Darkman (1990)

A hideously scarred and mentally unstable scientist seeks revenge against the crooks who made him like that.

Director:

Sam Raimi

Writers:

Sam Raimi (story), Chuck Pfarrer (screenplay),

Stars:

Liam Neeson, Frances McDormand, Colin Friels

2 wins & 6 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Liam Neeson	...	Peyton Westlake / Darkman
Frances McDormand	...	Julie Hastings
Colin Friels	...	Louis Strack Jr.
Larry Drake	...	Robert G. Durant
Nelson Mashita	...	Yakitito
Jessie Lawrence Ferguson	...	Eddie Black
Rafael H. Robledo	...	Rudy Guzman
Dan Hicks	...	Skip (as Danny Hicks)
Ted Raimi	...	Rick (as Theodore Raimi)
Dan Bell	...	Smiley
Nicholas Worth	...	Pauly
Aaron Lustig	...	Martin Katz
Arsenio 'Sonny' Trinidad	...	Hung Fat
Said Faraj	...	Convenience Store Clerk
Nathan Jung	...	Chinese Warrior

Storyline

Peyton Westlake is a scientist who has discovered a way to produce synthetic skin. This could revolutionise skin grafting, except for one minor glitch; the synthetic skin degrades after 100 minutes of exposure to light. When gangsters attack Peyton, he is horrifically burnt, and assumed dead. In his quest for revenge, Peyton, aka the Darkman, is able to take on the appearance of anyone (using the synthetic skin,) but he's only got 100 minutes per disguise.

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Plot Keywords:

scientist | revenge | lawyer | mask | sacrifice | 

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Taglines:

They destroyed everthing he had, everything he was. Now, crime has a new enemy and justice has a new face.

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Genres:

Action | Comedy | Crime | Sci-Fi | Thriller

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Certificate:

R

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

24 August 1990 (USA)

Also Known As:

Darkman - Der Mann mit der Gesichtsmaske

Filming Locations:

3rd Street Tunnel, Downtown, Los Angeles, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$16,000,000 (estimated)

Gross:

$33,878,502 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Renaissance Pictures, Universal Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

96 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Liam Neeson and Frances McDormand worked closely in rehearsals. They even rewrote the three love scenes they had together after he becomes Darkman. They got through the scenes, according to McDormand, by depending on each other's knowledge of theatre, and each other.

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Goofs

There is absolutely no scientific evidence to support the doctor's assertions that someone devoid of pain sensations would go insane as a result - people suffering from leprosy commonly lose the ability to feel pain or other touch sensations as their nerves deteriorate but this does not in itself cause any psychological damage.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Eddie Black: [on phone] 'Cause he's an asshole! Tell him no. Tell him no, too. Him, tell "fuck you." No, I'm gonna be here a minute. Got some guy coming up who thinks he's gonna muscle me out of my property. What's it matter! Just another tough guy, that's all.

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Crazy Credits

The opening credit sequence is full of dark clouds and brief images of Darkman. The second A in the title is shaped like Darkman's silhouette.

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Connections

References The Phantom of the Opera (1925)

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Soundtracks

"Give It To Me"
Written and Performed by Judy Valenti

User Reviews

Double Vision

Darkman is an innovative, fast-paced, fun super hero type film about a doctor trying to find the key to keeping artificial cells alive only to keep them going only in the dark. This scientist gets embroiled in a corrupt man's efforts to keep his corruption invisible and is left for dead by the henchmen of that corrupt man. While not a super hero in the classical sense, Darkman - the product of this science and burns covering almost every inch of his body - does avenge the wrongs done to him by using his machines, somehow still in perfect working order in his burned-out warehouse, to create any face he wants to wear. This device allows him to appear as other people and in some scenes we have the double appearance and spectators taking double takes with double vision. Sam Raimi shows us why he is so good with a movie like this by making us care about the character, wonderfully played by Liam Neeson, and keeping the pace nice and brisk. Which is good, because if you think too long about what is going on, you will know just how ridiculous the story really is. I cannot believe that all that scientific machinery was still in working order. The science is never fully explained. You are to take it at face value. I did, and the film was entertaining for that reason. Frances McDormand plays Neesom's girlfriend fairly well, and Larry Drake really chews up scenery as the primary henchman that has a penchant for cutting off the fingers of his adversaries. Raimi does substitute action scenes for coherent storytelling, but does so in such a manner as to still be somewhat convincing and as always entertaining.