A movie of superheroes that kind of gets lost in the shuffle when discussing the very popular genre is the 1990 movie Dark man. It’s somewhat understandable – the film was not a huge hit, and was not based on existing comics or storylines. Indeed, Dark man was born out Evil Dead filmmaker Sam Raimidesire to adapt The shadow, just to learn the rights were already held by someone else (it was finally created and released in 1994). Raimi decided he was going to make his own evil superhero and struck a deal with Universal Pictures to tackle his first major studio film. What followed was a long, arduous process occupied by poor test shields and the lack of confidence of Universal, but a new oral history reveals that the cut that was finally released at the last minute was secretly put together without the blessing of the studio.
Greatly influenced by the Universal monster movies, Dark man the stars Liam Neeson as a scientist who is brutally attacked, disguised and left for dead by a mobster. A failed treatment to heal his injuries results in him gaining superhuman strength and abilities, which he uses to his advantage to exact revenge.
In a new oral history of making the film at THR, producer Rob Tapert recalls how Universal brought a new editor to a post-production to improve test screening scores:
“When Universal introduced its own editor [Bud S. Smith], they really did not want Sam in the process. Before we started the preview process, we scored maybe 65 [from the audience] and we were down to maybe 26. They felt he had his chance with the original editor [David Stiven], who was so filled that he wanted to cut it into a romantic movie. He had a burglary and said one day, ‘I can not do this’ and walked away. ‘
Smith signed on condition that he would be left alone to work on the film, so he delivered a much shorter cut to the film three weeks later. Tapert recalled that with each successive cut, the scores became lower and lower:
“Universal sent us away. We came back, and the editor had cut it from two hours to 85 minutes. We tested that, and it did not test as well as the longer version, which was Sam’s cut. I think we went through four or five test shows, and each time the score got lower and lower, and we got more depressed. ”
Composer Danny Elfman tells THR that he threatened to take his name off the film for what Universal did to Raimi, hence the Evil Dead filmmaker had people in his corner – just not the studio.
Image via Universal Pictures
And here’s where it gets interesting. Tapert reveals that just hours before the final cut was to be made, Universal had ruled on the shorter cut that Smith had put together. Fergrieme, Tapert, Raimi, and Raimi’s now longer editor Bob Murawski puts the movie back in secret over a 48-hour period:
“I do not mind saying this now, and Sam will probably not be happy, but the studio said: ‘We can do nothing to save this photo. Let’s lock it up [Smith cut approved]. ‘That we locked the photo on Friday night at 5pm. We were incredibly brave and discouraged. And the current editor of Sam, a man named Bob Murawski, said, ‘There’s a much better movie than what we’re shooting right now.’ So, the decision was made that we would re-edit the film. We spent 48 hours basically rewriting the entire movie, restoring things we thought were important. We added nine minutes back, things we really liked that the prospect would return, but that was what it was meant to do. We locked it up – and told no one. ‘
When Universal found out they were shaky, but there was nothing they could do – the negatives were already printed and press releases were on the point:
‘Universal came to see the mix, and there was this gigantic horror, but there was nothing to do. The negative was cut. Critical screens were 48 hours later. Bob and I plead very strongly for the abuse. Sam, left to his own devices, probably would not have done so. He’s not that kind of man. But I am it. ”
The film was released in August 1990 on the heels of a pretty brilliant marketing campaign with the tagline, “Who is Darkman?” Reviews were generally positive, and grossed a little over $ 48 million against a budget of $ 16 million. Still, even if it was the definitive cut better then what Universal wanted was not Raimi’s full vision, and the filmmaker is clearly still a bit pursued by the film – he refused to take part in the oral history.
All good that ends well and Dark man is now held in high esteem, and remains an influential piece of superhero cinema. But we were thisclose that is not the case. Thank goodness Tapert, Murawski, and Raimi drew that wildly funny move.
For more Superhero content, check out our list of the best comic book movies each year since its release Blade.
Image via Universal Pictures
