Raising Cain

Brian De Palma might be familiar to many as the man responsible for such major successes as Scarface and Mission Impossible, but fans know that many of his best works are his magnificently sleazy riffs on Alfred Hitchcock. Films such as Body Double, Dressed to Kill and Sisters remix and relocate scenes and themes from the Master of Suspense, paying homage while simultaneously pushing boundaries of technique and taste further than Hitchcock could get away with in his heyday.

Raising Cain is very much a film in this vein: an explicitly Hitchcockian jam in which Psycho is the main ingredient. The plotting – a bonkers blend of murder, adultery, child abduction, psychosis and evil scientists – is spectacularly fractured, with flashbacks, dream sequences and different perspectives used to weave a complex web of suspense. It's enormously entertaining stuff, with De Palma showcasing his talent for keeping multiple narrative plates spinning as the film winds to a breathless, setpiece finale.

Extras

This three disc (two Blu-ray, one DVD) limited edition release from Arrow includes a director’s cut alongside a broad array of cast and crew interviews and two video essays. The director's cut – which resembles Psycho even more in the way in which it further fragments the narrative – is arguably the better version of the film, and goes a long way towards making this package essential for De Palma diehards.