Making THE CROW III: SALVATION

By: Michael Beeler
Date: Thursday, March 30, 2000

A lone figure, decked out in the gothic regalia and make-up of The Crow, crouched next to a makeshift Columbine High School memorial of flowers, teddy bears and notes placed against a chain link fence. A newscast found him there a day or two after the infamous shooting spree of April 20, 1999. It was a stark image that mirrored the hopelessness of a generation caught up in the violence and mayhem of today. But it was also a brief glimpse into the impact that the mythology of THE CROW comics, books, movies and television series have had on so many of us.

'The Crow was born of an Indian myth,' said producer Jeff Most, while in Salt Lake City, Utah, for the filming of THE CROW III: SALVATION. 'In the Indian culture there is a notion that a crow takes the soul on into Heaven. And James O'Barr [the creator and writer of the original Crow graphic novel] so insightfully imagined that it could work in reverse as well. He showed that a crow could take a soul back to Earth and finish work that needed to be tended to because otherwise those evil-doers would get away with the harm they perpetrated on others. So it has a mythic aspect to it that is not necessarily religious, but it is spiritual.'

Both THE CROW and THE CROW: CITY OF ANGELS, the first two movies, held true to this spiritual aspect by taking us to the gritty back streets and ally ways of Detroit and Los Angeles, where equity was urban and mature. This third movie takes a turn, introducing us to the almost deserted streets of a small town called Salvation, where justice is rural and passionate.

'In the context of the story of THE CROW III: SALVATION, we wanted something that was spine-chilling but something that could also happen in your back yard to anyone,' said Most, who along with Edward R. Pressman has produced all three films in the franchise. 'These emotional heartstrings play on the realities of what every youth in America goes through. But I'm not only speaking of teenagers.

'In all our lives we are touched by those that have a power over us, who may have taken that power to a place that is above and beyond any notion of what they should have been given in the first place to exert. And that's a very real horror. It's a very visceral horror. We wanted to touch people's souls with the notion that 'this is your back yardthis is something that you confront on a daily basis or you may confront tomorrow!''

The storyline of SALVATION follows Alex Corvis, as portrayed by Eric Mabius, who is unjustly convicted and executed for murdering his girlfriend Lauren Randall (played by Jodi Lyn O'Keefe). Fred Ward, who is best known by genre fans for his work on both of the TREMORS movies, portrays the mercenary Captain of Salvation's police force. When Alex returns from the dead, he is joined by Lauren's kid sister Erin, played by Kirsten Dunst, who first came to the attention of moviegoers as the little girl-turned-vampire in INTERVIEW WITH THE VAMPIRE. The ensuing story involves Alex taking on cops and debased politicians to right the wrongs committed and also to protect Erin from a similar fate.


Mabius, who made his feature film debut in WELCOME TO THE DOLLHOUSE and recently appeared in HBO's CRUEL INTENTIONS, characterizes a younger, more shorthaired Crow than we have seen in either the previous movies or the television series STAIRWAY TO HEAVEN. Another difference fans of the movies will notice is that the traditional Crow mascara make-up has been changed to scared markings to reflect the physical trauma of being electrocuted. But the producers feel that Mabius brings more to his role than just a fresh image.

'He is certainly a gifted actor,' said Most, about the thespian who was offered his role based on his marvelous performance in the indie film LAWN DOGS. 'I mean he is someone who truly brings the audience into the character. He is able to be on the one hand incredibly strong, strong-willed, determined and very enigmatic, and at the same time you know he is able to handily pull off the sentiment and sensitive side of the character and deliver an extremely well-rounded performance, one that makes you feel as if you know this person.

'I think that what Eric really brought to this role was the feeling that this could be a good friend of yours who lives down the block or your next door neighbor or one of your pals who you hang out with. Making, essentially, a super hero a real guy and not somebody who simply has powers to do this, that and the other, but somebody who really embodies the realm of sensibilities of a normal guy. Someone who girls could see up on the screen as their boyfriend or brother and guys can see as one of their buddies. The experience of watching this film, in a lot of respects, is even more visceral than we've seen in the past because the character is so approachable and so real and so touching.'

As with the previous films, the release of CROW III will be accompanied by a sound track album. The CD is populated this time out by such alternative and industrial bands as Kid Rock, Monster Magnet, Static X, Hole, Danzig, The Flys and Stabbing Westward. 'As the music supervisor for the movie, I can assure you we have assembled an incredible array of well known and extremely gifted artists who have delivered just fantastic songs,' said Most, who also supervised the making of the two previous CROW sound tracks, both of which went platinum. 'With the exception of two, all of them are unreleased. And those two that have been released, we have exclusive remixes on. So it's another original sound track album of major artists with a real cohesion schematically to our motion picture. I'm just delighted that it has all come together so beautifully.'

Based on an idea conceived in O'Barr's anguish from losing his fiancée to a drunk driver and haunted by Brandon Lee's untimely death due to a firearm mishandling on the original CROW set, this production has always carried an undeserved perception of being cursed. From a production stand point, part of the beauty of this film is that it was delivered on time, within its $12-million budget and without any serious accidents. Audiences, in turn, may find the beauty of this film in watching a more raw version of the Crow move through the eclectic backdrop of the Greater Salt Lake City Area. There is a joy in seeing the TOUCHED BY AN ANGEL production town of seagulls and Mormons bathed in contemporary gothic angles and shadows.

'We've really had very smooth sailing, for the most part,' said Most, who openly admits the second feature in THE CROW series fell flat. 'Everything has turned out exceedingly well, I think beyond everyone's expectations. The movie plays just beautifully. It's extremely engrossing. It's fast paced. It's a tremendous work of filmmaking by the team helmed by the director Bharat Nalluri. Certainly the look of our film relies on our wonderfully gifted director of photography Carolyn Chen and our production designer Maia Javan, as well as all the gifted actors that are involved. Everybody really delivered dynamo performances. So it's really come together beautifully.

'This has been a remarkable experience. I could not be more excited. I think we have really fashioned an incredible film that audiences are truly going to adore. And I'm very excited to see this get before the public. We are all excited to get THE CROW III: SALVATION out there in the theaters entertaining our loyal fans and the new fans that have come to the franchise through the television show.'

With the new CROW gearing up to make its way across theaters of America, one can only ponder where the next bird will take us and what impact it will have on future generations. Although the producers are willing to shed very little light on the subject, they seem confident that the story will go on. 'We are talking about various things as possibilities,' said Most, about the development of a fourth installment of THE CROW feature film series. 'I'd rather not, at this point, get into a discussion of future possibilities for the franchise, because we are really intent upon focusing on this third feature and seeing this through the marketing, which we've now gotten into various sorts of promotional activity that we are looking at to make contact through various channels with our core audience that has always been there for us.

'But we pride ourselves on the fact that this is a franchise that we feel has limitless possibilities in that, as we firmly established with THE CROW II, this is an anthological franchise with new stories and new characters. A fresh approach has certainly been taken with THE CROW III: SALVATION, and we look to re-invigorate the storytelling as we move on into the future and keep these stories fresh and pertinent and very enlivening for our audience.'