Darkman (1990)
74%RT Audience Score: 59%
Awards & Nominations: 3 wins & 8 nominations
Gruesome and deliciously broad, Sam Raimi’s Darkman bears the haunted soulfulness of gothic tragedy while packing the stylistic verve of onomatopoeia springing off a comic strip page
Darkman is the perfect blend of superhero action and horror, with a healthy dose of humor thrown in for good measure. Sam Raimi’s direction is full of energy and visual flair, making it a roller-coaster ride of excitement and heartbreak. It’s like if Frankenstein and a comic book had a baby, and that baby was a renegade crime-fighting superhero. Plus, who doesn’t love a good real-estate scam and gangland shootout to keep things interesting? Darkman is a fun and loony reminder of how great movies can be.
Production Company(ies)
Les Films, Impéria Les Productions, Georges de Beauregard Société Nouvelle de Cinématographie
Distributor
MCA/Universal Home Video, MCA/Universal Pictures [us]
Release Type
Streaming, Theatrical
Filming Location(s)
Lower Bay Station, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
MPAA / Certificate
R
Year of Release
1990
-
Color:Color
-
Sound mix:Dolby Stereo
-
Aspect ratio:1.85 : 1
-
Runtime:1h 35m
-
Language(s):English
-
Country of origin:United States
-
Release date:Release Date (Theaters): Aug 24, 1990 Wide
Release Date (Streaming): Aug 11, 2010
Genre(s)
Action
Keyword(s)
starring Liam Neeson, Frances McDormand, Colin Friels, Larry Drake, Nelson Mashita, Jesse Lawrence Ferguson, directed by Sam Raimi, written by Sam Raimi, Chuck Pfarrer, Ivan Raimi, Joshua Goldin, action, gothic tragedy, comic book, revenge, synthetic skin, crime boss, malleable facial qualities, infiltrate, terror, criminal community, R rating, Rob Tapert, $32.8M box office, Dolby, Surround, reviewed by Noel Murray, Owen Gleiberman, Richard Corliss, Jonathan Rosenbaum, Caryn James, Peter Travers, Nick Rogers, David Nusair, James Kendrick, Heather Wixson, Anton Bitel, Walter Chaw, Liam Neeson as Peyton Westlake/Darkman, Frances McDormand as Julie Hastings, Colin Friels as Louis Strack Jr., Larry Drake as Robert G Durant, Nelson Mashita as Yakitito, Jesse Lawrence Ferguson as Eddie Black, produced by Rob Tapert
Worldwide gross: $48,878,502
Worldwide gross (inflation-adjusted): $112,683,979
Worldwide gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 961
Worldwide tickets sold (est.): 12,288,329
US/Canada gross: $33,878,502
US/Canada gross (inflation-adjusted): $78,103,138
US/Canada gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 869
US/Canada opening weekend: $8,054,860
US/Canada opening weekend (inflation-adjusted): $18,569,589
US/Canada opening weekend ranking (inflation-adjusted): 696
Budget and Earnings Details
Production budget (est.): $14,000,000
Production budget (inflation-adjusted): $32,275,451
Production budget ranking: 1,114
Marketing and distribution budget (inflation-adjusted est.): $17,380,330
Box office net earnings to date (inflation-adjusted est.): $63,028,197
ROI to date (est.): 127%
ROI ranking: 835
Frances McDormand – Julie Hastings
Colin Friels – Louis Strack Jr.
Larry Drake – Robert G. Durant
Nelson Mashita – Yakitito
Jesse Lawrence Ferguson – Eddie Black
Director(s)
Sam Raimi
Writer(s)
Sam Raimi, Chuck Pfarrer, Ivan Raimi, Joshua Goldin
Producer(s)
Rob Tapert
Film Festivals
Awards & Nominations
3 wins & 8 nominations
Academy Awards
All Critics (60) | Top Critics (13) | Fresh (50) | Rotten (10)
Darkman is funny, but it’s no joke; it’s the work of a man who underlines the conventions of adventure stories and horror because he enjoys them, and knows that even when rendered tongue-in-cheek, they’re timeless.
February 20, 2014 | Rating: 4.0/5
Noel Murray
The Dissolve
TOP CRITIC
September 7, 2011 | Rating: B
Owen Gleiberman
Entertainment Weekly
TOP CRITIC
Raimi isn’t effective with his actors, and the dialogue lacks smart menace, but his canny visual sense carries many a scene.
March 28, 2010
Richard Corliss
TIME Magazine
TOP CRITIC
Raimi’s flair for jazzy visual effects and extravagant action sequences, combined with direction that’s full of punch and energy, makes this the best pop roller-coaster ride around.
June 4, 2007
Jonathan Rosenbaum
Chicago Reader
TOP CRITIC
Darkman sustains mild interest throughout, but it never takes off, partly because a real-estate scam, gangland shootouts, city corruption and a love story clutter up the sad story of Westlake’s strange mutation.
May 20, 2003 | Rating: 2.5/5
Caryn James
New York Times
TOP CRITIC
Raimi’s live-action comic book aims to deliver scares spiked with laughs. That it does.
May 12, 2001
Peter Travers
Rolling Stone
TOP CRITIC
The shadows grow longer, the edges wear sharper and the wounds run deeper than any superhero film at the time. It’s a masterpiece of beauty, terror, heartbreak and excitement cobbled together through renegade means. Victor Frankenstein would approve.
October 8, 2020 | Rating: 4.5/5
Nick Rogers
Midwest Film Journal
One of Sam Raimi’s best films…
August 23, 2018 | Rating: 3.5/4
David Nusair
Reel Film Reviews
a fun diversion that reminds us of how enjoyably loony the movies can be
November 9, 2017 | Rating: 3/4
James Kendrick
Q Network Film Desk
Darkman still remains one of Sam Raimi’s most ambitious projects to date and it’s hard to do anything but admire the kind of lofty ambitions Raimi tosses at the screen with his self-created superhero crime thriller/dark comedy mash-up.
January 8, 2016 | Rating: 3/5
Heather Wixson
Daily Dead
…comicbook slapstick and off-the-hook mania in a combination only previously seen in Evil Dead II.
June 22, 2015
Anton Bitel
FilmLand Empire
Raimi, in 1990, made the best comic-book movie there ever was…
May 1, 2014 | Rating: 3.5/4
Walter Chaw
Film Freak Central…
Plot
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 only has 100 minutes per disguise.
Trivia
Goofs / Tidbits
There is no goofy or funny comment about the film Darkman on Fresh Kernels.
Sam-Raimi.jpg
