out quite a bit.

In the same vein, DePalma’s Obsession (1976), Dressed to Kill (1980) and Body Double (1984) are so much better.

Also notable in the cast are Frances Sternhagen as Dr Lyn Waldheim, Gregg Henry as Lieutenant Terri, Tom Bower, Mel Harris, Teri Austin, Gabrielle Carteris and Barton Heyman.

John Lithgow, who had previously worked with De Palma in Obsession and Blow Out, plays five characters (Carter, violent petty criminal Cain, Dr Nix Sr, shy seven-year-old boy Josh, and middle-aged nanny Margo).

It was shot in the southern San Francisco Peninsula, California communities of Mountain View, Los Altos, Palo Alto, Menlo Park, and Woodside. De Palma and producer Gale Anne Hurd were married and living in Woodside. De Palma said: ‘Gale was pregnant, and I wanted to do a movie that I could do very simply and that was close to home.’

The cast are John Lithgow as Dr Carter Nix / Cain / Dr Nix Sr / Josh / Margo, Lolita Davidovich as Dr Jenny O’Keefe Nix, Steven Bauer as Jack Dante, Frances Sternhagen as Dr Lyn Waldheim, Gregg Henry as Lieutenant Terri, Tom Bower as Sergeant Sean Cally, Mel Harris as Sarah, Teri Austin as Karen Bowman, Gabrielle Carteris as Nan, Barton Heyman as Mack, Amanda Pombo as Amy Nix, Kathleen Callan as Emma, and Geoff Callan as Young Lover.

Frances Sternhagen (January 13, 1930 – November 27, 2023) won two Tony Awards, a Drama Desk Award and a Saturn Award in her extraordinary film, TV and theatre career that ran for more than six decades.

Sternhagen made her film debut in Up the Down Staircase (1967). She had character roles in Paddy Chayefsky’s The Hospital (1971), Two People (1973) and Billy Wilder’s Fedora (1978). She appeared in Starting Over (1979), opposite Sean Connery in Outland (1981), and in Michael J Fox’s films Bright Lights, Big City (1988) and Doc Hollywood (1991). She was also notable as Deputy Virginia in Rob Reiner’s 1990 Misery and as Dr Lynn Waldheim in Brian De Palma’s 1992 Raising Cain. Her final screen credit was Rob Reiner’s 2014 romantic comedy And So It Goes starring Michael Douglas and Diane Keaton.

© Derek Winnert 2016 Classic Movie Review 4,430

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