'Cape Fear' Made Me Appreciate The Simpsons More

With nothing to do on a Monday night, I sat down on the couch to watch one of the movies I recorded over the weekend.  I settled on Martin Scorsese's remake of Cape Fear from 1991 since I had never seen it.  The knew the basic plot from watching The Simpsons take on the movie as a doe-eye youth.  

Robert De Niro plays Max Cady, a convicted rapist who is released from prison after serving a 14 year sentence.  He begins stalking the family of the man who defended him all those years ago, but he never really steps a toe over the line so the family can take any legal action against him.  As more time passes, the more aggressive Cady becomes.  Nick Nolte and Jessica Lange play mom and pop to Juliette Lewis.  

First of all, this movie scared the crap out of me.  De Niro is cocky and calm at the same time.  He knows exactly what he's doing, and he is relishing torturing the Bowden family.  There is one scene where he lures daughter Danielle into the high school auditorium and charms her enough that he ends up kissing her.  It's so creepy and weird and wrong and I couldn't tear my eyes away.  Illeana Douglas shows up early in the flick as Nolte's flirtatious colleague who has a terrifying encounter with Cady.

I have been a fan of The Simpsons for as long as I remember.  Sure, I don't really watch the series regularly, and there are more risque things on television now, but The Simpsons will always have a huge place in my television heart. 

In 1993, The Simpsons aired an episode titled "Cape Feare."  Bart begins receiving death threats from Sideshow Bob.  Bob framed Bart's idol Krusty the Klown for armed robbery, and Bob, naturally, wants revenge.  Thus begins one of the sharpest parodies of a film I've ever seen.  The shot-by-shot takes on Scorsese's film (not to mention the 1962 original and allusions to other films like Psycho) are amazing.  

I know, I know.  I am incredibly late on appreciating this, but sometimes, while watching the film last night, I giggled because I thought of Sideshow Bob stepping on rakes or Homer scaring Bart before he goes to bed.

The Simpsons was the best at parodying other form of entertainment.  Each episode featured references to pop culture and films.  Since I don't watch it as much, I am not sure if they are at the top of their game still, but if you check out anything between 1990 and 1995, you were bound to find something as appreciative.  This show loves the stuff it's making fun of.