History Film / TheCrow

* DigitalHeadSwap: Brandon Lee's face was digitally grafted onto a stunt performer's body for a small smattering of scenes not yet shot at the time of his death. Most notable is the BecomingTheMask scene. From the time Eric enters the apartment until the end of the obligatory "runs along the rooftops" scene, a stunt man was playing Brandon Lee.

* PostRapeTaunt: At one point during their fight, Tin-Tin taunts Eric by gloating about raping Shelly, saying, "I shanked her pink ass and she ''loved'' it!" Draven soon gives him reason to regret this taunt.

*** [[spoiler:Skank is sent out a window, much like he and his buddies did to Eric himself.]]
** Myca likes to take eyes. She gets hers pecked out by the crow.

A long-gestating reboot is currently in post-production. It is directed by Creator/RupertSanders, and starring Creator/BillSkarsgard as Eric Draven.

A long-gestating reboot is currently in post-production, directed by Creator/RupertSanders, and starring Creator/BillSkarsgard as Eric Draven.

A long-gestating reboot is currently in post-production, directed by Rupert Sanders (''Film/SnowWhiteAndTheHuntsman'', ''[[Film/GhostInTheShell2017 Ghost in the Shell]]'') and starring Creator/BillSkarsgard as Eric Draven.

* DarkChick: Myca is an interesting example. She at first appears to be in the film only for {{Fanservice}}, and tends to come off as TheDitz because at first she makes a show of barely being able to speak English ("I like the pretty lights"). But she proves to be a MagicalAsian, having dark knowledge about the occult and black magic that the other gang members can't possibly understand - and it is she who divines that the titular black bird following Eric Draven around is the source of his zombie-like power, and nearly helps her half-brother triumph by kidnapping the bird, rendering Eric mortal and capable of bleeding when he gets shot.

* BloodStainedGlassWindows: After a shootout inside, the final fight takes place on the roof of a neo-Gothic church, in a rainy night, overlooking the graveyard.

* InstantExpert: Eric's powers seem to make him a skilled marksman and hand to hand combatant despite no implication he had those skills prior.

* FauxAffablyEvil: Top Dollar usually has a very amiable disposition, speaking casually about horrible topics and even complimenting Eric before he prepares to kill him. However, his total lack of empathy suggests that he does this simply because he's so confident in his hold on the city that he doesn't need to impress anyone.

* VillainousValour: Top Dollar braves Draven's fury by refusing to hand over Skank, a low-level thug and BoisterousWeakling.

* PostRapeTaunt: At one point during their fight, Tin-Tin taunts Eric by gloating about raping Shelly, saying, "I shagged her pink ass and she ''loved'' it!" Draven soon gives him reason to regret this taunt.

'''Tin-Tin:''' Shelly, yeah. I shagged her pink ass and she ''loved'' it! *headbutts a distracted Eric*

A long gestating reboot is currently in post-production, directed by Creator/RupertSanders and starring Creator/BillSkarsgard as Eric Draven.

* AluminumChristmasTrees:
** Devil's Night is a real thing in Detroit. Things have gotten better in the 21st century, thanks in large part to community groups that formed specifically to prevent the arsons, in an effort known as "Angel's Night".
** T-Bird mentions Lake Erie once caught on fire "from all the crap floating around in it". This is not far from reality. In the 1960s two rivers which flow into Lake Erie, Rouge and Cuyahoga, were so polluted that they caught on fire several times.

** The Skull Cowboy. Scenes with him were filmed, but they ended up on the cutting room floor.

* WhyWontYouDie: Funboy shoots Eric several times, only to watch in horror as his HealingFactor kicks in and closes the wounds right before his eyes, leading him to cry "Don't you ever fuckin' die?" Subverted with Top Dollar, since he stabbed [[spoiler:Gideon]] in neck with his rapier ''is'' dying, just not quickly enough, so he shoots him twice for good measure to finish him off.

* VillainExitStageLeft: Just as Eric Draven is closing in on Skank, he finds himself in a conference room where Top Dollar and what appears to be about two dozen of his fellow criminals are holding a meeting. Top Dollar taunts Eric and then orders the whole crew to open fire on him - which, of course, touches off a frighteningly violent from-beyond-the-grave vigilante massacre that persuades Top Dollar, Myca, and Grange to flee the scene long before Eric has slaughtered the last baddie. The thing is, Top Dollar never even had to flee in the first place: Skank was there too, and Top Dollar could have just saved his own life and that of almost everyone else in the room if he'd simply let Eric take Skank. Even then, Top Dollar would probably have lived if only he hadn't kidnapped Sarah - not to mention that he ''outright admits'' that he was the one ultimately responsible for Shelly's murder once he (supposedly) has Eric beaten.

* UseTheirOwnWeaponAgainstThem: Tin Tin is killed with his own knives, Fun Boy by his own gun and syringes, and T-Bird by his T-Bird and explosives. Skank is the only exception - he gets thrown out of a window as Eric was.

* FakeShemp: Since Brandon Lee [[FatalMethodActing died in an accident with dummy bullets]], they had to use a stand-in for some of the scenes and used CGI to composite Brandon's face over his. It mostly worked [[SpecialEffectFailure unless you were paying close attention]].

->''"Buildings burn...people die...but real love is forever."''

* CrapsackWorld: The world of Detroit is a nocturnal hellscape of crime and urban decay.

* NotSoHarmlessVillain: Skank is a whiner and a coward who actually answers to [AtrociousAlias "Skank"]]. He's clearly the low man on the totem pole in T-Bird's gang, and compared to Top Dollar (much less Eric) he's downright pathetic. [[IneffectualSympatheticVillain You almost feel sorry for him.]] Then Skank gets hit by a car, and when the irate driver steps out to kick his ass further... Skank beats him down in seconds. The weakest of a gang of brutal thugs is still tougher than he looks and dangerous when provoked.

* LickedByTheDog: During Eric's transformation, he pauses to scratch Gabriel the cat that was left to fend for itself after he and his fiancee were murdered. Gabriel, in turn, licks his hand, apparently recognizing him even after he's been dead and buried for a year. (Cats have eyes, and cats have long-term memory, but Draven likely doesn't smell like he used to, besides having put on Harlequin-mask face paint.)

* MrFanservice: Eric. Being played Creator/BrandonLee makes him one by default and he even gets some shirtless scenes upon his revival.

* NotSoHarmlessVillain: Skank is a whiner and a coward. He's clearly the low man on the totem pole in T-Bird's gang, and compared to Top Dollar and Eric he's downright pathetic. [[IneffectualSympatheticVillain You almost feel sorry for him.]] Then he gets hit by a car, and when the driver steps out to inflict more damage, Skank beats him down in seconds. The weakest of a gang of brutal thugs is still a brutal thug.
* OhCrap: Pretty much everyone from T-Bird's gang gets one when confronted by the titular character, to varying degree. Also Gideon when Eric [[NoSell No Sells]] his gunshot.

* IronicEcho: Albrect confronts Eric, saying "You move and you're dead." Based on his current situation, Eric's reply is "And I say I'm dead, and I move."

* {{Jerkass}}: Albrecht's superior Jenson.
* JunkieParent: Sarah spends a lot of time running around unsupervised thanks to her mother's morphine addiction. A confrontation with Eric does prompt her to try going clean and being a parent again.

* ShowerScene: Myca, Top Dollar's consort/sister is introduced taking a shower.

* TomTheDarkLord: T-Bird and his crew have some rather ridiclous names for psychotic killers. LampShaded by several characters.

** Sadly, Eric and Shelley themselves: the happy couple, while being aware of Top Dollar's reputation as a violent gangster, decide to remain well within his sphere of influence after reporting on his crimes officially, as opposed to fleeing the immediate area, or at least using an alias. T-Bird waves the paperwork (presumably complete with Shelley's name and address) in Shelley's face before he and and his gang rape her to death.

* UnhandThemVillain: Makes a brief appearance. Eric shouts "Let her go" and Top Dollar responds by shrugging and saying "All right".

* WhatBeautifulEyes: Myca is obsessed with collecting eyes. She comments that a dead prostitute has pretty eyes and removes them. When she sees the kidnapped Sarah, she says, "Her eyes are so innocent," implying that she'd like to take them as well.