Barry Gifford's novels reflect an ambiguity toward the South (where he spent much of his childhood) that is magnified in Cape Fear, a film "heavy on Spanish moss and sick behavior...(Robert) Mitchum is a giant of evil in this movie; a slithery, completely corrupt, malevolent force. Along with his role as the crazed preacher in Night of the Hunter, this is arguably his finest performance...A vicious ex-con, Mitchum shows up in the small North Carolina town where (Gregory) Peck is the chief prosecuting attorney. It was Peck who put Mitchum away for eight years for a hideous sex crime and Mitchum has used that time well, plotting his revenge on Peck...through Peck's wife and daughter...The art is in the details, the gradual build-up of fear, the play on the title...(Mitchum is) the angel of death-with-pain, put on earth to give men pause...a swift lesson in the validity of Bad. Mitchum is The Other and there's no ignoring him." --Barry Gifford