r/movies • u/Amaruq93 • 17h ago

Article Before "Spider-Man", Sam Raimi refined his formula with 1990's "Darkman"

https://www.inverse.com/entertainment/darkman-sam-raimi-35-year-anniversary
1.1k Upvotes

95% Upvoted

86 comments sorted by

239

u/NewSunSeverian 17h ago

This movie was rad as hell. I love that whole dark comic book aesthetic in movies from the late 80s/early 90s - Batman, Darkman, Beetlejuice (those two not based on a comic but I’ll allow it), Dick Tracy, TMNT 

Very evocative. 

87

u/Amaruq93 17h ago

And the story goes it was the result of Sam Raimi getting turned down by Universal when he wanted to adapt The Shadow (as in the one later made in 1994 with Alec Baldwin).

So he came back to them with an original character of his own.

Dark comicbook aesthetic combined with the 30s/40s Universal horror movies.

55

u/Mst3Kgf 16h ago

Raimi went, "Screw you, I'll make something even better! With blackjack! And hookers!"

24

u/Amaruq93 14h ago

In retrospect, it was better than Baldwin's Shadow.

1

u/Randym1982 3h ago

Wasn't it also based on him wanting to do a Universal monster movie too. I will say this film is a bit better than The Shadow.

39

u/illinoishokie 17h ago

It's so crazy to be that Darkman wasn't based on a comic book, because it perfectly nails the feel of something early Image comics world have published.

22

u/Courtnall14 16h ago

Out of curiosity I checked. Darkman came out in 1990, and Image was established in 1992.

It would have been interesting to see an artist take the movie source material and turn it into a comic instead of the other way around. I bet they could have done some really cool stuff.

8

u/dontbajerk 12h ago

Well, there's Darkman comics you can read if you want. They even had a crossover with Army of Darkness comics.

3

u/Pornstar_Jesus_ 11h ago

Groovy. I'll check out the crossover.

15

u/vroart 17h ago

also robocop. The hyper violence

11

u/and1984 16h ago

The melting man is forever etched in my brain.

3

u/Valharick 11h ago

Dead or alive you’re coming with me

1

u/vroart 8h ago

my fave quote "state of the art, bang, bang."

0

u/Elgin_McQueen 13h ago

Arrgh the melted man, he haunts my dreams.

Wait, wrong movie. :/

8

u/MikeGalactic 16h ago

I fucking love it, it's a bit of a mess which suffered from having too many producers, but for me it's up there with Nightbreed and Freddy Got Fingered.

4

u/Amaruq93 15h ago

Nightbreed being like Clive Barker's "X-Men" on bath salts.

3

u/TheRealIdentikit 14h ago

Nightbreed is so damn good, I wish we got more to that world on film.

3

u/Thebluecane 5h ago

Honestly rewatched it recently and outside of his annoying ass overreliance on Dutch Angles it's fun as hell still.

Neeson is fucking the bast Ham in the business when he wants to be

1

u/samcuu 4h ago

I'm not sure I would count Dick Tracy in that group. It's a comic book movie but it's really like nothing else.

1

u/jerseyeer 3h ago

Rad as hell! Watched it a million times as a kid. It was a “Sunday afternoon special” along with Tremors, Jewel of the Nile, Secret of My Success, et al.

113

u/MikeGalactic 17h ago

TAYKE THE FUCKING ELEPHANT!!!

5

u/UniDublin 14h ago

That was my catchphrase all summer long when I saw it in theatres…it made me laugh so hard since it was such an unexpected hard turn. Wasn’t a perfect film but a great summer afternoon B film I enjoyed.

4

u/MikeGalactic 12h ago

Raimi and Neeson need to team up for a balls out R rated sequel.

3

u/Bobpool82 11h ago edited 7h ago

I don't think the 2 sequels were popular

2

u/Amaruq93 6h ago

It's the age of the Legasequel.

2

u/public_enemy_obi_wan 7h ago

The rage face he makes during this scene cracks me the hell up.

•

u/mediaphile 17m ago

The sequence of each of them screaming is fucking hilarious every time I watch it. So good.

55

u/elmatador12 17h ago

“If you’re not going to kill me, I have other things to do.”

My favorite line from Darkman.

33

u/MikeGalactic 17h ago

Mine is:

I've told you everything!

I know Rick, I know you did, BUT LET'S PRETEND YOU DIDN'T!!

50

u/ts_wrathchild 16h ago

Darkman is the gift that keeps giving.

Every action role Liam plays is essentially Darkman with a different name.

I'd pay good money to have him back in a follow up.

15

u/paleo2002 16h ago

Holy shit, that was Liam Nesson in those movies?!?! Always wondered where he came from.

16

u/No_Introduction_3542 15h ago

He was only in the first movie. He was an established movie actor at the time.

11

u/Amaruq93 15h ago

But "Darkman" was basically his first real action role.

And Raimi originally wanted Bruce Campbell in the part, but the studio wanted somebody else. They settled on Neeson after also considering Bill Paxton and Gary Oldman.

7

u/paleo2002 14h ago

I was a kid when those movies came our, wasn't paying attention to actors. Raimi tries to put Campbell in everything. Tone would've been wrong, though.

7

u/Amaruq93 14h ago

They managed to sneak him in at the very end though.

4

u/Lord_Doofy 9h ago

Gary Oldman would have fucking killed it.

1

u/No_Introduction_3542 13h ago

First action role? Guess you missed Excalibur.

4

u/Amaruq93 13h ago

That's fantasy adventure. And Neeson wasn't in a main starring role.

1

u/melgish 7h ago

Krull

27

u/DukeRaoul123 16h ago

Larry Drake was a great villain.

15

u/Mst3Kgf 16h ago

"I've got seven more points to make."

7

u/InternetDickJuice 14h ago

Probably the greatest opening I had seen in my life up to that point (8 years old)

24

u/zestfullybe 17h ago

I’m learning to live with a lot of things

8

u/MikeGalactic 16h ago

AAAAAAAGHGGGGHHHHHH!!!??!!!!

13

u/sovietwilly 17h ago

I’m gonna put some dark in your eye

11

u/BeckwithLBP 16h ago

I love that at its core, Darkman fights off the corrupting powers that ruined his life with what is essentially the strength of just a really pissed off scientist.

10

u/Effective-Log-1922 14h ago

Take the fucking elephant!

7

u/Decabet 16h ago

Darkman was amazing and I don’t think it’s out of order to call it far ahead of its time. I saw it twice that summer. I was like 14 and me and my friends loved it in that way when you’re a kid that all your friends love a movie so you think it was a big hit when it wasn’t really.

8

u/BearDen17 14h ago

My dad loved this movie.

8

u/TLKimball 12h ago

Then I love your dad.

4

u/No_Introduction_3542 15h ago

We need a Darkman sequel with Liam Neeson.

2

u/exophrine 15h ago

It wouldn't be the same with Larry Drake dead

5

u/WubblyFl1b 13h ago

This is like the 5th post about this movie I’ve seen today ok I’ll watch it already

4

u/Amaruq93 13h ago

It was released 35 years ago today in 1990

3

u/WubblyFl1b 13h ago

Aha moment thank you

10

u/Opposite-Light-6206 17h ago

Loved the raimi spidermans. Really felt like a comic book brought to life. 

3

u/thenewNFC 15h ago

I feel like Liam Neeson is a much better vector to draw interest to the Darkman franchise.

4

u/CivilCranberry3156 12h ago

One of those movies I watched a million times on VHS

5

u/verb8um 10h ago

“Who is Darkman?” The poster teaser is all I remember.

3

u/TomBirkenstock 17h ago

I would love for Raimi to direct a real sequel.

4

u/shust89 16h ago

Exactly. A true 2 with him and Liam. Would be a ton of fun.

2

u/Amaruq93 15h ago

And the first half of it is with Bruce Campbell in the lead.

3

u/tearsandpain84 13h ago

Dark man would kick iron mans ass. It wouldn’t even be close.

3

u/ThaddeusJP 12h ago

And it has Bruce Campbell with the Cameo at the very end

2

u/JohnSane 10h ago

As in every Raimi flick.

1

u/fear730 5h ago

And voiceover work in the construction building fight :)

1

u/-Wicked- 3h ago

And of course a cameo of brother Ted Raimi. Darkman kills him by sticking his head out a manhole in the middle of a busy street...

3

u/Jet-Let4606 11h ago

"Take the fucking pink elephant!"

3

u/GearedCam 11h ago

It's a shame the controls were so bad in the NES game, otherwise it was awesome too

3

u/ceelogreenicanth 10h ago

Watching the Quick and The Dead was the closest I've ever seen to watching an anime or comic book as a movie absolutely nailed it. I'm surprised I just watched it on a whim and had never heard of it.

5

u/skccsk 17h ago

I'm something of a back to formula myself

3

u/kapnkrump 15h ago

"...back to formula?!"

4

u/TOASTED_TONYY 17h ago

I FUCKING LOVE DARKMAN! TAKE THAFUCKING ELEPHANT!!! TOAST MASSIVLEY APPROVES👍

2

u/JohnSane 17h ago

I fucking loved this movie as a child.

2

u/CollateralSandwich 8h ago

Back...to formula?

4

u/ImHiiiiiiiiit 16h ago

The "leg gun" mentioned in the articles isn't a shotgun. It's a micro Uzi

Darkman - Internet Movie Firearms Database - Guns in Movies, TV and Video Games https://share.google/hEHidjDB9U8ctlziJ

1

u/TheMarvelousJoe 6h ago

This movie barely gets talked about

0

u/zomboscott 5h ago

It doesn't hold up well but I think it was the first liam neeson revenge porn movie.

1

u/LockedInFreshness 4h ago

Release the Bellasarius Memorandum

1

u/sancatrundown73 4h ago

Always loved the trailer of this would play on the Tremors VHS.

1

u/graypod 3h ago

The pink elephant scene never fails to make me laugh.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lbdeAhpIPhE

0

u/CakeMadeOfHam 16h ago

And before that he almost ruined his career as well as the Coen brothers career when he made "Crimewave"

It made $5,000 at the box office and basically bankrupted the studio. It forced him to make Evil Dead 2 because he wouldn't get anything else.

-3

u/vroart 17h ago

Actually no, it was xena. Xena use of martial arts and story telling was closer to wire fu hong Kong cinema. Not only that they were able to push boundaries and explore themes of acceptance, loss, and other gods.

Darkman clearly was rami lost the Batman gig and wanted another shot, he later tried to films to get all the evil dead out of him. And instead he made a film for everyone, he wanted everyone to come in and fall in love with cinema, the story, the characters the fights. He wanted a grandma to enjoy as well as a kid.

-2

u/ranhalt 16h ago

Someone finally watched Red Letter Media.