Cape Fear, on Apple TV+

This time around, Max Cady wisely ditches the “love” and “hate” knuckle tattoos, in favor of the more New Age-sounding “Lost” and “Past.” Admittedly, it makes it easier to fool the media, the cops, and the public interest lawyers. Cady’s 1991 tattoos originally came from Night of the Hunter, not the original 1962 film adaptation of John D. MacDonald’s The Executioners, but it seems like the one element Scorsese and De Niro fans would most likely miss. On the other hand, they won’t miss Bernard Herrmann’s thunderous score. Just like Elmer Bernstein reworked it for the 1991 remake, Jeff Russo reorchestrates the reorchestrations for creator Nick Antosca’s ten-episode—yes, count them, 10—re-remake of Cape Fear, which starts streaming today on Apple TV+.

This time around, the focus shifts to Anna Bowden, who was the defense attorney who advised Cady to take a plea bargain for the murder of his wife. Since then, she has risen to prominence as the chief counsel for a death row exoneration non-profit. She also married Tom Bowden, the well-heeled assistant district attorney who prosecuted Cady. Even they admit it looked super awkward, but it was never an issue until Cady’s ex-girlfriend committed suicide, leaving behind a confession and evidence that cleared Cady.

Bowden knows that Cady is toying with her and her family, but she can’t prove anything. Unfortunately, she must put on a show of solidarity when her boss agrees to handle Cady’s suit against the prison. That shows what public interest groups really care about: financial interest. However, viewers know full well all the trouble that befalls the Bowden’s emotionally disturbed son Zack and his half-in-the closet half-sister Natalie are not coincidences. Yes, Natalie’s true father will be a source of speculation and rumor. Could it be Tom, which would be scandalous, given the timing of the trial and her birth, or could it be someone even more scandalous?

Scorsese’s remake was just a few minutes over two hours, while J. Lee Thompson’s original was considerably shorter. In contrast, Antosca needed ten full-hour episodes for his retelling (out of which eight were provided for review). Not surprisingly, there is a lot of padding. Episodes two and three could (and should) have been condensed down to 15 minutes each. He and the writers also introduce wild new complications. This time around, not only does the stalker have his own stalker, perhaps his stalker does as well. Frankly, it all gets very silly.

Amy Adams tries to sell all this madness with her relatively grounded performance as Bowden, but her spotty southern accent is not much help. Javier Bardem recycles all his snarling No Country for Old Men Bond villain greatest hits as Cady, but frankly, his on-screen personas are not as sinister as his off-screen extremism.

The Conjuring: Last Rites

It wasn't as famous as the “Amityville Horror,” maybe because the “Smurl Haunting” doesn’t quite have the same ring. However, it still generated a 1991 TV-movie and a book by Ed and Lorraine Warren. They definitely considered it one of their major cases, so it makes a fitting conclusion to the Conjuring film series—but fear not, the “Conjuring Universe” should continue without them. Ominously, this time around, the demon in question seems to have a personal connection to the Warren family in Michael Chaves’s The Conjuring: Last Rites, which opens today in theaters.

In 1986, three generations of the Smurl family lived in their blue-collar suburban home, along with their new housemate, a demon. As a confirmation gift, Grandpa Smurl bought his granddaughter the most evil-looking mirror you could ever imagine. Obviously, that was a profound mistake. While the local diocese is ill-equipped to help the Smurls, the Warrens’ family friend, Father Gordon, understands the peril of their situation, but the demon gets to him before he can rouse the Church bureaucracy.

However, the Warrens’ grown daughter Judy traces the good Father’s final steps back to the Smurls. Ed and Lorraine had retired from paranormal field work, because of his heart condition. However, when they see the “black mirror,” they understand this case is personal. They previously encountered it in the prologue, which was the only case they walked away from out of fear.

The real-life Warrens were divisive figures, even among paranormal believers. Frankly, viewers should really just consider them original characters to the Conjuring Universe, because Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga portray them with such appealing earnestness. These films also position them as spouses and parents first and exorcists second, which is why the audience emotionally invests in them so easily.

Chaves previously helmed The Nun II and The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It in the Conjuring Universe, so he has a clear affinity for the characters and the franchise’s more subtle approach to horror. Like its predecessors, Last Rites transforms everyday objects into sinister tools of the demonic. It is a slow build, but the mounting sense of dread is incredibly potent.

Despite their unfortunate name, the Smurls are a convincingly realistic family, who do not look like actors trying to dress down. The Conjuring films are always about families helping families, but that is especially true of Last Rites. As usual, the Warrens devote considerable time to consoling the distressed Smurls. It is not just their natural compassion. It is also part of a conscious strategy to disrupt what the Warrens identify as the second of the three stages of demonic activity: “infestation, oppression, and possession.”

Insidious: The Red Door

Thanks to the power of hypnosis, Josh Lambert and his son Dalton intentionally forgot what happened in the second Insidious film, but Blumhouse hopes you remember, considering the last two films were prequels, featuring paranormal investigator Elise Rainier. She had become the fan-favorite character, which would be fine with the Lamberts, who were hoping to be done with “The Further.” Nevertheless, the evil entities start reaching out for them once again in Patrick Wilson’s Blumhouse-produced Insidious: The Red Door, which opens today nationwide.

So, nine years ago, everyone got back safe and sound from The Further, but father and son were so traumatized, they had a hypnotist friend of Josh’s mother Lorraine block out their memories. That worked okay for a while, but it caused a lot of brain fog for the older Lambert, which affected his relationships with his family.

Unfortunately, Pops Lambert starts having strange, demonic visions possibly brought on by his mother’s death. So does dreary Dalton, when he taps into subconscious memories of The Further for an art class exercise. Soon, he too is having freaky encounters with the angry entities of The Further, much to the alarm of his only friend at college, Chris Winslow (platonic from what viewers can tell, because who could ever be attracted to such a moody whiner).

Although the audience might be happy to leave Dalton in The Further, we can guess his father will eventually go back in to save him, but this time, they will not have Rainier’s help. Thematically, Red Door is a lot like Wilson’s other major horror franchise, The Conjuring, in which the strength that comes from family is always essential for defeating supernatural evil.

In his directorial debut, Wilson displays a surprisingly refined visual sensibility. He has the patience to let key scenes play out deliberately, to steadily crank up the atmosphere of dread. He also uses the full frame, with some clever soft-focus tricks, to keep viewers guessing. It looks good and the slow-build suspense compounds quite profitably.