"RAISING CAIN" is by far the loopiest of the two, a film written and directed by Brian De Palma, who made his mark with very dark horror comedies like this one ("Carrie," "Dressed to Kill," "Body Double") before achieving greater success in the gangster genre ("Scarface," "The Untouchables").
It was a pair of big-budget flops ("Casualties of War," "Bonfire of the Vanities") that drove De Palma back to the lower budget, flamboyant thrillers at which he excels — even if he's still stealing from Hitchcock (especially "Psycho"). And "Raising Cain" finds him in rare form.
The film is a bit confusing in the first half as the screen is filled with all kinds of cinematic tricks — flashbacks, dreams and fantasies all mixed up with reality so that we're not sure what's really happening and what is imagined.
But pretty soon the film's clues start coming together in the sordid story of a child psychologist who, with the apparent aid of his evil twin brother, is kidnapping toddlers for some kind of dark child development experiment.
John Lithgow, who made his early mark in a couple of De Palma films ("Obsession," "Blow Out"), offers a bravura performance in flamboyant multiple roles.
The film has some good scares and some wildly hilarious moments, many of them attributable to Lithgow and Frances Sternhagen, who is terrific as a windbag psychiatrist. Pino Donaggio's florid music (decidedly Bernard Herrmann-influenced) also helps.
De Palma is no less self-indulgent, however, with his constantly moving camera, slow-motion and overlapping scenes — even paying himself homage in a moment that resembles the elevator sequence in "Dressed to Kill." He's at his best with a lengthy tracking shot that follows three characters from the upper floor of a building, down an elevator and through several rooms (even if it does resemble the opening scene in "Bonfire of the Vanities" and is less complex than the first sequence in Robert Altman's "The Player").
But, of course, the entire film is way over the top — and there are several "Oh, come on!" scenes.
Probably the biggest shock for those of us who know De Palma's work, is that "Raising Cain" is, despite its R rating (primarily for profanity), without the sex and gore that were once trademark De Palma traits. There is violence but it's not excessively bloody and the sex is also toned down. That's not a complaint, of course, but it is nonetheless surprising in this context.
So, what can I say? I liked it. File this one under guilty pleasures.