Reviews forJames O'Barr's THE CROW
Shot in the Dark
Tim Anderson, the programming manager of my local independent cinema, Enzian Theater, described this as “DIY cinema at its most unhinged: raw, reckless, positively brilliant, possibly deranged and definitely not something you’ll see anywhere else.” That short description suits David Ullman‘s lo-fi fan adaptation of James O’Barr’s graphic novel The Crow just about perfectly. One of the funnier aspects of this viewing is that I’ve never actually seen Alex Proyas‘s big-budget adaptation, nor have I ever read the graphic novel. Which means, going forward, this will always be my baseline for anything Crow-adjacent. And frankly, I don’t think that’s such a bad starting point. This sits at an interesting moment in time. DIY filmmaking had carved out a genuine scene in the 1990s—particularly within horror, sci-fi, and cult film circles. Microcinema was never broadly popular, but it found its footing within specific subcultures, driven largely by access. Ullman’s film became a genuine hit within its own niche, Crow-centric corners of that world—but it’s worth noting that there’s actual artistic merit behind the project, too. Despite being made for next to nothing by a bunch of 14 year old boys, it never quite feels like the amateur home movie you’d be led to believe it is. The editing, framing, texture, and night imagery do a lot of heavy lifting, sure, but the film’s strongest asset is its genuine sincerity—the palpable desire to make something great, regardless of the resources at hand. It’s easy to poke fun at this, and I think that’s part of the appeal—the drug-dealing psychos are all played by prepubescent boys, after all—but in an age where AI “filmmakers” crop up faster than you can mark them as spam, David Ullman’s film is a breath of fresh air.
