IFDB Review: Crow: Devil's Night, The:

Big fan of The Crow, here. When I was a teenager, it was hands-down my favorite movie, so I have seen it many, many times. And this is a terrific version. It's not a huge departure from the original because it doesn't need to be; it's just another way to watch an already great movie. Does the black and white work? Of course it does! The comic was in black and white, and there wasn't a whole lot of color to begin with outside of the flashback scenes. And in stark contrast to the majority of the film's (now complete) lack of color, boy do those scenes pop! The effect of the harlequin makeup is now much more dramatic as well; without Eric's skin tone peeking through, the "mask" he wears looks even more threatening. I did find that the picture was occasionally TOO dark, with the shadows bleeding over into areas of the frame that were previously visible. This is especially noticeable in establishing shots featuring dark rooms and dimly lit city streets, of which there are many. Occasionally lowering the contrast for even just sections of the frame would have helped a lot. Otherwise, lack of color is a welcome and appropriate change, and the moment where the color returns to Eric's world was beautifully done. The few cuts were well chosen and gracefully executed, although I would have transcribed Sarah's opening voice-over to text over the opening shot. It's short and simple, and it is rather important as it explains the central conceit of the story. I watched the edit with a friend who had never seen the movie, and, lacking this information, I did have to explain to him the mythology behind what was going on. We both really enjoyed watching it, though.

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