Do you remember the answer to the question, Who is Darkman? If not, Scream Factory invites you to revisit Sam Raimi’s first foray into superhero films with their brand new 4K Ultra HD release of 1990’s Darkman launching February 20th.
After being unable to obtain the rights to The Shadow, Raimi decided to mix traits from other popular crime fighters and classic Universal Monsters and pour them into the base of his own unique and tragic figure, Darkman. And this unique character is one who could disguise themselves as anyone they wanted to be.
With prospects like Bill Paxton and Gary Oldman interested in the lead, Raimi rolled the dice on virtual unknown Liam Neeson for his first ever starring role. Raimi also took a gamble on another longshot, his roommate Frances McDormand for the female lead after Julia Roberts bowed out due to personal reasons and became the Pretty Woman. It’s just mind-blowing to think of the future four-time Oscar winner being considered as a dark horse pick in 2024.
Darkman is the story of the brilliant Dr. Peyton Westlake (Neeson), who is attempting to finalize reconstructive synthetic skin material for burn victims. The only problem with his work is that these skin manifestations only last for 99 minutes before evaporating into sludge, due to light exposure. Meanwhile, Westlake’s attorney girlfriend Julie Hastings (McDormand) gets involved with the problematic Belisarius Memorandum, a document exposing underhanded payoffs made to the zoning commission by scumbag real estate mogul Louis Strack Jr. (Colin Friels, Dark City), and sets the rest of the film’s events in motion.
Strack sends notorious crime boss Robert G. Durant (the late Larry Drake, Dr. Giggles) and his crazy henchmen to Westlake’s lab to retrieve the memorandum, mistakenly believing that it is in Westlake’s possession. After viciously torturing Westlake Robocop-style, they blow up his lab, sending his flaming body into the nearby river. Westlake is presumed dead by everyone, including the grieving Julie.
Through sheer luck, he is retrieved and brought to a hospital where medical treatments numb his ability to feel pain. This numbness generates constant adrenaline flow, providing extra physical attributes that are unfortunately tied to bouts of blinding rage. So this is where our hero gets his “super powers” from, so to speak. However, the result of Durant and his crew’s attack have left him horribly disfigured and he cannot bring himself to let Julie know he is still alive due to his new extra crispy, stir-fried look. Raimi purposefully infuses a Beauty and the Beast dynamic between the two main characters to tell their tragic love story.
After salvaging some equipment, he locates an abandoned building and establishes a gothic lair to continue his work. Not only does he try to develop a synthetic of his former face so he can approach Julie, but he also plots his revenge against the evildoers who put him in this predicament. Utilizing his synthetics with the 99-minute time limit before breakdown, he can now assume the identity of any man, his aforementioned key super-ability, to systematically dismantle Durant and company from within. And Darkman is born.
This is post-Evil Dead 2 Raimi in action here and it shows. In this film, he implements all his talented, signature camerawork that lets you know you are watching a Raimi flick, and incorporates his wonderfully dark sense of humor where appropriate. He even adds a stop motion effect right out of the first two Evil Dead films when Westlake’s hands are being sizzled. All the effects are pre-CGI practical and they are fantastic for 1990. On the flip side of Raimi trademarks, this is the birth of his wildly inventive style of montages that pops up in his future features.
The Peyton Westlake and Julie Hastings characters are considered the main draws, but it would be a travesty to undersell the rest of the characters, and the actors portraying them. Australian actor Friels is completely on point as a rich, 80’s-made American yuppie baddie. Then there’s Grant and his henchmen who are a hoot and a major part of the fun.
For starters, Larry Drake kills it as Grant, which is a FAR cry from the well-known, loveable character, Benny Stulwicz, that he portrayed on L.A. Law and more in line with the killer Santa he played on Tales From the Crypt only a year prior. The rest of the baddies are headed by two Evil Dead 2 alumni, Ted Raimi and a nearly unrecognizable Dan Hicks (“Bobby Jooooeeee!”), as Rick and Skip respectively. Skip has a leg prosthetic that doubles as an automatic machine gun and is guaranteed to make you laugh out loud when you initially see it in action. Next is Dan Bell (Wayne’s World) as Smiley, whose maniacal grin lives up to his name, and Rafael H. Robledo (Toy Soldiers) as gun-happy Rudy. Last but certainly not least, the late Nicholas Worthy (Swamp Thing) is great as Pauly, the catalyst for Westlake’s first shot back at Grant’s gang. While not a part of the gang, Jessie Lawrence Ferguson’s brief but excellent turn as Eddie Black sets the stage for what exactly happens when you dare push back against Grant and get on his bad side.
Once Westlake flees the hospital, this film becomes a non-stop rollercoaster ride. For comic book-inspired superheroes, the Darkman character is as dark (no pun intended) as it gets. He is not interested in bringing bad guys to justice, but would rather just kill them and skip the court hearings. And he will use any available method to off Grant and company no matter the brutality. See Rick’s “playing in traffic” scene as a prime example. As for Westlake’s moments of unadulterated rage, the carnival scene is the film’s must-see highlight, while his first failed attempt of creating skin in his new lair will never have you looking at the Tin Man from The Wizard of Oz in the same light ever again. Having the renowned Danny Elfman (Batman, Army of Darkness, Oingo Boingo) handling the score only helps drive the impact of the proceedings.
Universal’s marketing launched the attention-getting Who is Darkman? campaign in the summer of 1990 and the movie was theatrically released on August 24, finishing in the top spot of the box office opening weekend, raking in $8 million. Raimi reunited the holy trinity of Renaissance Pictures with himself, producer Rob Tapert and Bruce Campbell (in a really cool cameo) for what was viewed as a decent summer hit. The film’s success spawned a Nintendo video game in 1991, a 30-minute pilot movie for a TV series that never materialized by FOX, a couple of direct-to-video sequels and a cult following that lasts to this very day.
Everyone made out. Universal made money off the film. Raimi would later set a new standard for superhero films with Spider-Man 12 years later. Neeson would go on to play a Jedi master and a man of certain skills after working with Spielberg in an important piece of cinema. And as mentioned earlier, McDormand would go on to dominate the Academy Awards.
Disc-talk time: how’s the new Scream Factory transfer? In a word, awesome. The 4K restoration is straight from the Dolby Vision original camera negative and given the seal of approval by both Sam Raimi himself and Director of Photography Bill Pope. This is easily the best this film has ever looked, as it should.
On the Special Features disc, a majority of the extras from the previous Scream Factory Blu-ray release remain but there are some new drops worthy of consideration. Ever wanted to see what Universal execs axed from Raimi’s original two-hour cut? Now is your chance to watch and make your decision on whether those scenes should have remained or not. At least make sure to check out Strack’s interaction with a bed of gold coins that would make even Scrooge McDuck blush.
Darkman hits 4K February 20, available to pre-order at ShoutFactory.com as 1) a standalone 4k collector’s edition, 2) a collector’s edition that includes a poster of the theatrical artwork and Gutter Garbs retro prism sticker, 3) a collector’s edition that includes all the above plus 5 lobby cards and a collectible Gutter Garbs enamel pin, and 4) a limited edition SteelBook.
