Art Imitating Death: The Tragedy of The Crow

by Susan Griffin

The Crow is quite possibly the best Halloween Movie Ever. In addition to being completely bad-ass from the first frame (even the children in this movie could knock you flat), it also carries the stigma of real-life tragedy. Watching this movie is like trespassing into a condemned house on a dark and stormy night. The hairs on my arms stand up. I wasn't sure about all the details of the incident associated with the movie, so I decided to do some research about the tragedy before writing the review. Unfortunately, the mystery surrounding the tragedy only grew! I became quickly frustrated and confused due to the lack of consistent information about the death of Brandon Lee.

So here's what I remember hearing about this movie: Close to the end of the filming of The Crow, Brandon Lee was killed when a real bullet was fired at him from a prop gun. Nobody seems to know how the prop gun that was used had a real bullet in it among the blanks. After his tragic death, many fans of Brandon Lee and his father, Bruce Lee, immediately screamed, "FAMILY CURSE!" Some fans also cried, "MURDER!" Apparently this had no weight because his death was ruled accidental. But after Lee's death, the movie became too controversial for immediate release because of its content.

Because The Crow, starring Brandon Lee and directed by Alex Proyas, is about a young man named Eric Draven who was murdered but comes back a year later to exact revenge on the group of men who murdered him and raped, tortured, and murdered his soon-to-be wife. The murder and Draven's resurrection take place on "Devil's Night" which is on October 30. Draven is joined by a crow who acts as his sidekick and guide through Draven's time topside, hence the name.

But wait, there's more:

The movie titled The Crow is based on an underground comic by the same name. The comic is the brainchild of James O'Barr who penned the story over nine years in order to work through his rage and pain after a drunk driver killed his fiancée. (I had no idea this movie was based on a comic. There's a long and sometimes hard to watch interview with O'Barr included in the bonus materials on the collector's series DVD release of the movie.)

So when this movie finally did find its way out of the can, it was already well known in underground communities. The stories of Lee's death only seemed to make the movie more popular and meaningful to those who were fans of Lee, O'Barr, and all things Goth. Heck, the creepiness surrounding this movie even made it to the mainstream. I mean, I even knew about it. And I listened to Wilson Phillips in '94.

So, to put it mildly, this film is no walk in the park. It is absolutely, positively, not for children. The dark images are bad. The violence is worse. But the number of eyeballs that somehow find their way out of eye sockets are what puts this movie over the line. The brother and sister who seem to have a quasi-incestuous relationship as well as being the main bad guys take the movie to a whole new level of "uncomfortable things to watch."

At its center, this movie is a study of death and justice. Eric Draven succeeds in his goal to destroy those who destroyed him. He is finally able to rest, again, but this time he's in peace with his fiancée in the afterworld or whatever. It is a really great creepy, Goth, hardcore movie that is good for watching if you are mad at people in general. And if you can stomach the gore. Actually, I think the premise of the movie is very interesting. If only those wrongfully murdered could come back from the grave to right the wrong! There would be some people who would get some home training and quick in the area of dealing with their fellow human beings, I think.

Through all the dark imagery, Brandon Lee is the star at the center of this tragic movie. Lee positively shines as he and the crow take back each of the lives that took Draven's. If Lee had lived, I don't know if he would have ever been able to be any character other than Eric Draven. As it is, the movie garnered a cult following. I think that may be due to Lee's death in some small way, but I believe this movie had cult potential no matter what. While Brandon Lee was really just getting started in his acting career, he had so much charisma that he didn't need to do a whole lot to gain center stage. Like his father, Lee spoke like a poet. The character he portrayed was very prophetic and haunting.

I think that is the bottom line about why this movie is hard to watch. It is hard to handle the sad irony that came to pass within this film. The story is so true to life, as Lee was planning to marry his fiancée after the film finished. Lee was very much a celebrity just as Draven was a popular local musician. On a larger scale, the memory that Bruce Lee also died while filming a movie is the stuff that chill-bumps are made of. But I know that I will continue to watch this movie because of all those haunting aspects it possesses. Plus it's my own small way of bringing Brandon Lee back to life. If only for a couple of hours.

And now, The Awards:

Moment Worth the Full Price of Admission: Getting to see Brandon Lee in this role.

All the Geeks Looked For: The footage right before the fatal gunshot wound and the computer-generated scenes where footage was spliced together to finish the film after Lee's death.

Best Badass (Who wasn't Brandon Lee): Michael Wincott, whom you might remember as one of the bad guys in Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves. In that movie he had the memorable line, "With a SPOON, Cousin?" In this movie he had the memorable line, "He caught a slight case of death." I don't think I have ever seen this actor be anything but a bad guy. Not that I am complaining; he's totally good at it!

Best Line and Line Delivery of the Movie: When Brandon Lee says, "'Mother' is the name of God on the lips and hearts of all children." This line stops me cold every time. There's something in the way he says it that makes me stop what I am doing and just watch him.

Most Haunting Line: When Brandon Lee is talking to Ernie Hudson (who plays the cop who was on the scene at Eric Draven's murder). The men are discussing relationships and Lee says, "Believe me, nothing is trivial."

Another Strange Thing About This Movie: The child who played "Sarah" in the movie, Rochelle Davis, has never been in anything else. I couldn't even find anything about her on Google...