Il corvo - The Crow

I never had a goth phase growing up and I can't stand The Cure, but god help me, I love a good revenge flick. To that end, The Crow is as pure as they come; an attractive couple with a bright future, brutalized and murdered by a street gang; a kid with an absent mother; a good cop in a rotten system.

All of these characters exist in what is quite possibly the worst city there could be; an oppressively dark cesspool, somehow more dreary than Seven, more rainy than Blade Runner, cloaked in death. Just thinking about this depiction of Detroit is depressing, but it's what makes The Crow so well-realized, gives its antihero definition.

This is a movie I didn't want to like but can't help it. Brandon Lee personifies the roles, his life tragically mirroring that of the title character, all of this weaving into the film's tapestry. This isn't a movie, it's a cultural artifact, morose and impactful in its own right.