Director: Alex Proyas
Writers: James O'Barr (graphic novel), David S. Schow (screenplay)
Release Date: May 11, 1994

The streets of Detroit are rain-slickened and littered with filth, smoky fires burn in the distance, and daylight never seems to shine.
Detroit is where tough street waif Sarah (Rochelle Davis) lives, and where her two best friends, rock guitarist Eric Draven (Brandon Lee) and his angelic fiancee Shelley Webster (Sofia Shinas) are brutally murdered.
It is said that when a man dies wrongfully, a crow may bring him back to life to seek vengeance upon his killer.
A year after Draven and Shelley have been laid to rest, Draven returns from the grave, clawing his way up from the ground. He's met by a crow perched upon his headstone, his guide between the worlds of the living and the dead.
Draven, with his face painted, searches for the killers -- T-Bird (David Patrick Kelly), Skank (Angel David), Tin Tin (Laurence Mason), and Funboy (Michael Massee).
Draven kills them one by one. And it all leads Draven to Top Dollar (Michael Wincott), the crime boss who masterminded Draven and Shelley's murders. Top Dollar and his sister Myca (Bai Ling) seem to have some kind of stranglehold over the city.
Draven crosses paths with Sarah and good cop Albrecht (Ernie Hudson). Top Dollar kidnaps Sarah, and then Myca captures the crow and begins to sap Draven's supernatural powers.
They hole up in a gothic church, and Draven uses the last of his strength to rescue Sarah. When his mission is complete, and all those responsible for his and Shelley's murders are dead, Draven returns to the grave, his soul able to rest peacefully.

It is never explicitly stated in which city the film takes place, and almost all aerial shots are actually miniatures overlaid with CG elements. Several clues and references throughout the film point toward its being set in Detroit: Devil's Night is culturally associated with the Detroit area; in an early bar scene T-Bird refers to his gang as "Motor-city motherfuckers" and Detroit is commonly known as "The Motor City" due to its main industry of car manufacturing. T-Bird mentions that "Lake Erie caught on fire once from all the crap floating around in it." Detroit is located at the western end of Lake Erie. Additionally, in the sequel's novelization Sarah makes references several times to having lived in Detroit. This may or may not be considered canon however. Also at the end where the fight scene takes place at the church some say is the church in Detroit.

The film gained instant notoriety even before its release, when Lee was killed in an accident during filming. Despite this (or perhaps because of it), the film has gained a cult following over the years.
The film won the 1995 BMI Film Music Award, from the BMI Film & TV Awards. It also won the 1995 MTV Movie Award for Best Movie Song ("Big Empty" by Stone Temple Pilots). It was nominated for the 1995 MTV Movie Awards for Best Movie and posthumously to Brandon Lee for Best Male Performance.

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