SummaryThe oncologist wife of a prominent child psychologist suspects her husband has an unhealthy scientific obsession with their child, unaware of what - or who - is really going on inside his head.
Directed By:Brian De Palma
Written By:Brian De Palma
Raising Cain
Metascore
Mixed or Average
42
User score
Mixed or Average
4.5
My Score
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Top Cast
Metascore
Mixed or Average
42
29% Positive
7 Reviews
7 Reviews
38% Mixed
9 Reviews
9 Reviews
33% Negative
8 Reviews
8 Reviews
80
Risky as it sounds, Raising Cain is enjoyable precisely because it makes the most of its own lunacy and stays so far out on a limb. The fact that Raising Cain is beautifully made is, of course, another attraction.
70
Lithgow is consistently brilliant, while Davidovich makes a good fist as his wife. A really exciting 90 minutes worth, so long as you don't take it too seriously.
50
Unfortunately, Raising Cain is largely a retread of De Palma's vintage thrillers from the '70s -- an extended self-homage that makes you wonder if his imagination got frozen in 1980.
50
It seems the filmmaker just can't decide where he wants to go with this movie. It's far too predictable and just not scary enough to be a chilling thriller. It's not clever or sophisticated enough to be campy. It's far too insipid to be taken as a thoughtful psychological drama. And it lacks the smooth, compelling or joyful ride expected of pure entertainment. [06 Aug 1992]
42
Contrivances grow so outlandish as Cain grinds on that De Palma seems to be parodying himself. His intent is seldom humor, but Cain ends up being more inadvertent comedy than thriller. [07 Aug 1992, p.D01]
25
Brian De Palma has always been a derivative filmmaker, pilfering indiscriminately from Alfred Hitchcock (Sisters), John Ford (The Untouchables) and Michelangelo Antonioni (Blowout). But his failed new thriller Raising Cain makes him seem a startlingly incompetent one as well. [07 Aug 1992, p.14]
0
When teamed with her former husband, the director James Cameron, Hurd produced some of the most memorable action films of the Eighties, including The Terminator and Aliens. Her first collaborative effort with new husband De Palma, however, has produced one of the worst efforts from a major talent in a long while.
User score
Mixed or Average
4.5
25% Positive
2 Ratings
2 Ratings
38% Mixed
3 Ratings
3 Ratings
38% Negative
3 Ratings
3 Ratings
Jul 31, 2025
0
De Palma est un excellent réalisateur mais il a parfois commis des bouses vraiment épouvantables de nullité… Ainsi, ce « Caïn » est-il un pot-pourri de ses précédents films, une sorte de mélange particulièrement raté des tics et des tocs du célèbre metteur en scène…Mais rien n’y fait, la sauce ne prend pas et rien ne fonctionne… on se croirait en fait dans un téléfilm à la petite semaine, un nanar emprunté et maladroit qui singe le style de Brian De Palma, l’exagère et le ridiculise, tout cela à l’insu de son plein gré… Bien que ça ne dure qu’une heure et demi, le film se traîne de façon étonnante et rame énormément ; les situations sont proches du ridicule (ou d’un grotesque inattendu), les comédiens mal dirigés sont en roue libre et sur-jouent régulièrement…Enfin, on se rend vite compte à notre grand dam que le scénar très mal ficelé n’aide pas non plus ce navet (qui se veut élégant) à sortir de son marasme : le film entier est donc une purge inexpugnable !
Production Company:
- Pacific Western
Release Date:Aug 7, 1992
Duration:1 h 32 m
Rating:R
Tagline:De Mented. De Ranged. De Ceptive. De Palma.
Awards
Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films, USA
• 3 Nominations
Venice Film Festival
• 1 Nomination
Fangoria Chainsaw Awards
• 1 Nomination
