The Crow: The story behind the movie

Crow Rating: 4 Crows

Author: Bridgett Bias

Published: May 2000 (272 pgs)

Book Overview
Written by Bridgett Bias, this book recounts, through many interviews and pictures, the activities before the movie was conceived, all the way up to the death of Brandon and the completion of the movie. Persons interviewed for this book include Jeff Most, John Shirley, Lawrence Mason (Tin-Tin), Angel David (Skank), Robert Zuckerman (unit photographer), and Rochelle Davis (Sarah), as well as other members of the crew. Jeff Imada, Bob Rosen, Arainne Phillips and several others, most notably, Alex Proyas and Edward Pressman declined to be interviewed for this book, saying that they may, sometime in the future, put out, independently of each other, their own books on what occurred during the filming.

Personal Thoughts
I was quite taken with this book. It gives an interesting insight into the development of the film. It begins with background on James O`Barr and how he developed the comic. This leads to the most interesting aspect, which was how Jeff Most and John Shirley were able to get the film made. When Ed Pressman finally gets involved, it becomes apparent that the concept of the original comic is going to change in order to make it to the screen. The most interesting comment on this comes from Jeff Most, who would be credited as the producer. "I always believed that it would become one of those movies that there would be an audience that would come back for more and it would be financially successful and this was a character that could stand the test of time. The idea of The Crow as a franchise was started before the film was even made."

The most noteworthy features of this book are the personal accounts given by the cast and crew. The conditions were extremely harsh. The crew was young and enthusiastic, but inexperienced. This inexperience would later be cited as a cause of the events that led to Brandon's death. The limited budget was another determining factor as to how and why the events played out as they did. The one thing that all those interviewed agreed upon was that Brandon was pivotal in the making of the movie. His drive and determination were qualities that people commented on again and again. Brandon wanted so much for this film. His attitude and devotion to this project is what would later drive its completion. Toward the end, tension on the set was high. So much so, that producer Jeff Most was barred from the set. The most difficult information to digest was in the chapter detailing the accident. Interviews with the persons actually on the set, that night, helps put to rest all of the Internet rumors of foul play. The interviews incite a better understanding of the emotional chaos that resulted and the real pain that these people went through. It was apparent that there was a real chance the movie would never be completed. However, these people came together out of devotion to Brandon and finalized the film. The book also provides interesting information about how certain story plots came to be and about those that never did. The first cut of the movie was very dark. Jeff Most commented, "and I remember seeing the first director's cut and I did have tears running down my face, because it was so bleak and it sent shivers down my spine". Nine Inch Nails was the first to be approached to be the band on stage at Club Trash. However, they later had to drop out due to a change in guitarists. They didn't want to play without adequate rehearsal time with the new replacement.

This is a definite read for any Crow fan. It gives much insight into the course of events that helped to shape the film, be they good or bad. I came away with a feeling of being allowed to access a once private and little known realm of the film. I felt privileged to information not typically supplied to fans. You just do not go out and make a movie and that's it. There is so much more to it. The main emphasis of the book is that Brandon cared very much for this film. He worked extremely hard to bring O'Barr's vision to the screen.

NOTE: Littlecough contributed this review. CrowFinder and LLcruize edited for content and format. A very big thanks to Littlecough for her willingness to share this information.

Where to find this book
This novel is out of print. You can, however, find it though retailers who have access to warehouses that may contain out of print items (Barnes & Noble, Books-A-Million, Walden's, Hastings). You can also try Amazon.Com. They can conduct a search for out of print items. Another online place is eBay online auctions. Just go to www.ebay.com and do a search on "The Crow" from the book section.