prison for his crimes, as in the original, but fifteen years.  This also happens to be exactly the same number of years which are missing from the life of Christ in the bible.  Although it is possible that this biblical reference is simply a coincidence, it is unlikely as Scorsese almost became a priest himself before deciding to become a filmmaker.  Thus, he would be well aware of the link he had made, which would certainly suggest a level of ambivalence on Scorsese's part towards the church. Although in many ways, such as the religious aspect mentioned previously, Scorsese's interpretation of "Cape Fear" is wildly different to that of J. Lee Thompson.   His film is strewn with intertextual references to not only the original film, but also the work of Hitchcock in the era of genre films in the 1950's.  Many of these references also appear to support Sarah Cardwell's theory of an "Intertextual chain of adaptations". One such example of this "intertextual chain" is Scorsese's inclusion of the original Sam Bowden (Gregory Peck) and Max Cady (Robert Mitchum) into the film's cast. These inclusions create a very strong and obvious intertextual link to the Thompson film.  This kind of link sends a clear message that this film is very much self- aware, and Scorsese seems to revel in this awareness throughout the film.  However, the fact that Peck was cast as the lawyer who defends Cady, (a villainous character) and that Mitchum was cast as the police chief who