If the question were put to you, would you "go gently into that good night"? What if you weren't given the choice and, instead, were left with the more grisly task of balancing the scales? Would you take it?
It's Mischief Night, or Devil's Night as it's referred to in this film, in Detroit and the night before musician Eric Draven (played by Brandon Lee) and Shelley Webster (played by Sofia Shinas) are to be married. Then, thanks to their efforts to fight eviction for themselves and their fellow tenants, their home is broken into. The invaders toss Draven (Lee) through a window and send him plummeting to the ground three stories below and savage his bride-to-be. The first officer on the scene is Sgt. Albrecht (played by Ernie Hudson) and when Shelley asks about her fiancée, he spares her the truth and tells her he's fine. Then, when the latchkey kid that Eric and Shelley have taken under their wing stumbles upon the scene, Albrecht relays the lie once again. The child, Sarah (played by Rochelle Davis who also acts as the film's narrator), sees through the sergeant's reassuring fiction and departs soon after. Flash-forward one year, Sarah is visiting the graveyard where Shelly and Eric have been laid to rest and encounters a crow. After she'd left, the crow begins tapping on Eric's headstone with his beak. Then, that night, Eric emerges from his grave, shaking and traumatized. He returns to the apartment that he and Shelley once shared and finds that it is a ruin of the home he knew. While there, he begins experiencing flashbacks of the night one year before when he lost everything. Seeing the men responsible, who call themselves T-Bird (played by David Patrick Kelly), Tin-Tin (played by Laurence Mason), Funboy (played by Michael Massee), and Skank (played by Angel David). Still reeling from those memories, Eric grabs onto the frame that once held the apartment's only window and swings out and back in. He notices that he's cut himself on remnants on the window but, to his surprise, he heals almost immediately. With this new gift, he dons all black clothes, decorates his face in the style of a harlequin mask that was on the floor of his home, and sets out to seek revenge with the crow as his guide.
I cannot adequately express how much I love this movie. The tone, the cinematography, the soundtrack, the antagonists. Everything about this movie is top-drawer. Fans of the graphic novel of the same name that inspired the film say that the master criminal in the film, known as Top Dollar in the novel and not actually given a name in the film, was far more ordinary than the evil genius Michael Wincott portrayed. Other critics say that the death of Brandon Lee gave this film a legacy it didn't earn, much the same way that critics claim Heath Ledger's death before the release of The Dark Knight added anticipation it wouldn't have gotten otherwise. As I was only ten when the film was first released, I was not aware of the film itself or Lee's death until much later. What I will say is that I cannot watch this film enough. Even so, if you haven't seen The Crow, shame on you.
It's Mischief Night, or Devil's Night as it's referred to in this film, in Detroit and the night before musician Eric Draven (played by Brandon Lee) and Shelley Webster (played by Sofia Shinas) are to be married. Then, thanks to their efforts to fight eviction for themselves and their fellow tenants, their home is broken into. The invaders toss Draven (Lee) through a window and send him plummeting to the ground three stories below and savage his bride-to-be. The first officer on the scene is Sgt. Albrecht (played by Ernie Hudson) and when Shelley asks about her fiancée, he spares her the truth and tells her he's fine. Then, when the latchkey kid that Eric and Shelley have taken under their wing stumbles upon the scene, Albrecht relays the lie once again. The child, Sarah (played by Rochelle Davis who also acts as the film's narrator), sees through the sergeant's reassuring fiction and departs soon after. Flash-forward one year, Sarah is visiting the graveyard where Shelly and Eric have been laid to rest and encounters a crow. After she'd left, the crow begins tapping on Eric's headstone with his beak. Then, that night, Eric emerges from his grave, shaking and traumatized. He returns to the apartment that he and Shelley once shared and finds that it is a ruin of the home he knew. While there, he begins experiencing flashbacks of the night one year before when he lost everything. Seeing the men responsible, who call themselves T-Bird (played by David Patrick Kelly), Tin-Tin (played by Laurence Mason), Funboy (played by Michael Massee), and Skank (played by Angel David). Still reeling from those memories, Eric grabs onto the frame that once held the apartment's only window and swings out and back in. He notices that he's cut himself on remnants on the window but, to his surprise, he heals almost immediately. With this new gift, he dons all black clothes, decorates his face in the style of a harlequin mask that was on the floor of his home, and sets out to seek revenge with the crow as his guide.
I cannot adequately express how much I love this movie. The tone, the cinematography, the soundtrack, the antagonists. Everything about this movie is top-drawer. Fans of the graphic novel of the same name that inspired the film say that the master criminal in the film, known as Top Dollar in the novel and not actually given a name in the film, was far more ordinary than the evil genius Michael Wincott portrayed. Other critics say that the death of Brandon Lee gave this film a legacy it didn't earn, much the same way that critics claim Heath Ledger's death before the release of The Dark Knight added anticipation it wouldn't have gotten otherwise. As I was only ten when the film was first released, I was not aware of the film itself or Lee's death until much later. What I will say is that I cannot watch this film enough. Even so, if you haven't seen The Crow, shame on you.