Darkman (1990)

It was inevitable that Sam Raimi would make the leap to studio filmmaking, although he soon went back to independent movies despite the success of Darkman.  He found out that the big time wasn't all it was cracked up to be as having a major studio behind a movie also means they are looking over the shoulders of everyone involved the whole way.  Still, the independent spirit of Raimi wasn't lost, as this was still during his more creative directing days.  

The result is a unique superhero film that combines elements of Universal's classic horror films with the older Batman and Shadow comic books.  He unfortunately did not have the rights to either so came up with is own take, based largely on The Phantom of the Opera.  In the end it showed that Raimi could do a major film and not just backwoods horror.

Dr. Peyton Westlake (Liam Neeson) is working on the development of synthetic skin to help burn victims.  The problem is it only lasts 99 minutes before it loses cohesion.  His girlfriend, corporate lawyer Julie Hastings (Francis McDormand), has just discovered evidence that her boss Louis Strack Jr. (Colin Friels) made payouts to certain people on the zoning commission to push forward his riverfront development project.  He warns her that local mobster Robert G. Durant (Larry Drake) may want the document as well, which is true.  He and his gang come to Westlake's lab looking for it, killing his lab assistant Yakitito (Nelson Mashita) and seemingly killing Westlake.

The doctor survives, though burnt beyond recognition and, thanks to experimental therapy, unable to feel pain.  This condition heightens his emotional reactions and gives him superhuman strength, skills he begins to use to get revenge on Durant.  He also continues to work on his skin, using it to disguise himself as Durant's men as well as restore his own face in hopes of rebuilding his relationship with Julie.  However, Strack knows more about Westlake's demise than he is telling, and will not let anything get in his way of building his dream development.

On the surface Darkman is a mishmash of gangster, horror and superhero tropes, with over-the-top violence and the strange dialog that Raimi was known for at the time.  It also has all the gimmicks one would expect, from point-of-view projectiles to Stedicam to instances where reality tends to break apart around Westlake.  It is clear one is watching a Sam Raimi movie and, when I first saw it, I was thrilled to see his name attached.  Universal, for all their interference, did a great job marketing the film.  Since there was no internet at the time, and I didn't have a Fangoria subscription, I was unaware going in that it was a Sam Raimi film.  It becomes obvious within the first few minutes during the battle between Drake's men and Eddie Black (Jessie Lawrence Ferguson). 

Despite everything that could go wrong this, like most of Raimi's films early in his career, works.  Whatever chaos is going on in his brain always becomes brilliant once it is on film, give or take the odd Spider-Man 3 misstep.  It's usually his director-for-hire films that don't work as well, but this is still Raimi at his best, and Darkman helped make sure Army of Darkness saw the light of day.  It also helped convince Sony that, despite most of his movies doing little business throughout the '90s, that he would be the guy to finally make the first Spider-Man film.  I just wish he had gone as wild in those movies as he does here.

Bruce Campbell, who has a cameo at the end, was one of the victims of Universal's interference.  Although it is obvious the role of Westlake was meant for him Liam Neeson managed to handle the slapstick and the weird lines and asides without a problem.  Darkman introduced him to the United States and pretty much helped open the door to the roles he has today.  Same with Francis McDormand who, although in a damsel-in-distress role, still gets her own in several scenes.  As for the villains, Larry Drake plays one of the best of all time, a far cry from the role he played on L.A. Law.  Colin Friels is also having lots of fun and I hope, somewhere, they saved the scene where he roles around naked in a bed full of money.  It was one of the many great ideas of Raimi's that never made it to theaters.

Happily, this version did, instead of the neutered 85-minute cut that Universal wanted.  Raimi and producer Rob Tapert re-edited the movie 48 hours before it was shown to critics, thus cutting Universal out of the process.  Despite the studio's anger the film was a hit and it turned out that Raimi was right.  Darkman managed to harken back to the gothic style of Batman while being its own thing and featuring one of the best stunts ever filmed, albeit some of the bluescreen work didn't look too great then and still looks a bit dodgy now. 

There were so many great movies in the 1990s that many get lost, and Darkman is unfortunately one of those.  It's perfect for modern audiences wanting to see where the guy who directed Spider-Man came from, even if they aren't big fans of horror.  It's still a great movie to this day with some wonderful practical effects, frenetic directing and killer editing.  There are two direct-to-video sequels as well as a remake, but there was never any need, and they neither have Raimi behind the camera or Neeson in front of it.  Darkman remains one of the greatest superhero films of all time. 

Darkman (1990)

Time: 96 minutes

Starring: Liam Neeson, Francis McDormand, Larry Drake, Colin Friels

Director: Sam Raimi