Darkman (1990)

Directed by

Sam Raimi

Genre

drama film, action film, horror film, science fiction film, superhero film

Country

United States

Runtime

1h 35m

Rated

R

Rating

6.4 of 10 from 1,538 voters

Elsewhere

IMDb

How it feels

A scientist is brutally attacked and disfigured by mobsters. A medical experiment gives him superhuman strength but also unhinges his mind. He uses his new abilities to hunt down the people who ruined his life.

vengefuldarkviolentbroodingmelancholicintenseunstablegothic

What happens

Darkman is a 1990 American superhero film directed and co-written by Sam Raimi. The film stars Liam Neeson as scientist Peyton Westlake, who is brutally attacked, disfigured, and left for dead by ruthless mobster Robert Durant (Larry Drake), after his girlfriend, attorney Julie Hastings (Frances McDormand), runs afoul of corrupt developer Louis Strack Jr. (Colin Friels). An experimental treatment gives Westlake super-human strength and resilience, with the unintended side-effect of rendering him mentally unstable and borderline psychotic. Consumed with vengeance, Westlake continues his research with the new goal of hunting down those who disfigured him. After Raimi's initial desire to adapt The Shadow was turned down by Universal Studios, Raimi instead chose to create an original superhero based on a short story he wrote that paid homage to Universal's horror films of the 1930s. It was produced by Robert Tapert, and was written by Raimi, his brother Ivan, Chuck Pfarrer, and brothers Daniel and Joshua Goldin. Artist Tony Gardner designed and created the elaborate makeup effects required to turn Neeson into Darkman. Neeson's first action film in the main role, Darkman received generally positive reviews by critics and was commercially successful, grossing $48 million, above its $14 million budget. This financial success spawned two direct-to-video sequels (without Neeson or Raimi) – The Return of Durant and Die Darkman Die – as well as adaptations including novels, comic books, and video games. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

Trailer

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