Raising Cain
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''Raising Cain'' is a 1992 American
psychological horror Psychological horror is a genre, subgenre of horror fiction, horror and psychological fiction with a particular focus on mental, emotional, and Mental state, psychological states to frighten, disturb, or unsettle its audience. The subgenre freque ...
thriller film Thriller film, also known as suspense film or suspense thriller, is a broad film genre that evokes excitement and suspense in the audience. The suspense element found in most films' plots is particularly exploited by the filmmaker in this genre. ...
written and directed by
Brian De Palma Brian Russell De Palma (; born September 11, 1940) is an Americans, American film director and screenwriter. With a career spanning over 50 years, he is best known for work in the suspense, Crime film, crime, and psychological thriller genres. ...
, and starring
John Lithgow John Arthur Lithgow ( ; born , 1945) is an American actor. He studied at Harvard University and the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art before becoming known for his John Lithgow filmography, diverse work on stage and screen. He has rece ...
,
Lolita Davidovich Lolita Davidovich (born Lolita Davidović; July 15, 1961) is a Canadian film and television actress, best known for portraying Blaze Starr in the 1989 film '' Blaze'', for which she received a Chicago Film Critics Association Award nomination. ...
and
Steven Bauer Steven Bauer (born Esteban Ernesto Echevarría Samson; December 2, 1956) is a Cuban American actor. Bauer began his career on PBS, portraying Joe Peña, the son of Cuban immigrants on '' ¿Qué Pasa, USA?'' (1977–1979). He played Manolo "Ma ...
.


Plot

Respected
child psychologist Developmental psychology is the scientific study of how and why humans grow, change, and adapt across the course of their lives. Originally concerned with infants and children, the field has expanded to include adolescence, adult development, ...
Dr. Carter Nix's wife, Jenny, becomes concerned that he is obsessively studying their daughter Amy; he regards her like a scientist tracking the development of his creation. However, Carter himself suffers from multiple personality disorder, as his alternate personalities include violent petty criminal Cain, shy 7-year-old boy Josh, and middle-aged nanny Margo who protects the others at all costs. Carter and Cain are killing young mothers to procure their children, apparently for experiments performed by Carter's father, a child psychologist who lost his license years earlier after performing unethical experiments on children. Jenny is having an affair with her ex-boyfriend Jack Dante, the widower of a former patient, and she plans to leave Carter for him. When Carter discovers their tryst, Cain takes over and begins leaving subtle clues for the police implicating Jack in the murders. Next, he attempts to kill Jenny by suffocating her and submerging her car in a lake. She escapes, however, and confronts Carter at home. Unable to find Amy, Jenny demands Carter tell her where she is. Carter replies that she is with his father - only for an incredulous Jenny to reply that his father has been dead for years. The police contact Dr. Lynn Waldheim, who co-wrote a book with Nix Sr. called ''Raising Cain'', about a boy with multiple personality disorder. Nix Sr. had extensive detailed knowledge of Cain's tortured childhood, including taped recordings of their sessions. However, Waldheim was never allowed to meet Cain. She eventually discovered the truth: Nix Sr. dispassionately put his own son through years of severe
child abuse Child abuse (also called child endangerment or child maltreatment) is physical abuse, physical, child sexual abuse, sexual, emotional and/or psychological abuse, psychological maltreatment or Child neglect, neglect of a child, especially by a p ...
to gain firsthand accounts of his traumatic psychological development and study the emerging personalities. Horrified, Waldheim quit the project. Nix Sr. then disappeared, leaving behind a suicide note. After the police make the connection, Carter is apprehended for
attempted murder Attempted murder is a crime of attempt in various jurisdictions. Canada Section 239 of the ''Criminal Code'' makes attempted murder punishable by a maximum of life imprisonment. If a gun is used, the minimum sentence is four, five or seve ...
. Waldheim is sent in alone to interrogate him. During interrogation, Margo and Josh act and speak for Carter. Josh recites a rhyme and vanishes, and Margo assumes control, stonewalling Waldheim from any further questioning. Eventually, Carter and Cain break from their confines and pounce upon Dr. Waldheim, knocking her unconscious and leaving the building disguised as her. The police soon find Waldheim, who begs them to arrest Carter before he harms Amy. Jenny follows a woman who she thinks is Waldheim to a motel, but it is actually Carter/Cain. She follows Carter/Cain, who is now Margo, into an elevator. When it opens, she sees Nix Sr. holding Amy hostage. While Jenny begs for Nix Sr. to give back her daughter, Carter, Cain and Margo stab "their" father from behind. Jack arrives with the police, and Carter and his personalities disappear. Later on, Jenny takes Amy to a park and explains to her friend Sarah that Nix Sr. faked his own death and established a new identity and a clandestine research facility in
Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...
. He had been using Carter and his multiples to procure the children so he would have an adequate
control group In the design of experiments, hypotheses are applied to experimental units in a treatment group. In comparative experiments, members of a control group receive a standard treatment, a placebo, or no treatment at all. There may be more than one tr ...
to study the development of MPD. Amy runs off into the woods, calling for her father. Jenny follows her and finds Amy, who says her father has gone away. When Jenny bends down to pick Amy up, Carter appears behind her in a wig and a dress; Margo is now in control.


Cast

*
John Lithgow John Arthur Lithgow ( ; born , 1945) is an American actor. He studied at Harvard University and the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art before becoming known for his John Lithgow filmography, diverse work on stage and screen. He has rece ...
as Dr. Carter Nix / Cain / Dr. Carter Nix Sr. / Josh / Margo *
Lolita Davidovich Lolita Davidovich (born Lolita Davidović; July 15, 1961) is a Canadian film and television actress, best known for portraying Blaze Starr in the 1989 film '' Blaze'', for which she received a Chicago Film Critics Association Award nomination. ...
as Dr. Jenny O’Keefe Nix *
Steven Bauer Steven Bauer (born Esteban Ernesto Echevarría Samson; December 2, 1956) is a Cuban American actor. Bauer began his career on PBS, portraying Joe Peña, the son of Cuban immigrants on '' ¿Qué Pasa, USA?'' (1977–1979). He played Manolo "Ma ...
as Jack Dante *
Frances Sternhagen Frances Hussey Sternhagen (January 13, 1930 – November 27, 2023) was an American actress. She was known as a character actress who appeared on- and off-Broadway, in movies, and on television for over six decades.Joy, Car"Frances Sternhagen i ...
as Dr. Lyn Waldheim * Gregg Henry as Lieutenant Terri * Tom Bower as Sergeant Sean Cally *
Mel Harris Mel Harris (born July 12, 1956) is an American actress best known for her role as Hope Murdoch Steadman in the ABC drama series ''Thirtysomething'' (1987–1991), for which she received a Golden Globe nomination in 1990. Early life and educ ...
as Sarah * Teri Austin as Karen Bowman *
Gabrielle Carteris Gabrielle Carteris ( ) is an American actress and trade union leader. Her best known acting role is as Andrea Zuckerman in ''Beverly Hills, 90210''. In 2012, Carteris was elected executive vice president of SAG-AFTRA, a trade union representin ...
as Nan * Barton Heyman as Mack * Amanda Pombo as Amy Nix * Kathleen Callan as Emma * Geoff Callan as Young Lover


Production

During production on '' The Bonfire of the Vanities'',
Brian De Palma Brian Russell De Palma (; born September 11, 1940) is an Americans, American film director and screenwriter. With a career spanning over 50 years, he is best known for work in the suspense, Crime film, crime, and psychological thriller genres. ...
toyed around with the idea of a suspense movie set on a playground. He was concerned however, that returning to the suspense genre was dangerous for him as it could be regarded as a step backward in his career. Part of the plot's inception came from De Palma's own experience having a relationship with a married woman; while watching her sleep, he wondered what would happen if he did not wake her in time for her to return to her husband. Originally titled ''Father's Day'', ''Raising Cain'' was the director's first in the suspense/thriller genre in almost a decade; the prior was 1984's ''
Body Double In filmmaking, a double is a person who substitutes for another actor such that the person's face is not shown. There are various terms associated with a double based on the specific body part or ability they serve as a double for, such as stunt ...
''. The role of the five characters, or personalities (Dr. Carter Nix, Cain, Dr. Carter Nix Sr., Josh, and Margo) went to
John Lithgow John Arthur Lithgow ( ; born , 1945) is an American actor. He studied at Harvard University and the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art before becoming known for his John Lithgow filmography, diverse work on stage and screen. He has rece ...
, who had previously worked with De Palma in '' Obsession'' and ''
Blow Out ''Blow Out'' is a 1981 American independent mystery thriller film written and directed by Brian De Palma. The film stars John Travolta as Jack Terry, a movie sound effects technician from Philadelphia who, while recording sounds for a low-bud ...
''. Production took place in southern
San Francisco Peninsula The San Francisco Peninsula is a peninsula in the San Francisco Bay Area that separates San Francisco Bay from the Pacific Ocean. On its northern tip is the City and County of San Francisco. Its southern base is Los Altos and Mountain View, ...
communities of Mountain View, Los Altos,
Palo Alto Palo Alto ( ; Spanish language, Spanish for ) is a charter city in northwestern Santa Clara County, California, United States, in the San Francisco Bay Area, named after a Sequoia sempervirens, coastal redwood tree known as El Palo Alto. Th ...
, Menlo Park, and Woodside. Locations included Stanford Shopping Center, the old Stanford Children's Hospital, and Mountain View City Hall, as well as the Legion of Honor Museum in
San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...
. The film's director Brian De Palma and producer Gale Anne Hurd were married and living in Woodside at the time. De Palma explained, "Gale was pregnant, and I wanted to do a movie that I could do very simply and that was close to home." Principal photography began on October 23, 1991. Production was completed on December 18, 1991.


Reception

Critical reviews were mixed to positive, with Lithgow earning praise. ''Raising Cain'' holds a 63% rating on
Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee ...
based on 40 reviews. The site's critical consensus states "''Raising Cain'' doesn't rank with Brian De Palma's best work, but John Lithgow's spellbinding split-personality performance makes this thriller hard to dismiss."
Janet Maslin Janet R. Maslin (born August 12, 1949) is an American journalist, who served as a film critic for ''The New York Times'' from 1977 to 1999, serving as chief critic for the last six years, and then a literary critic from 2000 to 2015. In 2000, M ...
of ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
'' called the film a "delirious thriller" that "finds Mr. De Palma creating spellbinding, beautifully executed images that often make practically no sense. Working with an exhilarating sense of freedom, he seems to not care in the least what any of it really means. The results are playful, lively and no less unstrung than Dr. Carter Nix himself." Lawrence Cohn of '' Variety'' described the film as "a superficial, often risible, exercise in pure aesthetics that's likely to turn off mainstream audiences, spelling a fast flop. As a showcase for John Lithgow's acting talents and a visual tour de force, the film may delight the director's most camp followers."
Kenneth Turan Kenneth Turan (; born October 27, 1946) is an American retired film critic, author, and lecturer in the Master of Professional Writing Program at the University of Southern California. He was a film critic for the ''Los Angeles Times'' from 1991 ...
of the ''
Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...
'' wrote that "De Palma has concocted a hugely improbable stew that is preposterous from beginning to end. And, despite some early confusion on this point, he has clearly done so with careful deliberation, intending ''Raising Cain'' to function simultaneously as both a thriller and a parody of thrillers. A commendably ambitious idea, but one that does not work well at all in this particular case."
Dave Kehr David Kehr (born 1953) is an American museum curator and film critic. For many years a critic at the ''Chicago Reader'' and the ''Chicago Tribune,'' he later wrote a weekly column for ''The New York Times'' on DVD releases. He later became a c ...
of the ''
Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is an American daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Founded in 1847, it was formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper", a slogan from which its once integrated WGN (AM), WGN radio and ...
'' gave the film one star out of four and wrote, "Lifting his subject this time from
Michael Powell Michael Latham Powell (30 September 1905 – 19 February 1990) was an English filmmaker, celebrated for his partnership with Emeric Pressburger. Through their production company Powell and Pressburger, The Archers, they together wrote, produced ...
's extremely disturbing ''Peeping Tom'' of 1960, De Palma has created one of the most incoherent films in memory, a mass of contradictions and inconsistencies that appears to have defeated the best efforts of three credited editors to make marginal sense of it."
Hal Hinson Hal Hinson is an American film critic who wrote for ''The Washington Post'' from 1987 to 1997. As of July 2015 he has 887 reviews collected on the website Rotten Tomatoes. Hinson has been cited as a critic who is unpopular with his fellow criti ...
of ''
The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...
'' wrote that "director Brian De Palma addresses his most vivid personal issues—his obsession with Hitchcock and twins, and the loss of innocence—but he runs through them impersonally, as if the luster of his own obsessions has worn off. That luster is about all that's missing from this flamboyant, skillfully crafted bit of moviemaking, but its absence makes ''Raising Cain'' seem like something of a rehash."
Owen Gleiberman Owen Gleiberman (born February 24, 1959) is an American film critic who has been chief film critic for '' Variety'' magazine since May 2016, a title he shares with . Previously, Gleiberman wrote for ''Entertainment Weekly'' from 1990 until 2014. ...
of ''
Entertainment Weekly ''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American online magazine, digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, ...
'' assigned a grade of B− and wrote: "Is ''Raising Cain'' a good movie? No way. You could almost say it's intentionally bad — a gleeful piece of jerry-built schlock. Yet De Palma's naughty-boy gamesmanship has a perverse fascination, even when it doesn't work (which is most of the time)."


Box office

The film was a modest box office success, grossing $37.1 million worldwide.


Accolades


Director's cut

A Collector's Edition
Blu-ray Blu-ray (Blu-ray Disc or BD) is a digital optical disc data storage format designed to supersede the DVD format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released worldwide on June 20, 2006, capable of storing several hours of high-defin ...
of the film featuring the director's cut as well as the theatrical cut was released on September 13, 2016. The director's cut features scenes that are reorganized as originally intended. The cut was originally edited by Peet Gelderblom, a director from the Netherlands and a long-time De Palma fan. He found out De Palma had regrets about the theatrical cut, created a fan edit to more closely resemble the original script, and posted the result on '' IndieWire'' in January 2012. De Palma came across Gelderblom's edit and was impressed by it, and successfully arranged to have the cut added to the Blu-ray release.


References


Further reading

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External links

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Movie stills
{{Brian De Palma 1992 films 1992 crime drama films 1992 psychological thriller films American crime drama films American thriller films Films about dissociative identity disorder Films directed by Brian De Palma Giallo films American psychological drama films Universal Pictures films Films scored by Pino Donaggio Films produced by Gale Anne Hurd American serial killer films 1990s English-language films 1990s American films English-language crime drama films English-language thriller films