Raising Cain

Plot synopsis:
Dr. Carter Nix (Lithgow) is a respected child psychologist. His wife Jenny (Lolita Davidovich) is an oncologist. Carter takes time away from his flourishing practice to care for their two-year-old daughter, Amy. Jenny becomes concerned that Carter is obsessively studying their child; he regards her like a scientist tracking the development of his creation.The audience quickly learns that Carter suffers from multiple personality disorder. His multiples are Cain, a streetwise hustler, Josh, a traumatized little boy, and Margo, a middle-aged mother figure. Carter/Cain is killing young mothers to procure their babies and toddlers.In a side story we learn that Jenny is having an affair with Jack Dante (Steven Bauer), the widower of a former patient. She fell in love with him and had a relationship with her years ago, but he left her. Now he's back, and she plans to leave Carter and run off with him. When Carter accidentally discovers their tryst, he descends all the way into his madness. Carter/Cain begins leaving subtle clues for the police that Jack is the real killer.Next Carter attempts to kill Jenny by submerging her car in a lake. She pulls herself out and confronts Carter at their home. Unable to find Amy, Jenny demands Carter tell her where she is. Carter replies that she is with his father whom Jenny knows has been dead for years.Carter is apprehended for attempted murder. The police bring Dr. Lynn Waldheim (Frances Sternhagen) to interrogate him. Though enduring hypnotherapy, Dr. Waldheim interviews Carter and informs the police that she co-wrote a book with Dr. Nix Sr. called Raising Cain about a boy with multiple personality disorder. The doctors agreed that patients with MPD seemed to share certain childhood traumas, but there could be no ethical way to test these theories through direct clinical observation. Dr. Nix Sr. had extensive detailed knowledge of Cain's childhood torture, including a few taped recordings of their sessions. However, Dr. Waldheim was never allowed to meet Cain. She pieced the situation together: Dr. Nix Sr. abused his own son to gain first-hand accounts of his traumatic psychological development and study the emerging personalities. Horrified, Waldheim quit the project.During interrogation, the "Carter" personality disappears, and "Margo" (the mother) and "Josh" (the child) act and speak for him. Josh recites a rhyme:"Hickory dickory dock. Cain has picked his lock. He did a bad deed now Josh comes to bleed. Hickory dickory dock."With this, Josh vanishes, and Margo assumes control of the body. She stonewalls Waldheim from any further questioning.Eventually, Carter/Cain break from their confines. They pounce upon Dr. Waldheim, knocking her unconscious, stealing her wig, dress, and coat. "They" then leave the building disguised as her. The police soon find Waldheim on the floor of an interview room begging them to arrest Carter before any children are harmed.In fact, Dr. Nix, Sr. (also played by Lithgow) is alive, having faked his own death to elude prosecution for attempting to buy babies. He has established a new identity and a clandestine research facility in Norway. He has been using Carter and his multiples to procure the children so he will have an adequate control group to study the development of MPD.Jenny follows who she thinks is Waldheim to a motel, but it's actually Carter/Cain. She follows Carter/Cain, who is now Margo in Waldheim's wig and clothes, into an elevator. When it opens, she sees Dr. Nix Sr. with her daughter Amy. While Jenny begs for Nix Sr. to give back her daughter, Carter/Cain/Margo stabs "their" father from behind. Shortly afterward, Jack arrives with the police, and Carter/Cain/Margo disappears.The movie ends with Jenny and Amy in a park. Amy plays alone while Jenny chats with another mother. Soon Amy runs off into the woods saying "Daddy, Daddy". Jenny calls for her and follows into the woods. She shortly after 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. Jenny holds Amy in her arms, oblivious to who is behind her.

Tags: mystery, psychological, murder, dramatic, cult, flashback

Review:
Here, in "Raising Cain", director Brian De Palma shows everything he learned from studying Hitchcock and gives us a good story of suspense that although flawed, it is very enjoyable and gives the chance to shine to the underrated actor John Lithgow.Lithgow stars as Dr. Carter Nix, a brilliant psychologist that is spending a year at home in order to care for his little daughter.
We know that Cain can appear at any time, and how the characters react to him is what keeps us thrilled.John Lithgow truly shines as the troubled Carter/Cain, in a role that brings back memories of his superb performance in "The Twilight Zone".
Sadly for the movie, the rest of the actors give awful performances, Davidovich and Bauer have zero chemistry on screen, and almost no charm, so since their characters do not have redeeming qualities, one ends up wanting them to be killed by Cain.One big exception is Frances Sternhagen, who in her little screen time steals the show.
Not De Palma's best, but certainly satisfying; his obsession with Hitchcock's suspense is notorious, but still he manages to give the movie his own style and while this do not save completely the movie, will be appreciated by those who enjoyed "Dressed to Kill" or "Sisters".To summarize, it is a better than average movie with superb performances by John Lithgow and Frances Sternhagen.
De Palma goes so far in this homage to Hitchcock that the entire film is one big tribute to the master, and he plays with the camera as he also loves to do(we get a couple of long takes, one of them 4 full minutes, and one sequence has great use of slow-mo...
Despite the fact that he wrote a rather unintelligent script for his 1992 effort, director Brian De Palma's "Raising Cain" is still fast, funny, and, occasionally, very scary.In order not to reveal too much and spoil this wild little roller coaster ride, all I will say is that John Lithgow plays or at least speaks for five very different roles(!)De Palma isn't at his all-time best, but Lithgow proves that he is one of the great character actors of our time.
John Lithgow dominates the screen in high style, as he plays multiple roles in this twisty (and twisted) tongue in cheek thriller from writer / director Brian De Palma.
The stunning Davidovich and hunky Bauer lead a solid supporting cast consisting of folks like Frances Sternhagen, Gregg Henry, Tom Bower, Mel Harris, and Barton Heyman.Accompanied by thunderous music composed by ever-reliable Pino Donaggio, "Raising Cain" is good, if unmemorable, entertainment offering STRONG echoes of "Psycho", De Palmas' own "Dressed to Kill", and "Ghost Story".Six out of 10..
One of the most jolting and disturbing horror thrillers ever made, "Raising Cain" centers around the character(s) played by John Lithgow, as a man outwardly known as Carter but in whom lie submerged a number of other personalities, including the malevolent title character Cain.
The re-emergence (or raising) of Cain and the subsequent abduction of the child of Carter and his wife Jenny (well played by the underrated Lolita Davidovich) sets off one of the scariest movies in history, with riveting suspense and visual shocks that are literally jolting, like few movies have ever achieved.
Brian De Palma seems to generally make two kinds of films,those aimed at a mass audience {such as The Untouchables,Carrie,Carlito's Way,Mission Impossible} and those he makes to please himself and real fans {such as Femme Fatale,Blow Out,Body Double,Snake Eyes}.
It has points of interest,but overall is something of a mess,in fact it has a hurried,unfinished feel to it,as if it was made in a rush.Somewhat toning down the expected sex and violence {although there is a disturbing element of child abuse},De Palma shows much of the film from the point of view of his psycho,which is interesting and allows John Lithgow full rein to have fun with his role{s}.
Along the way De Palma peppers the film with film homages,some of them surprising {Ghost Story,Peeping Tom,Tenebrae} and some of them from his own {Dressed to Kill,Sisters},but there's not enough originality to counter them.Raising Cain is basically a director having fun.
Brian De Palma has had his periodic successes (e.g., The Untouchables), which perhaps makes it all the more frustrating to witness something like Raising Cain, which - after much consideration - I would have to say is one of the five worst movies I have ever seen.
That he wrote the screenplay is one more reason to be upset.The storyline is laughable, the acting is uniformly dreadful (even credible actors like Lithgow and Davidovich offer cringe-worthy performances), De Palma's blatant I-wish-I-were-Hitchcock direction has never been more pitiful - or unsuccessful - and the movie's climactic scene is so inane, so obviously contrived (if you _must_ watch this, you'll see what I mean by the truck carrying the sundial doing nothing the entire climax except strategically backing up and going forward), that you will be tempted to simply turn off the VCR.
Raising Caine showed the De Palma still had it even if this movie is just a bunch of Hitchcock homages it still holds up and plays great.
Sure, half his movies are all about paying homage to Hitchcock, but he tributes the great master of suspense better than any other film-maker out there and more importantly; he manages to make these Hitchcockesque moments his own.I don't know about the rest of the movie-geeks out there, but personally I would take a Hitchcock-wannabe any day over a, say, Spielberg or Leone-wannabe (two directors I worship by the way).RAISING CAIN has fun referencing Hitchcock's PSYCHO as well as early De Palma-classics like SISTERS and DRESSED TO KILL.
The film ends up partially being a tale of romance and infidelity, but more a psychological horror.In my opinion the romance plots are seriously over acted, but maybe this was to contrast against the necessarily overacted part of Carter (John Lithgow).
After a fairly bizarre series of dream sequences, she finds out her husband isn't who she thinks he is, kicking off an odyssey of psychotic twins, not-quite-so-dead fathers, murder, child kidnappings and split personalities.I have seen this film a couple of times, and thought it was a brave attempt that didn't really work.
Again, the Homages to Hitchcock's "Psycho" (1960) are presented Playfully with nods to Michael Powell's "Peeping Tom" (1960) and just because He Can, there are Parallels to His Previous Work.Departing from what made Him a Famous (or infamous) Director in the 1970's, with Films like "Carrie" (1976) and others, for more Conventional Mainstream Movies, "The Untouchable" (1987), the always Interesting DePalma feels like He is having Fun with "Cain" but the Film's Complicated and Deep Subject Matters are Many but Not Manageable in a 90 Minute Genre Picture.Combining John Lithgow's Multi-Personality Role in a Multi-Character Performance with DePalma's Over-the Top Flourishes that are always Fun to Watch, the Movie is a Beautiful Display of Clinical Considerations and B-Movie Madness.The Film Divides Devotees of the Director and Confirms for His Haters that DePalma is forever Surrounded by Controversy and Highly Opinionated Pontificates.
Yet, there's something perversely irresistible about the film.Dr. Carter Nix (John Lithgow) is a respected psychologist suffering from multiple personality disorder, who, at the beginning of the movie, chloroforms a young mother and steals her child while being egged on by one of his cockier alter-egos, Cain.
As Carter struggles to keep his many personalities in check, Jenny struggles to separate her dreams from reality.While watching the movie, I kept wondering if this was truly the same De Palma who forged such well-constructed thrillers as Sisters (1973), Dressed to Kill (1980) and Blow Out (1981); films that often carefully towed the line of B-movie daftness yet managed to stay grounded.
I think Voight based his performance on Lithgow's style in this movie3 ) Brian De Palma's direction - CARRIE was very memorable due to De Palma's slow motion photography , his tracking shots and characters talking without any dialogue being heard .
I like John Lithgow and am interested in just about everything he is in but even he could not save this movie.I remember who I was with, my age, the theatre, time of day and more 15 years later.....that is how traumatically bad the experience was.Dream inside of a dream sequences are lame and when I left I still did not understand what was going on.
The New Director's Cut is a Must See. Raising Cain (1992) *** (out of 4) Jenny (Lolita Davidovich) believes that her husband Carter (John Lithgow) is the perfect man but what she doesn't realize is that his father messed with his mind a little too much and now his past is going to come back and haunt him.Brian De Palma's RAISING CAIN was always a very disappointing movie to me because I felt it had so much potential but it never fully came out in the film.
Director Peet Gelderblom would eventually re-edit the movie in a cut known as RAISING CAIN RE-CUT and director De Palma would praise it saying that this version is what he originally wanted to do with the film but he regretted changing his mind at the last second.
If you're familiar with De Palma's work then you already know that he loves to keep a certain style and flow in his films and it's much more clear in this cut of the movie.
It's more like De Palma is fudging about, trying to get his wits after just coming off the Bonfire of the Vanities debacle: take Hitchcock elements and themes (or outright rip-off like the slightly changed car-sinking-in-lake bit from Psycho), and mix it all together to create a diabolical stew.Some of it is flat-out weird, but some of it is very clever, such as a long tracking shot of two police detectives listening (and guiding along) to the old lady giving her exposition about what 'Cain' was all about.
I have copied the following from another comment made by a user concerning this film: "The movie "Raising Cain" has such a confusing story that makes no sense at all and seems to have been made, By director Brian De Palma, to purposely make no sense to us, who are watching the movie, but to make it look like it does but that were not bright enough to understand it so we won't criticize it in order not to look stupid." I must say that it's scary for me personal, that so many people don't get this movie.
Pretty Much the only person to blame is: The Director Brian De Palma, most of his movies are extremely confusing, and Raising Cain is no exception.
When De Palma masters his Hitchcock obsession("Obsession"!)or when he jettisons them ("Blow out" ,"the untouchables" which borrows a scene from Eisenstein, "Carlito's way" or ,at a pinch "Scarface" ),he makes commendable movies.When ,for the umpteenth time ,he trots out again "psycho"-which he had already tackled in 1980 with "dressed to kill"- ,enough is enough!John Lithgow 's characters are so ludicrous that they recall Michael Keaton and his "multiplicity".The plot does not make any sense:for instance the scene in the morgue is null and void.
John Lithgow plays Carter Nix, a respected psychologist that is taking time off from his practice to help raise his daughter while his wife Jenny (Lolita Davidovich) keeps working.
It's not his fault he's in a mess of a film, it's the casting director's, and Brian De Palma's for letting him/her get away with it.I realize I'm being overwhelmingly negative about the movie, but it really isn't all that bad.
Jenny Nix (Lolita Davidovich), wife of eminent child psychologist Carter Nix (John Lithgow), becomes increasingly concerned about her husband's seemingly obsessive concern over the upbringing of their daughter (Amanda Pombo).This is not De Palma's strongest film and is more than a little strange and far-fetched.
But seriously, this whole film is like a 90-minute audition tape for John Lithgow, showing off his range of characters and emotions.Owen Gleiberman of Entertainment Weekly summed it up nicely when he wrote, "Is Raising Cain a good movie?
If you're in the mood for a slightly challenging horror film with some over-the-top characterization from John Lithgow, and some incredible camera work typical of a Brian DePalma film, and you don't mind some lapses in logic or unresolved narrative strands drifting off into dark garages, this is a diverting psychological thriller, with Lithgow essaying at least four different characters, and lots of suspense built around who someone is going to kidnap or mutilate next.Raising Cain involved my brain for an hour or so, and by the next morning my brain had erased the film and wanted something more substantial--and there are plenty of DePalma films that fit the bill.
It is evocative, spooky and doesn't feel as derivative as de Palma's eighties work.What also helps the film is a great performance form John Lithgow, actually, it's more like five performances.
OK so it's not the best film in the world but what it is, is a good, dark twisting little thriller.John Lithgow as Carter, Cain, Josh etc.
The story opens up layers upon layers of mystique and mystery and reveals information only in fits and spurts, which leaves us in a state of wondering what the hell are we watching at times.Indeed, it may take one more view to get the impenetrable mess that RAISING CAIN is, and this is due to the fact that so many of Carter's personalities come forth like an unseen cast operating only under John Lithgow's chameleon-like persona.
As to whether she will remain as a dominant personality when she appears in the final reel remains a mystery but like Bunuel films, it's there, unexplained, shown mainly for a shock tactic a la UN CHIEN ANDALOU, but in a less threatening way.RAISING CAIN is a pretty slick movie that should be seen at least twice.
As is Lolita Davidovich.Sure, the film has a certain TV-movie feel and look to it at times, the story is utterly twisting and Lithgow's acting is (apparently) not for everyone, but yours truly loves it all the more becáuse of just those things.
John Lithgow plays Dr Carter Nix who as a child was a psychological experiment for his warped father and this led to him developing multi-personality disorder,which included his father and the evil Cain.
Possibly the most entertainingly sill film I've ever seen...***POSSIBLE SPOILERS***Raising Cain is almost like a parody of a De Palma film in some places, with the extravagant camera moves and blatant Hitchcock rip-offs, but I mean that in a good way.
Out of the blue, Jenny returns and now the police needs to find where the kidnapped children are."Raising Cain" is a deceptive thriller by Brian De Palma, with a flawed, conventional, predictable and poorly story.
Her affair with an old flame, however, causes her to neglect her motherly duties.But a spate of local kidnapings forces her to accept the possibility that he may be trying to recreate the twisted mind-control experiments of his discredited psychologist father.Baffling and even considering his CV, this has to be De Palmas most bonkers film, but my goodness, it's a wonderful bonkers movie.Referencing every thing from Hitchcock, to Lynch, to parental fears, Raising Cain is not a good place to start, if you want to seek out De Palma.If you are a veteran to his films though, and appreciate his obsession with Hitchcock, you will find so much to like in this movie.Lithgow is wonderful as the titular characters, and although he loses it slightly toward the end, the interrogation scene is wonderfully acted by Lithgow, and makes the film the gem that it is.The camera-work is what you would expect from the director, and the scene from the police station to the body found in the trunk, is expertly done, and looks seamless.It gets a little confusing every now and again, and it all feels a bit dated, but for De Palma fans, it's a real treat..
John Lithgow is always fun to watch when he plays deranged characters, and "Raising Cain" is a real treat for his fans.
Cain is clearly like Norman Bates' mother personality(though, Margo might be also..her voice isn't heard but actions speak louder, don't they?)..the dominant, benevolent one who can accomplish what dear old dad desires.Brian De Palma gives John Lithgow free reign to play his numerous characters to the hilt and I'd be lying if I said I wasn't entertained.
Sometimes he designed them to make us watch the ironic yet genius work of fate, as the climax of some movies; like the road accident in (Femme Fatale), or the big scene at the end of (Raising Cain).
De Palma made Raising Cain in 1992, just one year before Carlito's Way. Other than knowing of the director's involvement, you could not have convinced me that these films were by the same person.
"Raising Cain " takes too long to sort itself out, and when it finally does, it becomes so akin to "Psycho" it's annoying.John Lithgow holds his own, but he's been better, in a De Palma film which may give you nightmares, but for all the wrong reasons.Friday, October 23, 1992 - Knox District Centre.
First, Carter has multiple personalities of which Cain is only one, which leads to possibly the most hackneyed scenes De Palma has ever shot where the camera just flips back and forth as Lithgow tries to out-ham himself.
Third, the entire climax is built on the idea that De Palma has managed to fool the audience as to nature of Carter's father, but the way he handles the character from before we even see him wouldn't fool a two year old.But the worst of Raising Cain is how De Palma totally loses control of his visual style, which is usually the one thing in his movies you can rely on to be good.
Raising Cain is a film by Brian De Palma that while well made, is one of the most self indulgent movies I've ever seen.