Retromatic Movie of The Week: Darkman

In 1990 filmmaker Sam Raimi wrote and directed a dark, semi-humorous, cynical, satirical piece of cinema called DARKMAN. In the film unassuming badass Liam Neeson plays scientist Peyton Westlake. A man left for dead after a brutal attack by a vicious mobster named Durrant and his...well, mob for lack of a better term by order of a lawless, greedy land developer named Louis Strack Jr. In retrospect actually Durrant's "mob" were more like a gang of thugs so yeah, gang, whatever. Anyways after being beaten and blown up and his girlfriend, played by Frances McDormand believing him dead Westlake finds himself alive & recovering in a hospital, his mind, body & soul horribly disfigured. He also finds that as a result of his injuries his brain can no longer communicate sensations of pain to his body ultimately endowing with the ability to feel no pain. Oh yeah, he also gains the ability of incalculable blinding rage that makes him freakishly strong, durable and also fuels his unwavering lust for sweet, violent revenge. Check out the original trailer. The film was pretty well received by critics & audiences making $49 million at the box office from a $16 million budget and gaining cult film status from fanboys like me. Because of this success Darkman managed to spawn 2 direct to video sequels, DARKMAN II: THE RETURN OF DURRANT & DARKMAN III: DIE, DARKMAN DIE (to which he promptly replied, no). The Darkman craze didn't stop there, oh no Marvel comics published a 3 issue run of the Darkman title and then brought him back again for a 6 issue run. Dynamite comics even brought him back in 2006 to fight Sam Raimi's other cult favorite character, Ash Williams from the EVIL DEAD franchise.

So you've got violence, revenge, love, dark humor and redemption with Sam Raimi behind the lens capturing it all for your viewing pleasure and Danny Elfman providing a dope score. You can't do much better than that. This is one of my personal favorite picks and if you haven't seen it I strongly recommend you do. I find the film is best watched after a bad day at the office over a blunt & pepsi perferrably with Jack Daniels in it. Now go, go live your dreams of unmitigated violent revenge vicariously through this excellent film. Rating: 4.5/ 5 ninja stars.

Sam Raimi To Produce Poltergeist Remake

You May know Sam Raimi as director of movies like DARK MAN, EVIL DEAD I & II, ARMY OF DARKNESS, DRAG ME TO HELL & THE SPIDER-MAN TRILOGY. What you may not know is that he's also a card carrying producer of some of your favorite tv shows & movies (google him). Its in this capacity that Raimi has chosen to facilitate his next project, A remake of Steven Speilberg & Michael Grais' POLTERGEIST. With his next directorial project, OZ: THE GREAT AND POWERFUL in post production Raimi has hit something of a producing "groove" with his remake of EVIL DEAD on the horizon and a confirmed THE DAY OF THE TRIFFIDS remake coming down the pipe. Yes, it would seem that Sam Raimi enjoys the sh!t out of producing him some movies that shouldn't really ever be re-made (ijs). According to THR, Raimi really doesen't give a f@ck and if you've ever watched any of his movies you would already be privy to this information. Seriously though, THR reports that Raimi has signed on to be a part of MGM's remake of the horror classic POLTERGEIST. Yes ninjas, they're baaaack (sorry i couldn't resist). The filmmaker's primarily role as producer of the remake will be to vet prospects for the director's seat. Nathan Kahane, Roy Lee, and Robert Tapert are all also on-board to produce but it'll be Raimi's ass if he doesn't find a director by the next full moon (that was a joke...maybe). While the idea's been skulking around Hollywood for years it is just now gaining steam to push forward into production. David Lindsay-Abaire, who penned the script for OZ: THE GREAT AND POWERFUL also wrote the script for this new POLTERGEIST rehash. For those of you not in the know the story of Poltergeist follows a family living in a house built on an ancient burial ground who must rescue their daughter from vengeful spirits and sh!t. Released in 1982 the original was written by Steven Speilberg & Michael Grais and directed by Tobe Hooper and terrified the Kool-Aid out of me as a youth. While at the same time piquing my interest and inspiring my imagination. While this all seems like a ploy by MGM to breathe new life into their waning business model I must say i'm confident in Raimi's role as producer on the project. I would be prone to be more confident if he actually decided to directed the mofo himself. I'm not going to lie this smells like a disaster waiting to happen but i'll play along for now and see what comes from this potential sh!tstorm. Stay tuned ninjas we'll keep you posted on this story as it develops.