After Lee’ accidental on-set killing, speculation of a curse elevated this grungy revenge fantasy to cult status. Its violent, cartoonish energy still holds power
Just over 30 years ago, emerging action star Brandon Lee – son of Bruce Lee – was killed by a prop gun accident, fatally shot in the stomach on the set of this Gothamesque revenge fantasy thriller. It was a desperately sad event that generated more spurious talk of a family “curse” (Bruce died at age 32), rather than a conversation around movie location safety, which continues to be a problem to this day.
Now The Crow, which was released in 1994, a year after Brandon’s death, has been rereleased for its 30th anniversary. Brandon had largely finished filming and the movie was completed by finessing certain scenes in rewrites and using stunt doubles and digital superimposition of his face, which was camouflaged by the rainy, murky cityscapes and the eerie whiteface makeup. Now, audiences can savour once again the irony of a movie bringing its star back from the dead in a story about someone coming back from the dead. Screenwriters David J Schow and John Shirley adapted the hugely successful comic book series by James O’Barr, which drew on his real-life anguish at his fiancee being killed by a drunk driver, and also his memories of a newspaper story about a couple getting killed by a robber for their engagement ring.
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