Editing Cape Fear (1991 film) (section)

==Plot==

<!--Word count is approximately 825 words; per [[MOS:FILMPLOT]], plot summaries for feature films should be between 400 and 700 words-->[[Max Cady|Maximilian "Max" Cady]], a [[psychopath]]ic rapist, is released from prison after serving a sentence for the [[rape]] and [[Battery (crime)|battery]] of a 16-year-old girl. During his trial in [[Atlanta]], Georgia, 14 years earlier, his [[public defender]] Samuel "Sam" Bowden was so appalled by Cady's crimes that he hid a report stating that the victim was [[promiscuity|promiscuous]], which might have lightened Cady's sentence or acquitted him altogether. Bowden assumed that Cady, who was [[illiteracy|illiterate]] at the time of the trial, would never become aware of the report. Cady was ultimately convicted and given the maximum sentence.

Cady finds Bowden, who is now an attorney in a private practice living in fictional New Essex, [[North Carolina]], with his wife Leigh and their teenage daughter Danielle ("Danny"). Cady moves to New Essex and quickly makes his presence known to Bowden. He tells Bowden that he learned to read in prison, studied law and attempted several unsuccessful appeals of his case [[Pro se legal representation in the United States|representing himself]], implying that he knows about the hidden report. He soon begins to stalk and terrorize the Bowden family. After their dog is mysteriously poisoned, Bowden tries to have Cady arrested, but Police Lieutenant Elgart states that there is no evidence of Cady committing a crime.

Cady meets Lori Davis, a courthouse clerk who is attracted to Bowden. Cady rapes and nearly beats her to death. Davis refuses to press charges due to fear that her ongoing flirtation with Bowden will become public. Bowden hires private investigator Claude Kersek to follow Cady.

Impersonating her new drama teacher, Cady approaches Danny and kisses her. When Bowden learns of this, he agrees with Kersek to have Cady beaten up to intimidate him and coerce him into leaving town. Before the beating, Bowden gives Cady a final warning to leave him and his family alone and to leave New Essex, threatening physical harm against Cady if the warning is not heeded. Unbeknownst, Cady uses a hidden [[tape recorder]] to capture the threat.

Kersek's hired thugs ambush Cady, but Cady manages to fight back and viciously beat them instead. Cady uses his recording of Bowden and exaggerations of his injuries to file for a restraining order against him, which is granted. Cady's attorney petitions the [[American Bar Association|ABA]] Ethics Committee for Bowden's [[disbarment]], triggering a two-day emergency meeting in [[Raleigh, North Carolina|Raleigh]].

Thinking that Cady may break into the Bowden home while Bowden is away, Kersek and Bowden fake his departure. They wait to see if Cady will break in, at which point they intend to shoot him in self-defense. Cady sneaks in undetected and kills the housekeeper, Graciela. Donning her clothes, he blindsides and kills Kersek before fleeing. After discovering the bodies, the Bowdens flee to their [[houseboat]] docked upstate along the [[Cape Fear River]], not knowing that Cady has strapped himself to their car's undercarriage to track their houseboat.

While Bowden is on [[deck (ship)|deck]] and Leigh and Danny are in the [[cabin (ship)|cabin]], Cady boards the boat and attacks Bowden, choking him unconscious before tying him up. He severs the rope that was keeping the boat docked, setting it adrift into a violent thunderstorm. Cady drags Bowden (who has since regained consciousness) into the cabin and prepares to rape Leigh and Danny while forcing Bowden to watch. Danny sets Cady on fire by squirting [[charcoal lighter fluid|lighter fluid]] onto him as he lights a cigar, causing him to jump off the boat to extinguish the flames. Leigh and Danny untie Bowden, who attempts to steer the boat back to shore. Cady, however, manages to grab a rope attached to the boat and pulls himself back on board.

As the boat is rocked by the storm, a badly burned Cady puts Bowden on a [[mock trial]] at gunpoint. Beating Bowden into confessing that he hid the report 14 years earlier, Cady scolds him for [[legal malpractice|failing to do his duty as an attorney]] before sentencing him "to the [[ninth circle of hell]]". The storm knocks Cady off his feet, allowing Bowden to gain the upper hand. As Leigh and Danny jump off the boat and swim to shore, Bowden cuffs Cady to the boat with his own handcuffs. The boat hits a rock and is destroyed, and the storm washes the remains of the boat to shore, where Bowden and Cady exchange blows. Bowden, who angrily tells Cady that he intends to kill him, grabs a large rock to bring down on Cady's head. Just as he slams down the rock, the current carries the remains of the boat from the shore with Cady still cuffed to it.

As the boat sinks, Cady [[speaking in tongues|speaks madly in tongues]] and sings the hymn "On Jordan's Stormy Banks I Stand". Cady exchanges a final glare with Bowden before being pulled underwater and drowning. Bowden wipes Cady's blood from his hands and joins Leigh and Danny on shore. The family never spoke about it again.