The Crow: Salvation
Encyclopedia
The Crow: Salvation is a 2000 film directed by Bharat Nalluri
. The film is the third in a series based on The Crow
comic book
by James O'Barr
. After its distributor cancelled the intended theatrical release due to The Crow: City of Angels
receiving negative critical reception, The Crow: Salvation was released directly to video
.
) is framed for the murder of his girlfriend Lauren Randall (Jodi Lyn O'Keefe
), who was brutally stabbed 53 times. Three years later, he is executed in the electric chair
. Soon after the execution, Alex is resurrected by a mystical crow and gifted with supernatural abilities, so he can clear his name and avenge Lauren's death. He peels off the burned flesh from his face, revealing his crow appearance. Alex follows the crow to the Salt Lake City police department's evidence
room, where he discovers that Lauren was killed by a group of corrupt cops. Alex has a vision of one of the killers, who has a scar on his arm matching one he saw just before his execution. Alex finds the knife that was used on Lauren, and then goes to her grave. There, he meets with Lauren's sister Erin (Kirsten Dunst
), who believes he is guilty. He tells her that he'll prove his innocence somehow, and disappears.
Alex finds Tommy Leonard (David Stevens), the man who was paid to lie about Alex at the trial. Tommy tells Alex which cops killed Lauren — Madden (Bruce McCarthy), Martin Toomey (Tim DeKay
), James Erlich (Dale Midkiff
), Stan Roberts (Walton Goggins
), and Phillip Dutton (Bill Mondy
). Alex spares Tommy's life. Later, Dutton pulls over two women, and tries to sexually assault
the driver. Suddenly, he sees Alex sitting where the passenger was. Alex looks for the scar, and doesn't find it. Alex shoots Dutton in the head, and stabs him 53 times, killing him. Erin watches the news and sees Dutton's dead body on the screen, with the name "Daisy" cut into his head. This is Alex's sign to Erin, because Daisy was Lauren's nickname for Erin.
Alex finds Erlich leaving an apartment in his Corvette
. Alex kicks through Erlich's window and searches his arm for the scar, but doesn't find it. Alex drives the Corvette into the side of an abandoned bus, and blows it up with Erlich laying bloodied on the hood of the car. Alex inadvertently drops the list of names of the cops he's after, and Roberts and Toomey find it. Later, Alex gives Erin a piece of paper found in Erlich's car, and Erin now believes that Alex is innocent. She then finds out that her father, Nathan Randall (William Atherton
) is in business with the corrupt cops who killed Lauren, and was thus indirectly responsible for her death. Nathan swears he did not intend for Lauren to die, but Erin nevertheless runs from him in horror. At the same time, Roberts and Madden kill Tommy and his family.
Alex meets with his lawyer, Peter Walsh (Grant Shaud
), and they talk about Lauren's death. Alex goes to the place where Lauren died and talks to her. Erin goes home, and finds Nathan dead of a self-inflicted gunshot wound. Later, Walsh tells Alex that Nathan owns a company called Westwind Building, which owns D.E.R.T., a company that owns about a dozen other companies. Tommy used to make daily deliveries to the Key Club, a strip bar owned by D.E.R.T., and Walsh tells Alex that a place like that is about unreported cash; things like money from drugs. Lauren discovered what they were doing when she witnessed John, the police captain (Fred Ward
), killing a man at the Key Club. John had his men kill Lauren. Erin barges into Walsh's apartment, telling Alex that Nathan is dead.
Alex goes to the Key Club. Madden and John meet Erin at Walsh's apartment, and explain to her about Nathan. Erin gets John's gun and aims it at him, but John gets his gun back. Madden kills Walsh, and John kidnaps Erin. Alex starts a big shootout at the Key Club and fatally impales Roberts with a pipe he breaks off the ceiling, kills the remaining police, then grabs Toomey and checks his arm for the scar, but doesn't find it on either of their arms. Madden shows up, and tries to kill Alex. Madden accidentally shoots a pipe, which ignites a gas leak; the explosion kills Toomey. Alex walks out of the fire and sees an arm hanging out of the rubble with the scar on it. Alex then leaves the rubble and watches a woman while having a flashback. Her jealous boyfriend hits Alex.
The next day, the rubble is examined, and a burned skeleton forearm can be found — with pieces of metal scattered about. It turns out that this was all a forgery and that the real scarred arm remains at large. Alex goes back to Walsh's apartment. It's empty, but he finds a hint placed by Walsh which leads him to John. He goes to the police station and confronts John. After a few words, Alex brandishes the knife responsible for killing Lauren, preparing to kill John. However, his regeneration ability is apparently not working anymore, as he "fulfilled his duty" after finding the arm with the scar (i.e. the arm of the one he is after), and he is no match for the Captain, who stabs Alex several times with the knife, while verbally abusing him and attempting to convince Alex that Alex alone murdered his own girlfriend. Before Alex dies, he starts to believe he is the one who murdered Lauren. Madden, the Captain, and the Captain's secretary (Kelly Harren) pull Alex into John's taxidermy
room, where Erin is tied up with her mouth stitched shut, wearing the locket that connects her to Alex. The crow picks the locket up and drops it next to Alex, who comes back to life again. Alex sets Erin free, and she runs out with John in pursuit. Alex kills Madden by throwing him into a glass trophy case that cuts his throat. Alex then sees Walsh's body hanging from the ceiling, his arm cut off. Alex kills John's secretary by throwing her against the wall, impaling her on a set of mounted antlers.
The Captain gets Erin into a car and drives away, and Alex reaches the roof of the police building and jumps off onto the car. Alex punches through the car's glass roof, grabs John's arm, and rolls up the sleeve. Confirming his suspicion, Alex notices the scar on the Captain's left arm. Alex and Erin then take the Captain to the prison's death chamber and strap John into the same electric chair that Alex died in. John says he'll come back like Alex and vows to kill them both. Erin pulls the switch, and they leave John to suffer in the chair, burning long after he is dead. Alex and Erin walk outside, and Alex disappears in a whirlwind. Erin, who apparently came to visit the graves of both Alex and her sister, puts the necklace that bonded her and Alex on his headstone before leaving as she explains her renewed sense of mortality in a voice-over.
Bharat Nalluri
Bharat Nalluri is a British television director, best known for his work with the independent production company Kudos Film & Television in the 2000s and early 2010s. For Kudos, he has directed episodes of Spooks, Life on Mars, Hustle , and Outcasts: all for transmission on BBC One...
. The film is the third in a series based on The Crow
The Crow
The Crow is a comic book series created by James O'Barr. The series was originally written by O'Barr as a means of dealing with the death of his girlfriend at the hands of a drunk driver. It was later published by Caliber Comics in 1989, becoming an underground success, and later adapted into a...
comic book
Comic book
A comic book or comicbook is a magazine made up of comics, narrative artwork in the form of separate panels that represent individual scenes, often accompanied by dialog as well as including...
by James O'Barr
James O'Barr
James O'Barr is an American graphic artist, best known as the creator of the comic book series The Crow.-Personal life:O'Barr, an orphan, was raised in the foster care system...
. After its distributor cancelled the intended theatrical release due to The Crow: City of Angels
The Crow: City of Angels
The Crow: City of Angels is a 1996 action film directed by Tim Pope. It is a sequel to the 1994 cult film The Crow.-Plot:The film is set in Los Angeles, where drug king Judah Earl controls it all...
receiving negative critical reception, The Crow: Salvation was released directly to video
Direct-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...
.
Plot summary
Alexander "Alex" Frederick Corvis (Eric MabiusEric Mabius
Eric Harry Timothy Mabius is an American actor known for his work as Daniel Meade on the ABC television series Ugly Betty. He also worked on the Showtime series The L Word and in the films Resident Evil and Cruel Intentions....
) is framed for the murder of his girlfriend Lauren Randall (Jodi Lyn O'Keefe
Jodi Lyn O'Keefe
Jodi Lyn O'Keefe is an American actress and model, who at age 17 portrayed Cassidy Bridges on Nash Bridges. She is also known for her role on Prison Break as Gretchen Morgan, a.k.a. "Susan B. Anthony".-Early life:...
), who was brutally stabbed 53 times. Three years later, he is executed in the electric chair
Electric chair
Execution by electrocution, usually performed using an electric chair, is an execution method originating in the United States in which the condemned person is strapped to a specially built wooden chair and electrocuted through electrodes placed on the body...
. Soon after the execution, Alex is resurrected by a mystical crow and gifted with supernatural abilities, so he can clear his name and avenge Lauren's death. He peels off the burned flesh from his face, revealing his crow appearance. Alex follows the crow to the Salt Lake City police department's evidence
Evidence
Evidence in its broadest sense includes everything that is used to determine or demonstrate the truth of an assertion. Giving or procuring evidence is the process of using those things that are either presumed to be true, or were themselves proven via evidence, to demonstrate an assertion's truth...
room, where he discovers that Lauren was killed by a group of corrupt cops. Alex has a vision of one of the killers, who has a scar on his arm matching one he saw just before his execution. Alex finds the knife that was used on Lauren, and then goes to her grave. There, he meets with Lauren's sister Erin (Kirsten Dunst
Kirsten Dunst
Kirsten Caroline Dunst is an American actress, singer and model. She made her film debut in Oedipus Wrecks, a short film directed by Woody Allen for the anthology New York Stories...
), who believes he is guilty. He tells her that he'll prove his innocence somehow, and disappears.
Alex finds Tommy Leonard (David Stevens), the man who was paid to lie about Alex at the trial. Tommy tells Alex which cops killed Lauren — Madden (Bruce McCarthy), Martin Toomey (Tim DeKay
Tim DeKay
Timothy Robert DeKay is an American character actor. His first on screen acting job was as corporate giant Larry Deon on seaQuest 2032. He was a cast member of the series Party of Five from 1997–1999, Carnivàle from 2003–2005 and Tell Me You Love Me in 2007...
), James Erlich (Dale Midkiff
Dale Midkiff
Dale Alan Midkiff is an American actor.-Early life:Midkiff was born in Chance, Maryland, the son of Joyce and Thomas Midkiff. He attended Edgewood High School near Baltimore. His first acting experience came playing Jack in a production of Jack and the Beanstalk for a local children's theater. His...
), Stan Roberts (Walton Goggins
Walton Goggins
Walton Sanders Goggins, Jr. is an American actor best known for his roles on the FX Networks series The Shield and Justified, portraying Detective Shane Vendrell and Boyd Crowder, respectively. He is also known for his character roles in the films Miracle at St. Anna and Predators...
), and Phillip Dutton (Bill Mondy
Bill Mondy
Bill Mondy, sometimes credited as Bill Monday, is an American film and television actor.-Career:He is best known for his appearances in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and The Dead Zone...
). Alex spares Tommy's life. Later, Dutton pulls over two women, and tries to sexually assault
Sexual assault
Sexual assault is an assault of a sexual nature on another person, or any sexual act committed without consent. Although sexual assaults most frequently are by a man on a woman, it may involve any combination of two or more men, women and children....
the driver. Suddenly, he sees Alex sitting where the passenger was. Alex looks for the scar, and doesn't find it. Alex shoots Dutton in the head, and stabs him 53 times, killing him. Erin watches the news and sees Dutton's dead body on the screen, with the name "Daisy" cut into his head. This is Alex's sign to Erin, because Daisy was Lauren's nickname for Erin.
Alex finds Erlich leaving an apartment in his Corvette
Chevrolet Corvette
The Chevrolet Corvette is a sports car by the Chevrolet division of General Motors that has been produced in six generations. The first model, a convertible, was designed by Harley Earl and introduced at the GM Motorama in 1953 as a concept show car. Myron Scott is credited for naming the car after...
. Alex kicks through Erlich's window and searches his arm for the scar, but doesn't find it. Alex drives the Corvette into the side of an abandoned bus, and blows it up with Erlich laying bloodied on the hood of the car. Alex inadvertently drops the list of names of the cops he's after, and Roberts and Toomey find it. Later, Alex gives Erin a piece of paper found in Erlich's car, and Erin now believes that Alex is innocent. She then finds out that her father, Nathan Randall (William Atherton
William Atherton
William Atherton , born William Atherton Knight II, is an American film, stage and television actor.-Early life:Atherton was born in Orange, Connecticut, the son of Roby and Robert Atherton Knight...
) is in business with the corrupt cops who killed Lauren, and was thus indirectly responsible for her death. Nathan swears he did not intend for Lauren to die, but Erin nevertheless runs from him in horror. At the same time, Roberts and Madden kill Tommy and his family.
Alex meets with his lawyer, Peter Walsh (Grant Shaud
Grant Shaud
Grant Shaud is an American actor known for having played the character of Miles Silverberg on the 1990s TV sitcom Murphy Brown.-Early life:...
), and they talk about Lauren's death. Alex goes to the place where Lauren died and talks to her. Erin goes home, and finds Nathan dead of a self-inflicted gunshot wound. Later, Walsh tells Alex that Nathan owns a company called Westwind Building, which owns D.E.R.T., a company that owns about a dozen other companies. Tommy used to make daily deliveries to the Key Club, a strip bar owned by D.E.R.T., and Walsh tells Alex that a place like that is about unreported cash; things like money from drugs. Lauren discovered what they were doing when she witnessed John, the police captain (Fred Ward
Fred Ward
Freddie Joe "Fred" Ward is an American actor. He began his career in 1979 alongside Clint Eastwood in Escape from Alcatraz. He is best known for his starring roles in the motion pictures Remo Williams, Tremors, Henry & June, Short Cuts, The Right Stuff and Exit Speed...
), killing a man at the Key Club. John had his men kill Lauren. Erin barges into Walsh's apartment, telling Alex that Nathan is dead.
Alex goes to the Key Club. Madden and John meet Erin at Walsh's apartment, and explain to her about Nathan. Erin gets John's gun and aims it at him, but John gets his gun back. Madden kills Walsh, and John kidnaps Erin. Alex starts a big shootout at the Key Club and fatally impales Roberts with a pipe he breaks off the ceiling, kills the remaining police, then grabs Toomey and checks his arm for the scar, but doesn't find it on either of their arms. Madden shows up, and tries to kill Alex. Madden accidentally shoots a pipe, which ignites a gas leak; the explosion kills Toomey. Alex walks out of the fire and sees an arm hanging out of the rubble with the scar on it. Alex then leaves the rubble and watches a woman while having a flashback. Her jealous boyfriend hits Alex.
The next day, the rubble is examined, and a burned skeleton forearm can be found — with pieces of metal scattered about. It turns out that this was all a forgery and that the real scarred arm remains at large. Alex goes back to Walsh's apartment. It's empty, but he finds a hint placed by Walsh which leads him to John. He goes to the police station and confronts John. After a few words, Alex brandishes the knife responsible for killing Lauren, preparing to kill John. However, his regeneration ability is apparently not working anymore, as he "fulfilled his duty" after finding the arm with the scar (i.e. the arm of the one he is after), and he is no match for the Captain, who stabs Alex several times with the knife, while verbally abusing him and attempting to convince Alex that Alex alone murdered his own girlfriend. Before Alex dies, he starts to believe he is the one who murdered Lauren. Madden, the Captain, and the Captain's secretary (Kelly Harren) pull Alex into John's taxidermy
Taxidermy
Taxidermy is the act of mounting or reproducing dead animals for display or for other sources of study. Taxidermy can be done on all vertebrate species of animals, including mammals, birds, fish, reptiles, and amphibians...
room, where Erin is tied up with her mouth stitched shut, wearing the locket that connects her to Alex. The crow picks the locket up and drops it next to Alex, who comes back to life again. Alex sets Erin free, and she runs out with John in pursuit. Alex kills Madden by throwing him into a glass trophy case that cuts his throat. Alex then sees Walsh's body hanging from the ceiling, his arm cut off. Alex kills John's secretary by throwing her against the wall, impaling her on a set of mounted antlers.
The Captain gets Erin into a car and drives away, and Alex reaches the roof of the police building and jumps off onto the car. Alex punches through the car's glass roof, grabs John's arm, and rolls up the sleeve. Confirming his suspicion, Alex notices the scar on the Captain's left arm. Alex and Erin then take the Captain to the prison's death chamber and strap John into the same electric chair that Alex died in. John says he'll come back like Alex and vows to kill them both. Erin pulls the switch, and they leave John to suffer in the chair, burning long after he is dead. Alex and Erin walk outside, and Alex disappears in a whirlwind. Erin, who apparently came to visit the graves of both Alex and her sister, puts the necklace that bonded her and Alex on his headstone before leaving as she explains her renewed sense of mortality in a voice-over.
Cast
- Eric MabiusEric MabiusEric Harry Timothy Mabius is an American actor known for his work as Daniel Meade on the ABC television series Ugly Betty. He also worked on the Showtime series The L Word and in the films Resident Evil and Cruel Intentions....
- Alex Corvis - Kirsten DunstKirsten DunstKirsten Caroline Dunst is an American actress, singer and model. She made her film debut in Oedipus Wrecks, a short film directed by Woody Allen for the anthology New York Stories...
- Erin Randall - Fred WardFred WardFreddie Joe "Fred" Ward is an American actor. He began his career in 1979 alongside Clint Eastwood in Escape from Alcatraz. He is best known for his starring roles in the motion pictures Remo Williams, Tremors, Henry & June, Short Cuts, The Right Stuff and Exit Speed...
- The Captain - Jodi Lyn O'KeefeJodi Lyn O'KeefeJodi Lyn O'Keefe is an American actress and model, who at age 17 portrayed Cassidy Bridges on Nash Bridges. She is also known for her role on Prison Break as Gretchen Morgan, a.k.a. "Susan B. Anthony".-Early life:...
- Lauren Randall - William AthertonWilliam AthertonWilliam Atherton , born William Atherton Knight II, is an American film, stage and television actor.-Early life:Atherton was born in Orange, Connecticut, the son of Roby and Robert Atherton Knight...
- Nathan Randall - K.C. Clyde - Brad
- Bruce McCarthy - Madden
- Debbie Fan - Barbara Chen
- Dale MidkiffDale MidkiffDale Alan Midkiff is an American actor.-Early life:Midkiff was born in Chance, Maryland, the son of Joyce and Thomas Midkiff. He attended Edgewood High School near Baltimore. His first acting experience came playing Jack in a production of Jack and the Beanstalk for a local children's theater. His...
- Vincent Erlich - David Stevens - Tommy Leonard
- Grant ShaudGrant ShaudGrant Shaud is an American actor known for having played the character of Miles Silverberg on the 1990s TV sitcom Murphy Brown.-Early life:...
- Peter Walsh - Bill MondyBill MondyBill Mondy, sometimes credited as Bill Monday, is an American film and television actor.-Career:He is best known for his appearances in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and The Dead Zone...
- Phillip Dutton - Walton GogginsWalton GogginsWalton Sanders Goggins, Jr. is an American actor best known for his roles on the FX Networks series The Shield and Justified, portraying Detective Shane Vendrell and Boyd Crowder, respectively. He is also known for his character roles in the films Miracle at St. Anna and Predators...
- Stan Roberts - Britt Leary - Stacey
- Tim DeKayTim DeKayTimothy Robert DeKay is an American character actor. His first on screen acting job was as corporate giant Larry Deon on seaQuest 2032. He was a cast member of the series Party of Five from 1997–1999, Carnivàle from 2003–2005 and Tell Me You Love Me in 2007...
- Martin Toomey