Darkman
Encyclopedia
Darkman is a 1990 superhero
action film
directed by Sam Raimi
. It is based on a short story
Raimi wrote that paid homage to Universal
's horror film
s of the 1930s. The film stars Liam Neeson
as Peyton Westlake, a scientist who is attacked and left for dead by a ruthless mobster, Durant (played by Larry Drake
) after his girlfriend, an attorney (played by Frances McDormand
) runs afoul of a corrupt developer (played by Colin Friels
).
Unable to secure the rights to either The Shadow
or Batman
, Raimi decided to create his own superhero
and struck a deal with Universal Studios
to make his first Hollywood studio film. He was subjected to a grueling screenwriting process and equally difficult post-production
battle with the studio.
Darkman was generally well received by critics and performed well at the box office, grossing almost $49 million worldwide, well above its $16 million budget. This financial success spawned two direct-to-video sequels, Darkman II: The Return of Durant and Darkman III: Die, Darkman, Die, as well as comic books, video games and action figures. Over the years, Darkman has become regarded as a cult film
.
(Liam Neeson
) is developing a new type of synthetic skin to aid burn victims. He is frustrated with a flaw that causes the skin to rapidly disintegrate after being exposed to light for 99 minutes.
Westlake's girlfriend, attorney Julie Hastings (Frances McDormand
), discovers an incriminating document proving that corrupt developer Louis Strack (Colin Friels
) has been bribing members of the zoning commission. Before she leaves, Westlake asks her to marry him, but she hesitates. When she confronts Strack, he confesses, but shows Julie what he's been planning: To design a brand new city which would create a substantial amount of new jobs. He also warns Julie to keep her guard up as mobster Robert Durant (Larry Drake
) would do anything to get his hands on the document.
Back at Westlake's lab, the power and lights die out. When Westlake asks his assistant Yakatito how long the skin's been holding, they are both astounded as they find that the skin is stable after 100 minutes. Westlake deduces that the synthetic skin is photosensitive. Their joy is short lived as Durant and his henchmen show up and demand the Bellasarious Memorandum (the incriminating document Julie found earlier.)
While searching for the document, Durant and his gang attacks Westlake and kills Yakatito. After they find the document, they rig the lab to explode, with Julie watching the explosion just before pondering whether or not to marry Westlake. The blast throws Westlake through the roof and into the river. He survives (thought to be dead by Julie, who attends his funeral,) but is hideously burned. He is brought to a hospital and subjected to a radical treatment which cuts the nerves of the spinothalamic tract
so pain is no longer felt. However, he also loses his tactile sensation. Removing this sensory input gives him enhanced strength due to adrenal overload and keeps his injuries from incapacitating him, but it also mentally destabilizes him.
After mourning the loss of his lab and realizing how badly burnt he has become, Westlake re-establishes the lab in a condemned building, using digitization to create a mask of his original face. The process is long, and in the meantime, Westlake murders the henchman Ricky in cold blood and studies his enemies in order to subdue and impersonate Pauly (another henchman,) subsequently causing his death afterward by Durant.
When his face mask is complete, he manages to convince Julie that he is indeed alive, and that he was in a coma rather than being dead. He is aware of Julie seeing Strack after his supposed death and eventually confronts her, to which she responds that Strack only comforted her. Westlake does not tell Julie about his condition, but asks her various questions on whether she would accept him regardless or not. Westlake now has a full clock schedule: Making the skin last longer than 99 minutes, visiting Julie, studying his enemies and even mimicking their voice patterns. His next excursion has him impersonating Durant himself, causing confusion among him and his henchmen.
The next time Westlake and Julie have a date at the carnival, an altercation causes Westlake to lose his temper and inadvertently reveals to Julie that there is indeed something wrong with him. She follows him as he flees (his 99 minutes were up,) and when she discovers that he was using masks to hide his true face, she calls out to Peyton that she still loves him regardless.
Julie later tells Strack that she can no longer see him, and after discovering the Bellasarious Memorandum on his desk while he was on the phone, she confirms that Strack was collaborating with Durant the entire time. She tells him that Westlake is still alive, but Strack tells her that as long as he has the memorandum, no charges can be filed. When Julie leaves, Durant enters and is told by Strack to kill both Julie and Westlake.
Westlake eventually succeeds in killing Durant and all of his henchmen (except for the one with the wooden gun leg, whose fate is unknown.) Westlake impersonates Durant one final time, but his ruse is broken by Strack, who fights him on an unfinished building floor 650 feet from the ground. When Westlake gets the upper hand, Strack calls his bluff by saying that killing him would not be something he could live with. Westlake then kills Strack, saying to himself: "I'm learning to live with a lot of things."
Unfortunately, when Julie tries to convince Westlake that he can still return to his old life, Westlake declines, saying that he has now become a monster and that the Peyton she knew was gone. In the final scene he runs away from Julie as they exit an elevator and is seen from behind pulling on a mask which, when he turns around, reveals the face of Bruce Campbell
. During this scene, Westlake can be heard off-screen: "I am everyone and no one. Everywhere. Nowhere. Call me... Darkman."
In addition, Bruce Campbell
has a cameo in the film as Peyton's last seen disguise (credited as "Final Shemp
") and Bridget Hoffman
as a computer voice.
and Batman
and decided to create his own. The initial idea Raimi had for Darkman was of a man who could change his face. He has said that he drew inspiration from those films as well as The Phantom of the Opera
and The Elephant Man
. Raimi was also inspired by the Universal horror films of the 1930s and 1940s because "they made me fear the hideous nature of the hero and at the same time drew me to him. I went back to that idea of the man who is noble and turns into a monster". He originally wrote a 30-page short story, titled "The Darkman", and then developed into a 40-page treatment. At this point, according to Raimi, "it became the story of a man who had lost his face and had to take on other faces, a man who battled criminals using this power". It also became more of a tragic love story in the tradition of The Hunchback of Notre Dame
. In 1987, Raimi submitted the treatment to Universal Pictures
which they liked, greenlighted a budget in the range of $8–12 million, and suggested that he get a screenwriter to flesh out the story.
Chuck Pfarrer
based on his work on Navy SEALs
. He wrote the first draft and then Raimi's brother, Ivan (a doctor), wrote drafts two through four with Sam. Ivan made sure that the medical aspects and scientific elements were authentic as possible given the nature of the story.
As Raimi and his producing partner Robert Tapert progressed through various drafts, they realized that there was a potential franchise on their hands. Universal brought in screenwriting brothers Daniel and Joshua Goldin to work on the script. According to Daniel, they were presented with various drafts and "lots of little story documents. There was just material everywhere; drafts seemed to go in many directions." Goldin said that they "spent a lot of time talking and pulling together a way of making the story work. I think that mostly we talked in terms of the nuts and bolts of the story." The Goldins added new lines of dialogue, new characters and bits of action. The studio still wasn't satisfied so the Raimi brothers wrote drafts six through twelve before they had a shooting script. For Raimi, he wanted to emphasize Peyton/Darkman's arc over the course of the film. He said, "I decided to explore a man's soul. In the beginning, a sympathetic, sincere man. In the middle, a vengeful man committing heinous acts against his enemies. And in the end, a man full of self-hatred for what he's become, who must drift off into the night, into a world apart from everyone he knows and all the things he loves."
Look-wise, the filmmaker was interested in paying homage to Universal horror films of the 1930s. Production designer Randy Ser remarked, "if you look at Darkman's lab that he moves into, which is an old warehouse, what was on my mind was Dr. Frankenstein. There were a number of references visually to what we were thinking about in regards to those films." Raimi consciously wanted to tone down his style because of a desire to "get into the characters' heads and follow them as real human beings in extraordinary circumstances".
McDormand and Neeson worked closely in rehearsals, rewriting the three love scenes they had together after he becomes Darkman. They got through these scenes, according to the actress, by depending on "each other's knowledge, of theater and each other."
Durant's finger collection developed over the Pfarrer and Raimi brothers drafts. The director wanted a specific trademark for the character – one that hinted at a military background.
Liam Neeson worked in ten-piece makeup, sometimes for 18 hours. He saw the lengthy time spent in extensive makeup as a challenge and liked "the idea of working behind a mask on camera, and just exploring the possibilities of what that entailed." He and the makeup artists did tests using certain glues and resins. They also timed how fast they could put the makeup and costume on. Neeson worked with the costume designer on his outfit, including aspects like the cloak. The hardest part for the actor was speaking with false teeth and he ended up doing "a lot of work on my voice – I didn't want the [false teeth] to move at all."
, who previously scored the music to Tim Burton
's Batman
in 1989.
Danny Elfman said of his score, "Again old-fashioned and melodramatic, but in a way that I'm crazy about. Sam Raimi has a wonderful visual style that lends itself easily to music. It was an enormous relief writing long, extended musical sequences, something which is very rare in modern films. No reason to hold back on this one."
film critic Michael Wilmington felt that Darkman was the only movie at the time "that successfully captures the graphic look, rhythm and style of the superhero books." Terrence Rafferty of The New Yorker
said, "Raimi works from inside the cheerfully violent adolescent-male sensibility of superhero comics, as if there were no higher style for a filmmaker to aspire to, and the absence of condescension is refreshing." USA Today
gave the film three out of four stars. However, Richard Corliss in Time
said that Raimi wasn’t "effective with actors" and People
’s Ralph Novak called Darkman, a "loud, sadistic, stupidly written, wretchedly acted film." Entertainment Weekly
gave the film a "B" rating and Owen Gleiberman
wrote, "The movie is full of jaunty, Grand Guignol touches (the main gangster enjoys snapping and collecting fingers), but Raimi's images also have a spectral, kinetic beauty". In his review for the Washington Post, Joe Brown wrote, "Though Raimi seems to be trying to restrain himself, his giddily sick sense of humor still pops out all over the place – Darkman is a frenetic funhouse ride that has you laughing and screaming at the same time". Darkman was singled out for notice by comic-book writer Peter David
in the Comics Buyers Guide as "The Perfect Super-Hero Film of All Time," although this assessment was based upon other features of the film than general quality. Darkman is now generally regarded as a cult film.
sequel, scientist Peyton Westlake (now played by Arnold Vosloo
) continues to work on his synthetic skin, funding himself by stealing from gangsters.
Despite looking as if he had been killed in the first movie, Robert G. Durant survived and was in fact comatose in the time since the helicopter explosion that occurred during the first film's climax, and returns to take over organized crime in the city with semi-automatic particle beam weapons being made by an inmate named Alfred Hathaway.
Trying to perfect his synthetic skin with the assistance of Dr. David Brinkman (Jesse Collins
), Durant turns up, wanting Brinkman's building. In a scene reminiscent of the first movie, Brinkman is tortured and killed, leaving the work in ruins. It is up to Darkman once again to disguise himself as members of Durant's gang and he ultimately manages to destroy them from within.
When Westlake is infiltrating Durant's gang, reporter Jill Randall (Kim Delaney
) discovers that Peyton Westlake is still alive while trying to prove that the facts and actions of Durant's gang show that Durant is back in business. She befriends the scientist. However, she is killed via car bomb after doing a piece about Durant's return.
Later, Darkman kills Durant's gang and Durant by using the car bomb the same way Durant murdered Randall. The police tell the media that Durant is responsible for murdering Randall.
Peter Rooker (Jeff Fahey
) to continue his research.
Rooker is determined to find out how Darkman has his superior strength, and enlists the aid of Dr. Bridget Thorne (Darlanne Fluegel
), a new character retroactively
put into Darkman's origin as one of the doctors who first treated Westlake's body after he was burnt in the first movie. Obtaining a sample of Westlake's adrenaline, Dr. Thorne develops a designer steroid that enhances a person's strength at the cost of his or her mental agility. It is also revealed that Rooker funded Dr. Thorne's research that allowed her to develop the treatment used on Darkman in the first movie, and that she was Rooker's mistress
.
Learning of what has happened, Darkman plans his revenge against Rooker by impersonating him while in the company of his family and colleagues to bring him down. Darkman sets out to destroy the formula to the steroid and seek vengeance against Rooker, but not at the cost of Rooker's wife and child. Darkman does create a stable synthetic skin but uses the only sample to fix the damage done to Rooker's daughter.
This film shifts some of the focus from action to drama, during Peyton's scenes with Rooker's wife (played by Roxann Biggs-Dawson
) and his child, reminding him of how life could have been for him.
Darkman III: Die, Darkman, Die was originally intended to be the first sequel to the original Darkman, but when Larry Drake became available to reprise his role of Durant, this entry was moved back until Darkman II: The Return of Durant had been finished and released.
financed a 30-minute television pilot based on Darkman, which was made in 1992 and was to be shown on Fox. The pilot retold the origin of the character (with some alterations) and introduced several new characters. Christopher Bowen
starred in the role of Peyton Westlake/Darkman, Larry Drake
reprised his role of Robert G. Durant, and Kathleen York
played the cop, Jenny.
The origin is similar to the one in the original film as Peyton discovers his synthetic skin, is attacked and left for dead by Durant and his gang. In this version, however, Peyton is already married to Julie, and she is killed in the explosion. As in the films, Westlake becomes the Darkman, and seeks vengeance on Durant and his gang. Darkman's headquarters are based in an abandoned observatory overlooking the city, and he is wanted by the police for his actions against Durant's gang. The pilot ends with some scenes from the first movie (particularly of Darkman and Durant fighting) and Darkman stating that Justice will answer with a brand new face.
In 1999, Darkman 2: The Return Of Durant was released on DVD. Bonus material included production notes, cast & crew bios, a trailer, and web links.
Darkman 3: Die Darkman Die was released on DVD in 2004 as part of the "Universal Studio Selections". The DVD contained no bonus material or even a main menu (although there still were chapter selections).
On August 7, 2007, all three Darkman films were released in a box set by Universal Home Video. Each is presented in 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen, along with an English Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround track. No extra material was included. The high definition version of Darkman was released on HD DVD
July 31, 2007. A Blu-ray Disc
edition of the first film was released on June 16, 2010.
series (one a movie adaptation, the other an original sequel), numerous novels, as well as a video game published by Ocean Software, Darkman
(1991). Merchandising for the character all but disappeared for close to a decade until SOTA Toys
obtained the rights to make a Darkman action figure
. SOTA president Jerry Macaluso was interviewed by Dread Central:
In 2005, SOTA produced two versions of their Darkman action figure (including interchangeable head and hands to allow the figure to be either bandaged or revealing his scarred visage), as well as a Darkman statue.
Dynamite Entertainment
announced in 2006 that it had reached an agreement with Universal Studios Consumer Products Group to produce original comics based on Darkman. A bimonthly limited series entitled Darkman vs. Army of Darkness was published from August 2006 to March 2007.
In November 2007, Sideshow Collectibles put up for pre-order a 1/4" scale "Premium" Format Figure version of Darkman that would be released 3rd Quarter 2008.
of the Evil Dead/Army of Darkness franchise.
Superhero film
A superhero film, superhero movie, or superhero motion picture is: action, fantasy and science fiction film; that is focused on the actions of one or more superheroes, individuals who usually possess superhuman abilities relative to a normal person and are dedicated to protecting the public...
action film
Action film
Action film is a film genre where one or more heroes is thrust into a series of challenges that require physical feats, extended fights and frenetic chases...
directed by Sam Raimi
Sam Raimi
Samuel Marshall "Sam" Raimi is an American film director, producer, actor and writer. He is best known for directing cult horror films like the Evil Dead series, Darkman and Drag Me to Hell, as well as the blockbuster Spider-Man films and the producer of the successful TV series Hercules: The...
. It is based on a short story
Short story
A short story is a work of fiction that is usually written in prose, often in narrative format. This format tends to be more pointed than longer works of fiction, such as novellas and novels. Short story definitions based on length differ somewhat, even among professional writers, in part because...
Raimi wrote that paid homage to Universal
Universal Studios
Universal Pictures , a subsidiary of NBCUniversal, is one of the six major movie studios....
's horror film
Horror film
Horror films seek to elicit a negative emotional reaction from viewers by playing on the audience's most primal fears. They often feature scenes that startle the viewer through the means of macabre and the supernatural, thus frequently overlapping with the fantasy and science fiction genres...
s of the 1930s. The film stars Liam Neeson
Liam Neeson
Liam John Neeson, OBE is an Irish actor who has been nominated for an Oscar, a BAFTA and three Golden Globe Awards.He has starred in a number of notable roles including Oskar Schindler in Schindler's List, Michael Collins in Michael Collins, Peyton Westlake in Darkman, Jean Valjean in Les...
as Peyton Westlake, a scientist who is attacked and left for dead by a ruthless mobster, Durant (played by Larry Drake
Larry Drake
Larry Drake is an American actor.Drake was born in Tulsa, Oklahoma, the son of Lorraine, a homemaker, and Raymond Drake, a drafting engineer for an oil company. Drake is renowned for his portrayal of developmentally disabled Benny Stulwicz on the television show L.A...
) after his girlfriend, an attorney (played by Frances McDormand
Frances McDormand
Frances Louise McDormand is an American film and stage actress. She has starred in a number of films, including her Academy Award-winning performance as Marge Gunderson in Fargo, in 1996...
) runs afoul of a corrupt developer (played by Colin Friels
Colin Friels
-Background and training:Friels was born in Kilwinning, Ayrshire, Scotland. His mother was a mill worker and his father a joiner. He lived in Kilbirnie until 1963, when his family moved to Australia, arriving in Darwin, Northern Territory before settling in the Melbourne suburb of Broadmeadows...
).
Unable to secure the rights to either The Shadow
The Shadow (1994 film)
The Shadow is a 1994 American superhero film, directed by Russell Mulcahy, and based on the character of the same name created by Walter B. Gibson in 1931. Alec Baldwin starred in the title role...
or Batman
Batman (1989 film)
Batman is a 1989 superhero film based on the DC Comics character of the same name, directed by Tim Burton. The film stars Michael Keaton in the title role, as well as Jack Nicholson, Kim Basinger, Robert Wuhl and Jack Palance...
, Raimi decided to create his own superhero
Superhero
A superhero is a type of stock character, possessing "extraordinary or superhuman powers", dedicated to protecting the public. Since the debut of the prototypical superhero Superman in 1938, stories of superheroes — ranging from brief episodic adventures to continuing years-long sagas —...
and struck a deal with Universal Studios
Universal Studios
Universal Pictures , a subsidiary of NBCUniversal, is one of the six major movie studios....
to make his first Hollywood studio film. He was subjected to a grueling screenwriting process and equally difficult post-production
Post-production
Post-production is part of filmmaking and the video production process. It occurs in the making of motion pictures, television programs, radio programs, advertising, audio recordings, photography, and digital art...
battle with the studio.
Darkman was generally well received by critics and performed well at the box office, grossing almost $49 million worldwide, well above its $16 million budget. This financial success spawned two direct-to-video sequels, Darkman II: The Return of Durant and Darkman III: Die, Darkman, Die, as well as comic books, video games and action figures. Over the years, Darkman has become regarded as a cult film
Cult film
A cult film, also commonly referred to as a cult classic, is a film that has acquired a highly devoted but specific group of fans. Often, cult movies have failed to achieve fame outside the small fanbases; however, there have been exceptions that have managed to gain fame among mainstream audiences...
.
Plot
Scientist Dr. Peyton WestlakeDarkman (character)
Darkman is the titular fictional protagonist from the 1990 superhero film Darkman. The character originated in a short story written by the film's director, Sam Raimi, titled "The Darkman," and is based on the Universal Pictures' movie monsters...
(Liam Neeson
Liam Neeson
Liam John Neeson, OBE is an Irish actor who has been nominated for an Oscar, a BAFTA and three Golden Globe Awards.He has starred in a number of notable roles including Oskar Schindler in Schindler's List, Michael Collins in Michael Collins, Peyton Westlake in Darkman, Jean Valjean in Les...
) is developing a new type of synthetic skin to aid burn victims. He is frustrated with a flaw that causes the skin to rapidly disintegrate after being exposed to light for 99 minutes.
Westlake's girlfriend, attorney Julie Hastings (Frances McDormand
Frances McDormand
Frances Louise McDormand is an American film and stage actress. She has starred in a number of films, including her Academy Award-winning performance as Marge Gunderson in Fargo, in 1996...
), discovers an incriminating document proving that corrupt developer Louis Strack (Colin Friels
Colin Friels
-Background and training:Friels was born in Kilwinning, Ayrshire, Scotland. His mother was a mill worker and his father a joiner. He lived in Kilbirnie until 1963, when his family moved to Australia, arriving in Darwin, Northern Territory before settling in the Melbourne suburb of Broadmeadows...
) has been bribing members of the zoning commission. Before she leaves, Westlake asks her to marry him, but she hesitates. When she confronts Strack, he confesses, but shows Julie what he's been planning: To design a brand new city which would create a substantial amount of new jobs. He also warns Julie to keep her guard up as mobster Robert Durant (Larry Drake
Larry Drake
Larry Drake is an American actor.Drake was born in Tulsa, Oklahoma, the son of Lorraine, a homemaker, and Raymond Drake, a drafting engineer for an oil company. Drake is renowned for his portrayal of developmentally disabled Benny Stulwicz on the television show L.A...
) would do anything to get his hands on the document.
Back at Westlake's lab, the power and lights die out. When Westlake asks his assistant Yakatito how long the skin's been holding, they are both astounded as they find that the skin is stable after 100 minutes. Westlake deduces that the synthetic skin is photosensitive. Their joy is short lived as Durant and his henchmen show up and demand the Bellasarious Memorandum (the incriminating document Julie found earlier.)
While searching for the document, Durant and his gang attacks Westlake and kills Yakatito. After they find the document, they rig the lab to explode, with Julie watching the explosion just before pondering whether or not to marry Westlake. The blast throws Westlake through the roof and into the river. He survives (thought to be dead by Julie, who attends his funeral,) but is hideously burned. He is brought to a hospital and subjected to a radical treatment which cuts the nerves of the spinothalamic tract
Spinothalamic tract
The spinothalamic tract is a sensory pathway originating in the spinal cord. It transmits information to the thalamus about pain, temperature, itch and crude touch...
so pain is no longer felt. However, he also loses his tactile sensation. Removing this sensory input gives him enhanced strength due to adrenal overload and keeps his injuries from incapacitating him, but it also mentally destabilizes him.
After mourning the loss of his lab and realizing how badly burnt he has become, Westlake re-establishes the lab in a condemned building, using digitization to create a mask of his original face. The process is long, and in the meantime, Westlake murders the henchman Ricky in cold blood and studies his enemies in order to subdue and impersonate Pauly (another henchman,) subsequently causing his death afterward by Durant.
When his face mask is complete, he manages to convince Julie that he is indeed alive, and that he was in a coma rather than being dead. He is aware of Julie seeing Strack after his supposed death and eventually confronts her, to which she responds that Strack only comforted her. Westlake does not tell Julie about his condition, but asks her various questions on whether she would accept him regardless or not. Westlake now has a full clock schedule: Making the skin last longer than 99 minutes, visiting Julie, studying his enemies and even mimicking their voice patterns. His next excursion has him impersonating Durant himself, causing confusion among him and his henchmen.
The next time Westlake and Julie have a date at the carnival, an altercation causes Westlake to lose his temper and inadvertently reveals to Julie that there is indeed something wrong with him. She follows him as he flees (his 99 minutes were up,) and when she discovers that he was using masks to hide his true face, she calls out to Peyton that she still loves him regardless.
Julie later tells Strack that she can no longer see him, and after discovering the Bellasarious Memorandum on his desk while he was on the phone, she confirms that Strack was collaborating with Durant the entire time. She tells him that Westlake is still alive, but Strack tells her that as long as he has the memorandum, no charges can be filed. When Julie leaves, Durant enters and is told by Strack to kill both Julie and Westlake.
Westlake eventually succeeds in killing Durant and all of his henchmen (except for the one with the wooden gun leg, whose fate is unknown.) Westlake impersonates Durant one final time, but his ruse is broken by Strack, who fights him on an unfinished building floor 650 feet from the ground. When Westlake gets the upper hand, Strack calls his bluff by saying that killing him would not be something he could live with. Westlake then kills Strack, saying to himself: "I'm learning to live with a lot of things."
Unfortunately, when Julie tries to convince Westlake that he can still return to his old life, Westlake declines, saying that he has now become a monster and that the Peyton she knew was gone. In the final scene he runs away from Julie as they exit an elevator and is seen from behind pulling on a mask which, when he turns around, reveals the face of Bruce Campbell
Bruce Campbell
Bruce Lorne Campbell is an American film and television actor. As a cult movie actor, Campbell starred as Ashley J. "Ash" Williams in Sam Raimi's Evil Dead series of films and he has starred in many low-budget cult films such as Crimewave, Maniac Cop, Bubba Ho-tep, Escape From L.A. and Sundown:...
. During this scene, Westlake can be heard off-screen: "I am everyone and no one. Everywhere. Nowhere. Call me... Darkman."
Cast and characters
- Liam NeesonLiam NeesonLiam John Neeson, OBE is an Irish actor who has been nominated for an Oscar, a BAFTA and three Golden Globe Awards.He has starred in a number of notable roles including Oskar Schindler in Schindler's List, Michael Collins in Michael Collins, Peyton Westlake in Darkman, Jean Valjean in Les...
as Peyton Westlake / Darkman: Originally, Raimi's longtime friend and collaborator Bruce CampbellBruce CampbellBruce Lorne Campbell is an American film and television actor. As a cult movie actor, Campbell starred as Ashley J. "Ash" Williams in Sam Raimi's Evil Dead series of films and he has starred in many low-budget cult films such as Crimewave, Maniac Cop, Bubba Ho-tep, Escape From L.A. and Sundown:...
was set to play Darkman, but the studio balked at the idea because they did not think Campbell could carry the role. Gary OldmanGary OldmanGary Leonard Oldman is an English actor, voice actor, filmmaker and musician.A member of the 1980s Brit Pack, Oldman came to prominence via starring roles in British films Meantime , Sid and Nancy and Prick Up Your Ears , with his performance in the latter bringing him his first BAFTA Award...
and Bill PaxtonBill PaxtonWilliam "Bill" Paxton is an American actor and film director. He gained popularity after starring roles in the films Apollo 13, Twister, Aliens, True Lies, and Titanic...
were also considered before Liam Neeson was cast. For the role, Raimi was looking for someone who could suggest "a monster with the soul of a man, and I needed an actor who could do that beneath a lot of makeup" and liked Neeson's "old Gary CooperGary CooperFrank James Cooper, known professionally as Gary Cooper, was an American film actor. He was renowned for his quiet, understated acting style and his stoic, but at times intense screen persona, which was particularly well suited to the many Westerns he made...
charisma." The actor was drawn to the operatic nature of the story and the inner turmoil of his character. To research for the role, Neeson contacted the Phoenix Society, an organization that helps accident victims with severe disfigurements adjust to re-entering society.
- Frances McDormandFrances McDormandFrances Louise McDormand is an American film and stage actress. She has starred in a number of films, including her Academy Award-winning performance as Marge Gunderson in Fargo, in 1996...
as Julie Hastings: Raimi had wanted to work with Frances McDormand but the studio resisted this notion and almost cast Julia RobertsJulia RobertsJulia Fiona Roberts is an American actress. She became a Hollywood star after headlining the romantic comedy Pretty Woman , which grossed $464 million worldwide...
before Pretty WomanPretty WomanPretty Woman is a 1990 romantic comedy film set in Los Angeles, California. Written by J.F. Lawton and directed by Garry Marshall, this motion picture features Richard Gere and Julia Roberts, and also Hector Elizondo, Ralph Bellamy, and Jason Alexander in supporting roles. Roberts played the only...
made her a star. At one point, they wanted Demi MooreDemi MooreDemi Guynes Kutcher , known professionally as Demi Moore, is an American actress. After minor roles in film and a role in the soap opera General Hospital, Moore established her career in films such as St...
for the role. The director even tested Bridget FondaBridget FondaBridget Jane Fonda is an American actress. She is best known for her roles in films such as The Godfather Part III, Single White Female, Point of No Return, It Could Happen to You, and Jackie Brown...
but felt that she was too young for Neeson.
- Colin FrielsColin Friels-Background and training:Friels was born in Kilwinning, Ayrshire, Scotland. His mother was a mill worker and his father a joiner. He lived in Kilbirnie until 1963, when his family moved to Australia, arriving in Darwin, Northern Territory before settling in the Melbourne suburb of Broadmeadows...
as Louis Strack Jr.: The corrupt and ruthless billionaire developer who runs Strack Industries. He bribes members of the city zoning commission to further his ambitious construction project (which he dubs the "City of the Future"), and employs Durant and his gang to eliminate anyone who gets in his way, even his own wife. He and Darkman have their final battle atop one of Strack's half-finished skyscrapers at the film's climax.
- Larry DrakeLarry DrakeLarry Drake is an American actor.Drake was born in Tulsa, Oklahoma, the son of Lorraine, a homemaker, and Raymond Drake, a drafting engineer for an oil company. Drake is renowned for his portrayal of developmentally disabled Benny Stulwicz on the television show L.A...
as Robert G. Durant: He auditioned for the film and Raimi liked the way he underplayed the character, "quiet and careful, yet intense," the actor remembers. The director had never seen L.A. LawL.A. LawL.A. Law is a US television legal drama that ran on NBC from September 15, 1986 to May 19, 1994. L.A. Law reflected the social and cultural ideologies of the 1980s and early 1990s and many of the cases featured on the show dealt with hot topic issues such as abortion, racism, gay rights,...
but found that Drake's face reminded him of "a modern day Edward G. RobinsonEdward G. RobinsonEdward G. Robinson was a Romanian-born American actor. A popular star during Hollywood's Golden Age, he is best remembered for his roles as gangsters, such as Rico in his star-making film Little Caesar and as Rocco in Key Largo...
. He looked so mean, so domineering, yet he had this urban wit about him. I thought, 'My God, this guy is not only threatening-looking, he has a good physical presence – what a perfect adversary for the Darkman!'"
- Nelson Mashita as Yakitito
- Jessie Lawrence FergusonJessie Lawrence FergusonJessie Lawrence Ferguson is an American actor born June 8, 1941 in New York City. His first major role was in Starsky and Hutch in 1979.He is best known for his roles in Boyz n the Hood and John Carpenter's Prince of Darkness and Sam Raimi's Darkman.He has also had roles in Star Trek: The Next...
as Eddie Black
- Rafael H. Robledo as Rudy Guzman
- Ted RaimiTed RaimiTheodore "Ted"/"Half Ted" Raimi is an American actor, perhaps best known for his roles as Lieutenant Tim O'Neill in seaQuest DSV and Joxer the Mighty in Xena: Warrior Princess/Hercules: The Legendary Journeys...
as Rick
- Nicholas WorthNicholas WorthNicholas Worth was an American character actor who portrayed General Marzaq and Premier Romanov in Westwood Studios' Command & Conquer series of games, Emperor: Battle for Dune, and also voice-acted as Colonel Bulba/Mr. Jones in Freedom Fighters...
as Pauly
- Dan Bell as Smiley
- Dan HicksDan Hicks (actor)Dan Hicks is an American actor. He is best known for starring roles in Evil Dead II and Intruder as well as appearing in various other horror films. He is a close friend of Sam Raimi and often has parts in his movies.-Selected filmography:-External links:...
as Skip
In addition, Bruce Campbell
Bruce Campbell
Bruce Lorne Campbell is an American film and television actor. As a cult movie actor, Campbell starred as Ashley J. "Ash" Williams in Sam Raimi's Evil Dead series of films and he has starred in many low-budget cult films such as Crimewave, Maniac Cop, Bubba Ho-tep, Escape From L.A. and Sundown:...
has a cameo in the film as Peyton's last seen disguise (credited as "Final Shemp
Fake shemp
Fake Shemp or simply, "Shemp," is the term for someone who appears in a film under heavy make-up, filmed from the back, or perhaps only showing an arm or a foot.-Origin:...
") and Bridget Hoffman
Bridget Hoffman
Bridget Hoffman is an American actress best known for her work as an anime voice actress. She also serves as an ADR scriptwriter and ADR director...
as a computer voice.
Origins
For a long time, Sam Raimi had been interested in adapting a comic book into a movie. He had pursued and failed to secure the rights to both The ShadowThe Shadow
The Shadow is a collection of serialized dramas, originally in pulp magazines, then on 1930s radio and then in a wide variety of media, that follow the exploits of the title character, a crime-fighting vigilante in the pulps, which carried over to the airwaves as a "wealthy, young man about town"...
and Batman
Batman
Batman is a fictional character created by the artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger. A comic book superhero, Batman first appeared in Detective Comics #27 , and since then has appeared primarily in publications by DC Comics...
and decided to create his own. The initial idea Raimi had for Darkman was of a man who could change his face. He has said that he drew inspiration from those films as well as The Phantom of the Opera
The Phantom of the Opera (1925 film)
The Phantom of the Opera is a 1925 American silent horror film adaptation of the Gaston Leroux novel of the same title directed by Rupert Julian. The film featured Lon Chaney in the title role as the deformed Phantom who haunts the Paris Opera House, causing murder and mayhem in an attempt to force...
and The Elephant Man
The Elephant Man (film)
The Elephant Man is a 1980 American drama film based on the true story of Joseph Merrick , a severely deformed man in 19th century London...
. Raimi was also inspired by the Universal horror films of the 1930s and 1940s because "they made me fear the hideous nature of the hero and at the same time drew me to him. I went back to that idea of the man who is noble and turns into a monster". He originally wrote a 30-page short story, titled "The Darkman", and then developed into a 40-page treatment. At this point, according to Raimi, "it became the story of a man who had lost his face and had to take on other faces, a man who battled criminals using this power". It also became more of a tragic love story in the tradition of The Hunchback of Notre Dame
The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1923 film)
The Hunchback of Notre Dame is a 1923 American film directed by Wallace Worsley and produced by Carl Laemmle and Irving Thalberg. It stars Lon Chaney, Sr., Patsy Ruth Miller, Norman Kerry, Nigel de Brulier, Brandon Hurst. The film is the second most famous adaptation of Victor Hugo's novel,...
. In 1987, Raimi submitted the treatment to Universal Pictures
Universal Pictures
-1920:* White Youth* The Flaming Disc* Am I Dreaming?* The Dragon's Net* The Adorable Savage* Putting It Over* The Line Runners-1921:* The Fire Eater* A Battle of Wits* Dream Girl* The Millionaire...
which they liked, greenlighted a budget in the range of $8–12 million, and suggested that he get a screenwriter to flesh out the story.
Screenplay
The more the director worked on it, the more Darkman became a crimefighting figure, "a non-superpowered man who, here, is a hideous thing who fights crime. As he became that hideous thing, it became more like The Phantom of the Opera, the creature who wants the girl but who was too much of a beast to have her," Raimi said. The process of developing his treatment into a screenplay was difficult with Raimi hiring ex-Navy SEALUnited States Navy SEALs
The United States Navy's Sea, Air and Land Teams, commonly known as Navy SEALs, are the U.S. Navy's principal special operations force and a part of the Naval Special Warfare Command as well as the maritime component of the United States Special Operations Command.The acronym is derived from their...
Chuck Pfarrer
Chuck Pfarrer
Charles Patrick "Chuck" Pfarrer, III is an American novelist, screenwriter, and former U.S. Navy SEAL from Biloxi, Mississippi.-Biography:...
based on his work on Navy SEALs
Navy SEALs (film)
Navy SEALs is a 1990 action film, directed by Lewis Teague, written by Chuck Pfarrer and Gary Goldman, and produced by Brenda Feigen and Bernard Williams with consultant William Bradley.-Plot:...
. He wrote the first draft and then Raimi's brother, Ivan (a doctor), wrote drafts two through four with Sam. Ivan made sure that the medical aspects and scientific elements were authentic as possible given the nature of the story.
As Raimi and his producing partner Robert Tapert progressed through various drafts, they realized that there was a potential franchise on their hands. Universal brought in screenwriting brothers Daniel and Joshua Goldin to work on the script. According to Daniel, they were presented with various drafts and "lots of little story documents. There was just material everywhere; drafts seemed to go in many directions." Goldin said that they "spent a lot of time talking and pulling together a way of making the story work. I think that mostly we talked in terms of the nuts and bolts of the story." The Goldins added new lines of dialogue, new characters and bits of action. The studio still wasn't satisfied so the Raimi brothers wrote drafts six through twelve before they had a shooting script. For Raimi, he wanted to emphasize Peyton/Darkman's arc over the course of the film. He said, "I decided to explore a man's soul. In the beginning, a sympathetic, sincere man. In the middle, a vengeful man committing heinous acts against his enemies. And in the end, a man full of self-hatred for what he's become, who must drift off into the night, into a world apart from everyone he knows and all the things he loves."
Pre-production
Working with Universal meant a significant increase in budget for Raimi. This allowed him to design and build a laboratory set for Darkman and afford helicopters and professional stuntmen to film the climactic helicopter chase through the city. He was eventually given $16 million to work with, including a longer schedule and much more effects work.Look-wise, the filmmaker was interested in paying homage to Universal horror films of the 1930s. Production designer Randy Ser remarked, "if you look at Darkman's lab that he moves into, which is an old warehouse, what was on my mind was Dr. Frankenstein. There were a number of references visually to what we were thinking about in regards to those films." Raimi consciously wanted to tone down his style because of a desire to "get into the characters' heads and follow them as real human beings in extraordinary circumstances".
McDormand and Neeson worked closely in rehearsals, rewriting the three love scenes they had together after he becomes Darkman. They got through these scenes, according to the actress, by depending on "each other's knowledge, of theater and each other."
Principal photography
Reportedly, McDormand and Raimi were not always on the same page while making the movie. The filmmaker said that directing her was "very difficult". Raimi said, "apparently I didn't know Fran as well as I thought I did ... The reason it was difficult was that our conception of the best movie to make differed, arguing in trying to make the best picture possible. We did come across disagreements, but they were very healthy."Durant's finger collection developed over the Pfarrer and Raimi brothers drafts. The director wanted a specific trademark for the character – one that hinted at a military background.
Liam Neeson worked in ten-piece makeup, sometimes for 18 hours. He saw the lengthy time spent in extensive makeup as a challenge and liked "the idea of working behind a mask on camera, and just exploring the possibilities of what that entailed." He and the makeup artists did tests using certain glues and resins. They also timed how fast they could put the makeup and costume on. Neeson worked with the costume designer on his outfit, including aspects like the cloak. The hardest part for the actor was speaking with false teeth and he ended up doing "a lot of work on my voice – I didn't want the [false teeth] to move at all."
Editing
Raimi and Tapert ran into conflicts with the studio during post-production. The director had a problem with the editor that the studio assigned him and eight weeks into assembling the rough cut, he was not following Raimi's storyboards. The editor had a nervous breakdown and left. Early preview screenings did not go well as people laughed in the wrong places and complained about a lack of a happy ending. Universal told Raimi that some people rated Darkman the worst film they had ever seen. According to executives, the film was one of the worst-scoring pictures in Universal's history. Then, two preview screenings, one with Danny Elfman's score, went well. Tapert remembers, "the experience on Darkman was very difficult for Sam and me; it isn’t the picture we thought it should be, based on the footage we shot and all that. The studio got nervous about some kind of wild things in it, and made us take them out, which was unfortunate." However, Raimi did like the "brilliant" marketing campaign that the studio came up with, releasing posters in advance with a silhouette of the main character and the question, "Who is Darkman?" According to the director, "the marketing made the film a money-maker".Soundtrack
Released on August 17, 1990, the soundtrack to Darkman was composed by Danny ElfmanDanny Elfman
Daniel Robert "Danny" Elfman is an American composer, best known for scoring music for television and film. Up until 1995, he was the lead singer and songwriter in the rock band Oingo Boingo, a group he formed in 1976...
, who previously scored the music to Tim Burton
Tim Burton
Timothy William "Tim" Burton is an American film director, film producer, writer and artist. He is famous for dark, quirky-themed movies such as Beetlejuice, Edward Scissorhands, The Nightmare Before Christmas, Ed Wood, Sleepy Hollow, Corpse Bride and Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet...
's Batman
Batman (1989 film)
Batman is a 1989 superhero film based on the DC Comics character of the same name, directed by Tim Burton. The film stars Michael Keaton in the title role, as well as Jack Nicholson, Kim Basinger, Robert Wuhl and Jack Palance...
in 1989.
Danny Elfman said of his score, "Again old-fashioned and melodramatic, but in a way that I'm crazy about. Sam Raimi has a wonderful visual style that lends itself easily to music. It was an enormous relief writing long, extended musical sequences, something which is very rare in modern films. No reason to hold back on this one."
Track listing
- "Main Titles" – 1:37
- "Woe, the Darkman...Woe!" – 6:09
- "Rebuilding/Failure" – 3:16
- "Love Theme" – 0:56
- "Julie Transforms" – 1:11
- "Rage/Peppy Science" – 1:37
- "Creating Pauley" – 3:19
- "Double Durante" – 1:50
- "The Plot Unfolds (Dancing Freak)" – 7:01
- "Carnival from Hell" – 3:16
- "Julie Discovers Darkman" – 1:59
- "High Steel" – 4:19
- "Finale/End Credits" – 3:39
Reaction
Ads asking "Who is Darkman?" began appearing on bus benches, public transit and television as early as June 1990. Universal Vice-President of Media Vic Fondrk said that the studio did not want to spend much money promoting the film in advance, "but we wanted to create some intrigue for the Darkman character." On its opening weekend, Darkman grossed a total of $8 million in 1,786 theaters. To date, the film has grossed a total of $48.8 million worldwide.Reviews
The film enjoyed generally favorable reviews. Los Angeles TimesLos Angeles Times
The Los Angeles Times is a daily newspaper published in Los Angeles, California, since 1881. It was the second-largest metropolitan newspaper in circulation in the United States in 2008 and the fourth most widely distributed newspaper in the country....
film critic Michael Wilmington felt that Darkman was the only movie at the time "that successfully captures the graphic look, rhythm and style of the superhero books." Terrence Rafferty of The New Yorker
The New Yorker
The New Yorker is an American magazine of reportage, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons and poetry published by Condé Nast...
said, "Raimi works from inside the cheerfully violent adolescent-male sensibility of superhero comics, as if there were no higher style for a filmmaker to aspire to, and the absence of condescension is refreshing." USA Today
USA Today
USA Today is a national American daily newspaper published by the Gannett Company. It was founded by Al Neuharth. The newspaper vies with The Wall Street Journal for the position of having the widest circulation of any newspaper in the United States, something it previously held since 2003...
gave the film three out of four stars. However, Richard Corliss in Time
Time (magazine)
Time is an American news magazine. A European edition is published from London. Time Europe covers the Middle East, Africa and, since 2003, Latin America. An Asian edition is based in Hong Kong...
said that Raimi wasn’t "effective with actors" and People
People (magazine)
In 1998, the magazine introduced a version targeted at teens called Teen People. However, on July 27, 2006, the company announced it would shut down publication of Teen People immediately. The last issue to be released was scheduled for September 2006. Subscribers to this magazine received...
’s Ralph Novak called Darkman, a "loud, sadistic, stupidly written, wretchedly acted film." Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly is an American magazine, published by the Time division of Time Warner, that covers film, television, music, broadway theatre, books and popular culture...
gave the film a "B" rating and Owen Gleiberman
Owen Gleiberman
Owen Gleiberman is an American film critic for Entertainment Weekly, a position he has held since the magazine's launch in 1990. From 1981–89, he worked at the Boston Phoenix....
wrote, "The movie is full of jaunty, Grand Guignol touches (the main gangster enjoys snapping and collecting fingers), but Raimi's images also have a spectral, kinetic beauty". In his review for the Washington Post, Joe Brown wrote, "Though Raimi seems to be trying to restrain himself, his giddily sick sense of humor still pops out all over the place – Darkman is a frenetic funhouse ride that has you laughing and screaming at the same time". Darkman was singled out for notice by comic-book writer Peter David
Peter David
Peter Allen David , often abbreviated PAD, is an American writer of comic books, novels, television, movies and video games...
in the Comics Buyers Guide as "The Perfect Super-Hero Film of All Time," although this assessment was based upon other features of the film than general quality. Darkman is now generally regarded as a cult film.
Darkman II: The Return of Durant
In this 1995 direct-to-videoDirect-to-video
Direct-to-video is a term used to describe a film that has been released to the public on home video formats without being released in film theaters or broadcast on television...
sequel, scientist Peyton Westlake (now played by Arnold Vosloo
Arnold Vosloo
Arnold Vosloo is a South African American actor, best-known for playing Imhotep in The Mummy and its 2001 sequel The Mummy Returns, as well as the role of the superhero Darkman in the sequel Darkman II: The Return of Durant and its 1996 sequel, Darkman III: Die Darkman Die...
) continues to work on his synthetic skin, funding himself by stealing from gangsters.
Despite looking as if he had been killed in the first movie, Robert G. Durant survived and was in fact comatose in the time since the helicopter explosion that occurred during the first film's climax, and returns to take over organized crime in the city with semi-automatic particle beam weapons being made by an inmate named Alfred Hathaway.
Trying to perfect his synthetic skin with the assistance of Dr. David Brinkman (Jesse Collins
Jesse Collins
Jesse Collins is a Canadian actor and director. He is best known for starring in the television series Katts and Dog, known internationally as Rin Tin Tin: K-9 Cop from 1988 to 1993. He was nominated for a Daytime Emmy in 2000 for his direction of the PBS series Zaboomafoo.-External links:...
), Durant turns up, wanting Brinkman's building. In a scene reminiscent of the first movie, Brinkman is tortured and killed, leaving the work in ruins. It is up to Darkman once again to disguise himself as members of Durant's gang and he ultimately manages to destroy them from within.
When Westlake is infiltrating Durant's gang, reporter Jill Randall (Kim Delaney
Kim Delaney
Kim Delaney is an American actress best known for her starring role as Detective Diane Russell on the ABC drama television series, NYPD Blue. Early in her career, she played the role of Jenny Gardner in the hugely popular ABC daytime television drama, All My Children...
) discovers that Peyton Westlake is still alive while trying to prove that the facts and actions of Durant's gang show that Durant is back in business. She befriends the scientist. However, she is killed via car bomb after doing a piece about Durant's return.
Later, Darkman kills Durant's gang and Durant by using the car bomb the same way Durant murdered Randall. The police tell the media that Durant is responsible for murdering Randall.
Darkman III: Die, Darkman, Die
In the second direct-to-video Darkman sequel, released in 1996, Peyton Westlake (again played by Vosloo) steals a bag of money from drug lordDrug lord
A drug lord, drug baron or kingpin is the term used to describe a person who controls a sizable network of persons involved in the illegal drugs trade. Such figures are often difficult to bring to justice, as they might never be directly in possession of something illegal, but are insulated from...
Peter Rooker (Jeff Fahey
Jeff Fahey
Jeffrey David "Jeff" Fahey is an American film and television actor. He has portrayed Captain Frank Lapidus on the ABC series Lost and the title role of Deputy Marshal Winston MacBride on The Marshal.-Early life:...
) to continue his research.
Rooker is determined to find out how Darkman has his superior strength, and enlists the aid of Dr. Bridget Thorne (Darlanne Fluegel
Darlanne Fluegel
Darlanne Fluegel born is an American actress.Fluegel appeared in the TV series Crime Story and the final season of Hunter. She was featured in Sergio Leone's 1984 film Once Upon a Time in America as Robert De Niro's girlfriend Eve , and in 1986's Tough Guys as Kirk Douglas' girlfriend...
), a new character retroactively
Retcon
Retroactive continuity is the alteration of previously established facts in a fictional work. Retcons are done for many reasons, including the accommodation of sequels or further derivative works in a series, wherein newer authors or creators want to revise the in-story history to allow a course...
put into Darkman's origin as one of the doctors who first treated Westlake's body after he was burnt in the first movie. Obtaining a sample of Westlake's adrenaline, Dr. Thorne develops a designer steroid that enhances a person's strength at the cost of his or her mental agility. It is also revealed that Rooker funded Dr. Thorne's research that allowed her to develop the treatment used on Darkman in the first movie, and that she was Rooker's mistress
Mistress (lover)
A mistress is a long-term female lover and companion who is not married to her partner; the term is used especially when her partner is married. The relationship generally is stable and at least semi-permanent; however, the couple does not live together openly. Also the relationship is usually,...
.
Learning of what has happened, Darkman plans his revenge against Rooker by impersonating him while in the company of his family and colleagues to bring him down. Darkman sets out to destroy the formula to the steroid and seek vengeance against Rooker, but not at the cost of Rooker's wife and child. Darkman does create a stable synthetic skin but uses the only sample to fix the damage done to Rooker's daughter.
This film shifts some of the focus from action to drama, during Peyton's scenes with Rooker's wife (played by Roxann Biggs-Dawson
Roxann Dawson
Roxann Dawson is an American actress, producer and director, best known as B'Elanna Torres on the television series Star Trek: Voyager.-Acting:...
) and his child, reminding him of how life could have been for him.
Darkman III: Die, Darkman, Die was originally intended to be the first sequel to the original Darkman, but when Larry Drake became available to reprise his role of Durant, this entry was moved back until Darkman II: The Return of Durant had been finished and released.
Unaired television pilot
Universal TelevisionUniversal Studios
Universal Pictures , a subsidiary of NBCUniversal, is one of the six major movie studios....
financed a 30-minute television pilot based on Darkman, which was made in 1992 and was to be shown on Fox. The pilot retold the origin of the character (with some alterations) and introduced several new characters. Christopher Bowen
Christopher Bowen
Christopher Bowen is a British actor. He trained at the Old Vic Theatre School in Bristol and spent three years with the RSC in the 1980s...
starred in the role of Peyton Westlake/Darkman, Larry Drake
Larry Drake
Larry Drake is an American actor.Drake was born in Tulsa, Oklahoma, the son of Lorraine, a homemaker, and Raymond Drake, a drafting engineer for an oil company. Drake is renowned for his portrayal of developmentally disabled Benny Stulwicz on the television show L.A...
reprised his role of Robert G. Durant, and Kathleen York
Kathleen York
Kathleen "Bird" York is an actress, screenwriter and Oscar nominated songwriter-recording artist.As a screenwriter, York has written projects for John Wells Warner Brothers, Sony, Paramount and has just completed a one hour pilot for Fox Television Studios...
played the cop, Jenny.
The origin is similar to the one in the original film as Peyton discovers his synthetic skin, is attacked and left for dead by Durant and his gang. In this version, however, Peyton is already married to Julie, and she is killed in the explosion. As in the films, Westlake becomes the Darkman, and seeks vengeance on Durant and his gang. Darkman's headquarters are based in an abandoned observatory overlooking the city, and he is wanted by the police for his actions against Durant's gang. The pilot ends with some scenes from the first movie (particularly of Darkman and Durant fighting) and Darkman stating that Justice will answer with a brand new face.
DVD
In 1998, Darkman was released on DVD. Bonus material included production notes, cast & crew bios, and a trailer.In 1999, Darkman 2: The Return Of Durant was released on DVD. Bonus material included production notes, cast & crew bios, a trailer, and web links.
Darkman 3: Die Darkman Die was released on DVD in 2004 as part of the "Universal Studio Selections". The DVD contained no bonus material or even a main menu (although there still were chapter selections).
On August 7, 2007, all three Darkman films were released in a box set by Universal Home Video. Each is presented in 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen, along with an English Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround track. No extra material was included. The high definition version of Darkman was released on HD DVD
HD DVD
HD DVD is a discontinued high-density optical disc format for storing data and high-definition video.Supported principally by Toshiba, HD DVD was envisioned to be the successor to the standard DVD format...
July 31, 2007. A Blu-ray Disc
Blu-ray Disc
Blu-ray Disc is an optical disc storage medium designed to supersede the DVD format. The plastic disc is 120 mm in diameter and 1.2 mm thick, the same size as DVDs and CDs. Blu-ray Discs contain 25 GB per layer, with dual layer discs being the norm for feature-length video discs...
edition of the first film was released on June 16, 2010.
Broadway play
There have been multiple productions of Darkman in off-broadway. However, the rumor of a Darkman play on Broadway has been around since the film opened in 1991. James Franco was the last star attached to the project, however other actors, such as Nicolas Cage and Samuel L. Jackson, have previously shown interest. There are currently no productions scheduled for Broadway.Merchandising
Darkman has been the subject of two Marvel ComicsMarvel Comics
Marvel Worldwide, Inc., commonly referred to as Marvel Comics and formerly Marvel Publishing, Inc. and Marvel Comics Group, is an American company that publishes comic books and related media...
series (one a movie adaptation, the other an original sequel), numerous novels, as well as a video game published by Ocean Software, Darkman
Darkman (video game)
Darkman was developed by Twilight and published by Ocean Software in 1991. It was released for the ZX Spectrum, NES, Amstrad CPC and Commodore 64. It was also ported to the Game Boy and Atari ST...
(1991). Merchandising for the character all but disappeared for close to a decade until SOTA Toys
SOTA Toys
SOTA Toys, or State Of The Art Toys, is a developer, manufacturer, and wholesaler of collectibles based on licensed properties from companies such as Capcom and Universal...
obtained the rights to make a Darkman action figure
Action figure
An action figure is a posable character figurine, made of plastic or other materials, and often based upon characters from a film, comic book, video game, or television program. These action figures are usually marketed towards boys and male collectors...
. SOTA president Jerry Macaluso was interviewed by Dread Central:
In 2005, SOTA produced two versions of their Darkman action figure (including interchangeable head and hands to allow the figure to be either bandaged or revealing his scarred visage), as well as a Darkman statue.
Dynamite Entertainment
Dynamite Entertainment
Dynamite Entertainment is an American comic book company that primarily publishes licensed franchises of adaptations of other media. These include adaptations of film properties such as Army of Darkness, Terminator and RoboCop, literary properties such as Zorro, Dracula, Sherlock Holmes, Alice in...
announced in 2006 that it had reached an agreement with Universal Studios Consumer Products Group to produce original comics based on Darkman. A bimonthly limited series entitled Darkman vs. Army of Darkness was published from August 2006 to March 2007.
In November 2007, Sideshow Collectibles put up for pre-order a 1/4" scale "Premium" Format Figure version of Darkman that would be released 3rd Quarter 2008.
Comics
With the movie’s release in 1990, Marvel Comics published a 3-issue adaptation of Darkman in color along with a larger black and white magazine size adaptation consisting of all three issues. In 1993, Darkman returned in a 6 issue mini-series also published by Marvel Comics. In 2006, Dynamite Entertainment published a cross over that pitted Darkman against Sam Raimi’s Ash WilliamsAsh Williams
Ashley J. "Ash" Williams is the protagonist in the Evil Dead horror film franchise, played by Bruce Campbell, and created by director Sam Raimi. Throughout the series, Ash has to face off against his loved ones inside an abandoned cabin as they are possessed by "deadites", the evil souls of the dead...
of the Evil Dead/Army of Darkness franchise.
Novels
Along with the movie’s release in 1990, Jove Books published the novel adaptation written by Randall Boyll. In 1994, Boyll returned to expanding upon the adventures of Darkman in a four novel miniseries from Pocket Books. Over Pocket Books’ four novels (The Hangman, The Price of Fear, The Gods of Hell, and In the Face of Death) Boyll further develops Darkman’s character and how he deals with his new existence as an outcast individual with the ability to help others.External links
- The Darkman database
- Dorkosphere – An extensive review of Darkman