“People once believed that when someone dies, a crow carries their soul to the land of the dead. But sometimes, something so bad happens that a terrible sadness is carried with it and the soul can’t rest. Then sometimes, just sometimes the crow can bring that soul back to put the wrong things right.”

Jon Solo Sebastian 10/31/2025:

Happy Halloween everyone! I wrote and published this last year, but October 30th, and 31st and The Crow go together like peanut butter and jelly. For many years now, It has been my tradtion to watch The Crow on one of these nights. So perhaps, this will be my new addition to the tradition, and I’ll republish this every year. I love the movie, the comic book, the characters, and the soundtracks so much that I could talk about it for hours, but for now, here’s my little article about all of that.

The night before his wedding, Eric Draven and his fiancée, Shelly Webster, are brutally murdered by members of a violent inner-city gang. On the anniversary of their death, Eric rises from the grave and assumes the gothic mantle of the Crow, a supernatural avenger. Tracking down the thugs responsible for the crimes and mercilessly murdering them, Eric eventually confronts head gangster Top Dollar to complete his macabre mission.

In 1994, I had no idea I was on my way to see a masterpiece in the theater; nor did I realize I’d be seeing my all-time favorite movie that day. The Crow was released on May 13^th, 1994. I can’t recall if I was there on opening day, but I do remember seeing it multiple times; four times, if my memory serves me right. The Crow, directed by Alex Proyas (Dark City, I, Robot) was initially a comic book written by James O’Barr in 1989 before it was adapted into a film with one of the largest cult followings to this day.

James O’Barr created The Crow comic book in hopes that it would help him in the grieving process after the death of his fiancée. His fiancée was killed by a drunk driver. After his time in the Marines, he crafted his comic book and poured his anger into each panel of every page. He had also pulled inspiration for his main character from a local news report about a young couple being murdered over a twenty dollar engagement ring. The Crow, a story about the dark avenger, Eric Draven, was born, and here we are thirty years later where the film and comic book are more loved than ever.

The cast of the film, led by the late Brandon Lee, brought the characters of the comic book to life in one of the first R-rated comic book films to hit the big screen. Some say, Michael Wincott, who portrayed the villain Top Dollar in this dark crime-thriller, is one of the best acted villains in 90’s films. Actors like Ernie Hudson as Officer Albrecht, and David Patrick Kelly as T-Bird are both well known for their distinguished careers, and appearances in popular films of that era.

The actor who receives the most attention from the film is of course, Brandon Lee. His breakout performance as Eric Draven was nothing short of magical. Many have said that if his life hadn’t been taken from him during filming, he would have gone on to have a remarkable and successful career. While the story of Eric Draven and Shelly Webster was tragic, Brandon Lee was a real person who was accidentally killed on set of the film. Those who worked with him on the film mention that he understood Eric, and did everything (including learning to play guitar) to embrace the role.

“Brandon tried to envision a mental approach to how he could create this individual who at once has to do these horrible things and yet it’s the farthest thing from anything that would have been in the persona of the character while they were alive. It was an incredible, artful and intently thought out performance. That’s what is so resonant with people today.

Jeff Most remembers how each day Lee would wake up at 5.30am, starve himself and work out. Given the character, Lee insisted on learning how to play the guitar, so Most found a teacher for him in Wilmington. “You couldn’t throw more things at the man and he took it all in like a sponge.”

My Love for the Movie and the Character

If you’re reading this, you’ve likely seen the movie—hopefully this one, and not the 2024 version (it’s ok if you’ve seen that one, but this entire blog won’t make sense since it’s not about that movie). I could talk all day about the story and the characters, but I’ll save that for a future podcast episode. I do want to mention that from 1994-2002 give or take a year; my go-to Halloween costume was Eric Draven. I’ve been trying to track down the photos, but I don’t have any aside from one of the first attempts, and it looked really bad ha ha. But I had the hair and I dressed in black already, so it was fairly easy to play the part for one night.

One of my Halloween rituals is to watch The Crow either on Devil’s Night, or Halloween. I’ve recently added reading the comic book every October as well. I can’t exactly say what draws me to the film or why I feel so deeply connected to it and the character… past life, maybe? Regardless of what it is, it’s by far my favorite movie, and one of my favorite stories of all time. It also has two stellar soundtracks—The Original Motion Picture and The Original Motion Picture Score soundtracks are both worth listening to. One is packed with alternative rock, gothic rock, and industrial rock, and the other is beautifully scored by Graeme Revell.

The nighttime setting and constant rain throughout the film helps with the dark artistic expression surrounding the story. In many ways, the film gives off Batman vibes when you consider the setting, the villains with their “jolly pirate” names, the brooding hero set out on a path of revenge, the action, and the lengths evil will go to in order to defeat the hero; but the hero always finds a way to take the bad guys out.

During his mission of revenge, Eric makes time to speak with Sarah, the young girl he and Shelly sort of took care of while her mother was out doing drugs and hanging out with the gang responsible for Eric and Shelly’s murder. He saves Sarah from a speeding car, and then later in the movie, saves her from Top Dollar. He takes it even further by using his supernatural powers to draw the drugs out of Sarah’s mother and tells her that her daughter is out on the streets waiting for her. It makes Darla (Sarah’s mom) sober up, and try to be a mom again.

From start to finish, the movie is fast paced but not in a way that’s too hard to follow. Without spoiling too much of what happens in the movie, Eric goes after the gang members one by one all while sending messages to his remaining targets in some poetically gruesome ways. By the end of the movie, he’s had his revenge on everyone but Top Dollar. Top Dollar has Sarah hostage, and Eric no longer has his supernatural strength or invincibility, so he must fight until his last breath to save Sarah and finish the fight. Lucky for him, like most heroes, he has a friend in Officer Albrecht (Ernie Hudson) to watch his back. In the end, the good guys win. Of the many things I love about the film, I have to say the way Eric deals with the grief of what happened to him and Shelly strikes the emotional chords. He’s not just out there beating up the bad guys fueled by hate. He’s sad, he’s angry, he misses Shelly, he misses the life he had, he wishes he could go back and change it, but all he can do is make sure the gang isn’t able to do it to anyone else. It’s not enough, but it’s all he can do to for his soul to rest.

I have to mention another parallel between Brandon Lee and Eric Draven. Brandon Lee was killed before he was going to marry his fiancée, Eliza Hutton. They were set to get married after filming of The Crow ended. While it isn’t the same scenario as Eric Draven, it’s similar, and it’s absolutely heartbreaking.

The story of Brandon Lee, James O’Barr, and Eric Draven are so tragically intertwined that I cannot understand how anyone could feel good about remaking the film, especially now seeing that it just flopped its way in and out of the theaters. The Crow of 1994 wasn’t just a movie; it was experiencing fictional and real-life pain and tragedy poured onto the screen. It’s difficult to not feel the hurt and suffering in this beautiful work of art every time I watch it.