Even though October is still a few months away, I never turn down the opportunity to help get me into the Halloween spirit. The Crow certainly falls into that category (it takes places on Halloween, after all). In spite of this initial appeal, The Crow left me with some mixed feelings.
I had actually seen this movie before during my freshmen year of college, and in getting ready to rewatch for this project I remembered enjoying it. Granted, I didn’t remember too many specifics (the ending, for example), but my overall sense was that it was enjoyable. After the credits rolled on my second viewing, I understood why this movie would have so appealed to a George fresh out of high school and not so much to an older, (somewhat) wiser me. Don’t misunderstand, The Crow is certainly not a bad movie at all. But in my opinion, its themes and overall presentation definitely appeal more to an angst-y teenage audience.
To start, a brief plot summary: On October 30th (known as Devil’s Night), a young affianced couple Eric Draven and Shelley Webster are both killed in their apartment the day before their wedding as a result of gang violence. One year later, a crow knocks its beak on Eric’s gravestone, and Eric rises from the grave in a thunderstorm as the titular Crow, given new life and invincibility to avenge both his and Shelley’s murders. He dons a black leather outfit and paints his face with white paint to imitate the look of the dead in order to inspire dread in the hearts of his enemies. Along the way, he is helped by his young neighbor Sarah as well as police sergeant Albrecht (played by Ernie Hudson of Ghostbusters fame) in his quest for vengeance. I won’t go into much more detail, but suffice to say this is a superhero movie with an over-the-top villain and a big climactic fight to save the day; hopefully you’ll get the general idea.
The Crow is, of course, most infamously remembered not for the movie itself but for the real-life on-set death of its lead actor, Brandon Lee, during filming. A prop malfunction tragically killed Lee near the end of filming. At the time of release, a reviewer for The Washington Post even commented “Lee haunts every frame,” and knowing this beforehand affects a viewing of the movie. It gives this already dark, rainy, dirty, film an even more melancholic atmosphere than it would normally have to see a murdered man come back from the grave while being aware of Lee’s fate. That being said, the way in which the director and producers handled both the remainder of filming and the release of the film after Lee’s death was very tasteful, and part of the film’s critical success was due to this respectful treatment of a delicate situation (it opened at the top of the box office).
In the years since its release, The Crow has become a cult film with a strong following. I think this is largely due to this movie’s blending of Gothic and urban styles and imagery, vaguely reminiscent of Tim Burton’s Batman films (though Burton skews more toward German expressionism than Gothic in his films). Young people seem to always be drawn to Gothic themes and imagery in one way or another, from Frankenstein to the reason for Tim Burton’s existence to a desire to the entire emo movement of my teenage years that advocated for me to lie in the grass next to mausoleums. Whatever the draw is, this movie has it. Personally, I think the reason this movie has maintained a cult following instead of a more mainstream one might parallel how people tend to grow out of this phase when they exit their teenage years. As this article from AV Club puts it:
“Whether by design or happy accident, The Crow landed at the exact right moment. A month earlier, Kurt Cobain had killed himself. Probably more importantly for this movie’s sake, Nine Inch Nails had released The Downward Spiral two months earlier. The movie tapped into the same impulses that that album fed in teenagers—the desire to rebel, to tap into something dark, to come across as both menacing and compelling.”
I am no longer a teenager, and my idea of rebelling currently involves actually going to the gym and not eating yet another burger for dinner. And while I’m a fan of Victorian and steampunk literature as much as the next guy, my tolerance for extended scenes of an undead clown in tight leather pants gloomily belting out somber power chords from a rooftop only goes so far these days.
I want to take a moment to talk about the villain of this movie, the crime boss Top Dollar played by Michael Wincott. Similar to the rest of the film, Top Dollar is a weird combination of urban and Gothic. He has long black hair that flows well past his shoulders, and broods over his evil plans in a elegant three-piece suit. The final fight is a sword fight that takes place on the roof of Gothic cathedral during a thunderstorm. To paraphrase one of my favorite Frasier quotes, the only thing missing is someone shouting “Heathcliff!” across the moors. But he also leads a massive group of gun-wielding, foul mouthed criminals who terrorize the citizens of this fictional Detroit. He also delivers his lines with a gruff and very American accent, delivering monologues more Gordon Gekko than Poe or Bronte:
While this contradictory characterization sounds strange out of context, it works for the movie (it seems like I’ve been typing that sentence for all these reviews). Top Dollar’s character is also something high school George would’ve thought was incredibly cool, which is presumably why I thought this movie was so good when I watched it as a freshman in college. Especially his hair.
Despite all this, The Crow wasn’t the dark, edgy thrill ride I remembered. It’s actually the first of these movies during which I caught myself dozing. It’s not exactly a boring movie– it’s filled with loud and at times well-choreographed action. But I found myself less concerned with how Eric was getting his revenge on his murderers and more with how Hot Topic must have been funded by this movie in its early days. (Incidentally, Hot Topic became a publicly-traded company two years after the movie’s release, so draw what conclusions you will from that.) I really liked the ever-rainy, every-gritty Detroit that provides the backdrop for Eric’s antics, a la Blade Runner. I also like the idea of a crow being the messenger between the living and the dead, an image straight out of Celtic mythology of the Morrigan and her feathered herald.
But where Blade Runner‘s futuristic cityscapes and grungy seedy underbelly add to the charm of the movie, even on repeat viewings, the “dark fantasy” element in The Crow just didn’t hold me the same way. Maybe it’s because it’s currently 2019 and things that were fresh and new in 1994 have now been done to death and even improved upon since (like Heath Ledger’s Joker, which obviously takes inspiration from this movie and was pretty much the pinnacle of this type of character, in my opinion). Regardless, the sense of “coolness” just didn’t grab me like it did the first time I watched Eric Draven serve up justice from beyond the grave in my college dorm room on a (probably) rainy Saturday afternoon.
Julia’s Corner
Throughout this series, Julia has chimed in with her thoughts on every movie we’ve watched. So I feel like it’s time to introduce a new segment to these reviews for Julia to share her opinions.
The most noteworthy issue in The Crow actually dealt with the name of the protagonist, Eric Draven. As Julia put it:”It’s one letter away from ‘raven’! But it’s called The Crow! Why?? His last name should have been D’Crow or something.” Needless to say, I wholeheartedly agree that there was a missed opportunity here.
Our next few reviews will attempt to tackle larger and more famous franchises, starting with one of the most successful superhero trilogies in film, the X-Men series. I hope you’ll enjoy revisiting them as much as I enjoy re-watching them.
Culturally Opinionated 