Darkman
All actors and roles (10)
All team (145)
Short description
A scientist working on synthetic skin becomes the target of criminals when a document exposing a corrupt businessman's dealings is left in his laboratory. The gangsters destroy the lab and leave him horribly burned; an experimental medical procedure saves his life but leaves him unable to feel pain and unstable in his behaviour. He is presumed dead while he recovers in secret, and he uses his own invention, a temporary artificial skin, to take on other faces and hunt down those responsible.
Sam Raimi directed and co-wrote the film with Ivan Raimi and Chuck Pfarrer; Robert Tapert produced it. It is the fourth of 17 features Raimi has directed, following Evil Dead II and preceding Army of Darkness. Liam Neeson plays Peyton Westlake, the scientist who becomes Darkman, with Frances McDormand as Julie Hastings, Colin Friels as Louis Strack Jr., and Larry Drake as Robert G. Durant.
Made for about 14 million dollars, the film took roughly 49 million dollars worldwide, a solid return on its budget. On IMDb it holds 6.4/10 from around 75,000 votes, and on TMDB it also sits at 6.4/10 from about 1,581 votes. A critics' rating of 6.8/10 from 160 reviews places it slightly above those audience scores.
What's left behind the scenes
- Following the film's release, a television series based on it was considered, but the idea never came to fruition. However, in 1992, a pilot episode of 30 minutes was filmed, but it also never aired.
- Bill Paxton nearly landed the role of the Dark Man.
- Julia Hastings was originally going to be played by Julia Roberts, but the actress preferred the role in "Pretty Woman".
- Sam Raimi really wanted to adapt the "The Shadow" comic, but he couldn’t get the rights. So he came up with his own Darkman. And four years later, Russell Mulcahy brought "The Shadow" to the screen.
- The director wanted to cast his friend Bruce Campbell, who starred in his "Evil Dead" trilogy, as Darkman. However, the producers refused the director. Nevertheless, Campbell did play Darkman – he is the one who walks away in the final scene, not Liam Neeson.
- The director's brother, Ted Raimi, can also be seen in this film as Rick, one of Robert Durant's gangsters.
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