Totally Dark, Man

After Sam Raimi made the second Evil Dead movie, he got a little more budget, and made Darkman. The bigger dreams bought bigger stars (Liam Neeson and Frances McDormand) and better effects. But the dream is as big as always.

Neeson plays a slightly dorky scientist, trying to stabilize his artificial skin. It always turns to glop after 99 minutes, unless it is kept in the dark. His girlfriend, McDormand, is a high-powered corporate lawyer, who gets wind of a touch of corruption in high places. When the thugs turn up, they find Neeson and treat him to an acid bath, then blow up his lab. He is assumed dead.

But no! He is brought to the hospital as a John Doe, too burnt to be identified. They sever his nerves so that he can't feel the pain of the burns, noting that he will now be subject to wild mood swings and insensitive to pain. Quite a combo.

So, of course, he breaks free and moves his lab into an abandoned factory. He makes artificial faces to cover up his hideous deformities and to get revenge.

Neeson gets to chew a swath of scenery as "Darkman". Even when covered with artificial flesh, laughing happily with his gal, he is pretty creepy - Phantom of the Opera territory. I'm not familiar with Neeson's oeuvre, but he seems to do camp pretty sincerely. He has a bit of the Larry Blamire touch, I think. McDormand doesn't have much of a part, but she's adorable in it (as always).

SPOILER! Wearing an artificial skin face, Darkman can look like anyone. Raimi has a name for a character whose face isn't shown on camera (or is masked, etc.): a shemp. A shemp can be played by any actor, stuntman or stand-in. Guess who plays the Final Shemp?