X
- 1992
- R
- Universal Pictures
- 1 h 32 m
- 1992
- R
- Universal Pictures
- 1 h 32 m
Summary The oncologist wife of a prominent child psychologist suspects her husband has an unhealthy scientific obsession with their child, unaware of what - or who - is really going on inside his head.
Directed By: Brian De Palma
Written By: Brian De Palma
- 1992
- R
- Universal Pictures
- 1 h 32 m
- 1992
- R
- Universal Pictures
- 1 h 32 m
Raising Cain
42
User Score
Available after 4 ratings
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Where to Watch
Summary The oncologist wife of a prominent child psychologist suspects her husband has an unhealthy scientific obsession with their child, unaware of what - or who - is really going on inside his head.
Directed By: Brian De Palma
Written By: Brian De Palma
Where to Watch
Top Cast
Metascore
Mixed or Average
Based on 24 Critic Reviews
42
29% Positive
7 Reviews
7 Reviews
38% Mixed
9 Reviews
9 Reviews
33% Negative
8 Reviews
8 Reviews
Metascore
Mixed or Average
Based on 24 Critic Reviews
42
29% Positive
7 Reviews
7 Reviews
38% Mixed
9 Reviews
9 Reviews
33% Negative
8 Reviews
8 Reviews
Risky as it sounds, Raising Cain is enjoyable precisely because it makes the most of its own lunacy and stays so far out on a limb. The fact that Raising Cain is beautifully made is, of course, another attraction.
Lithgow is consistently brilliant, while Davidovich makes a good fist as his wife. A really exciting 90 minutes worth, so long as you don't take it too seriously.
Unfortunately, Raising Cain is largely a retread of De Palma's vintage thrillers from the '70s -- an extended self-homage that makes you wonder if his imagination got frozen in 1980.
It seems the filmmaker just can't decide where he wants to go with this movie. It's far too predictable and just not scary enough to be a chilling thriller. It's not clever or sophisticated enough to be campy. It's far too insipid to be taken as a thoughtful psychological drama. And it lacks the smooth, compelling or joyful ride expected of pure entertainment. [06 Aug 1992]
Contrivances grow so outlandish as Cain grinds on that De Palma seems to be parodying himself. His intent is seldom humor, but Cain ends up being more inadvertent comedy than thriller. [07 Aug 1992, p.D01]
Brian De Palma has always been a derivative filmmaker, pilfering indiscriminately from Alfred Hitchcock (Sisters), John Ford (The Untouchables) and Michelangelo Antonioni (Blowout). But his failed new thriller Raising Cain makes him seem a startlingly incompetent one as well. [07 Aug 1992, p.14]
When teamed with her former husband, the director James Cameron, Hurd produced some of the most memorable action films of the Eighties, including The Terminator and Aliens. Her first collaborative effort with new husband De Palma, however, has produced one of the worst efforts from a major talent in a long while.
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Awards
Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films, USA
• 3 Nominations
Venice Film Festival
• 1 Nomination
Fangoria Chainsaw Awards
• 1 Nomination
