THE CROW: CITY OF ANGELS

"THE CROW: CITY OF ANGELS"
(1996) (Vincent Perez, Mia Kirshner) (R)

Alcohol/ Drugs	Blood/Gore	Disrespectful/ Bad Attitude	Frightening/ Tense Scenes	Guns/ Weapons
Heavy	Moderate	Heavy	Moderate	Extreme

Imitative Behavior	Jump Scenes	Music (Scary/Tense)	Music (Inappropriate)	Profanity
Moderate	None	Moderate	*None	Extreme

Sex/ Nudity	Smoking	Tense Family Scenes	Topics To Talk About	Violence
Heavy	Mild	Mild	Mild	Extreme

QUICK TAKE:: Horror: A man returned from the dead seeks revenge on those responsible for his and his son's deaths.

PLOT:: Sara (MIA KIRSHNER), a tattoo artist, has dreams about the murder of an innocent man, Ashe (VINCENT PEREZ), and his son. So she goes to where they were killed when up pops Ashe, who has returned from the dead to avenge the murders. With the guidance of a crow that leads him to Judah (RICHARD BROOKS) a purveyor of sex and drugs for the masses and his right-hand man, Curve (IGGY POP), Ashe then proceeds to kill off the bad guys one by one until he gets to Judah.

WILL KIDS WANT TO SEE IT?: If they liked the original "The Crow" or are drawn to alternative/grunge music they will.

WHY THE MPAA RATED IT: R: For strong violence, drug content, language and sexuality.

CAST AS ROLE MODELS:: Neither VINCENT PEREZ nor RICHARD BROOKS nor anyone else are good role models in this movie.

CAST, CREW, & TECHNICAL INFO

HOW OTHERS RATED THIS MOVIE

OUR TAKE: 1 out of 10: This is a very bad movie that is not entertaining in the slightest, nor scary for those who enjoy horror films. It is merely a vehicle whose only purpose is to make money by retreading the mediocre plot from the original film. If you like seeing people killed in unoriginal ways and like hearing alternative/grunge music blaring through the soundtrack, then you might find something to enjoy in this. For the rest of the world, avoid this movie. There's no originality and no character or plot development, but thankfully the movie is rather short. We give it a big fat 1 out of 10.

OUR WORD TO PARENTS:: This is a very violent and dark film. It showcases violence, murder, S&M sex, drug use and kids hooked on drugs. There are no redeeming qualities and some of the scenes and atmosphere will disturb younger kids and possibly give them nightmares. For older kids and adults, it's a boring, violent mess. We'd say older teenagers are the youngest who should see this, but in reality no one should. If you're still thinking about allowing any kids to see this, read through the category listings first.

ALCOHOL OR DRUG USE: Judah and his followers sell drugs to people and children. In many scenes people are seen snorting some sort of drug.
Ashe says that his son's mother was a drug addict.

BLOOD/ GORE: A man has a bloody nose after having been hit by Curve.
A dead gang member is seen with bloody sockets where his eyes once were.
A good amount of blood flows from a dead gang member after she lands on the street after having been thrown from a building.
Judah uses his fingernail to slice a bloody cross into Sarah's forehead.
Judah impales a crow's wings with knives and then kills the crow, later drinking its blood.

DISRESPECTFUL/BAD ATTITUDE: Judah and all of his gang members have both.

FRIGHTENING/TENSE SCENES: There are many flashback scenes of Ashe and his son being terrorized and then killed by Judah's gang.
Other scenes (listed in "Violence") may be considered by some as tense or frightening but won't be to older teens and above. Younger kids, however, may find many of the scenes scary.
Ashe comes back to "life" underwater and yells and pulls the ropes off of him and comes to the surface. Younger kids may find this scary.
There is a "Mardi Gras" like street party where everyone is dressed up in scary costumes that may frighten younger viewers.

GUNS/WEAPONS: Handguns/Machine guns/Knives: Used to injure or kill many people. For details see "Violence."

IMITATIVE BEHAVIOR: Sarah works in a tattoo parlor and is seen etching one on the back of a guy's head.
Ashe is shot, stabbed and blown up with no adverse effects (since he's dead), but younger kids may think that they can have the same thing happen to them.
Curve spits in front of Sarah after imitating oral sex by running his finger back and forth into his mouth.
Phrases: "Bitch" and "Idiot."

JUMP SCENES: None.

MUSIC (SCARY/TENSE): There is a moderate amount of suspenseful and/or weird, moanful music.

MUSIC (INAPPROPRIATE): We couldn't detect any, but with some indecipherable lyrics (to our ears) there may be some objectionable material present.

PROFANITY: 26 "f" words (4 with the prefix "mother"), 11 "s" words, 1 ass, 1 SOB, 1 slang term each for male and female genitals (the "d" and "p" words), and 4 uses of "Jesus" or "Jesus Christ," 2 uses of "God damn," and 1 use of "God" as exclamations.

SEX/NUDITY: Judah provides an S&M service for people and thus many leather clad people are seen. Several women with exposed bare breasts are seen pouring hot wax onto each other. Another woman's butt is seen as she whips another person.
Curve spits in front of Sarah after imitating oral sex by running his finger back and forth into his mouth.
A gang member goes into a peeping booth to see a woman do her sex act. She exposes and caresses her breasts and spreads her legs (but the camera cuts away before anything is seen) to turn him on. The man then begins masturbating (not actually seen, but movement and sounds are) but his time runs out before he can finish. Later when Ashe is beating him up, the guy falls on top of an inflatable sex doll. Then when his body is found, it's seen that the inflatable doll was placed in a position for oral sex on the man.
At a party, people are seen making sexual movements with each other (but are clothed and no sex is actually seen).

SMOKING: Several people are seen smoking cigarettes now and then.

TENSE FAMILY SCENES: Ashe (who's dead) grieves over his son's death.
Ashe says that his son's mother was a drug addict and left after the boy was born.

TOPICS TO TALK ABOUT: Whether people can come back from the dead.
The leather clad and hooded S&M people and what they were doing.

VIOLENCE: There are many flashbacks to the deaths of Ashe and his son. Judah's gang is seen beating a person and then shooting them many times in the back. They spot Ashe and his son and capture and then terrorize them. They tie them up and a woman gang member then shoots the boy and then Curve shoots Ashe several times. The bodies are then pushed over into the water where they sink to the bottom.
Judah jams a drug filled syringe into a member's nose, killing him, after he believes the man is a traitor.
There is video footage seen of a bull fighter being gored by a bull (no blood, but rather graphic).
Ashe begins beating up the first bad guy and ends up throwing a lit match into the flammable liquid the guy was using to make drugs. The warehouse he's in blows up and the man is killed.
Curve shows up at the tattoo parlor and hits one man and begins roughing up Sarah. He then holds a gun on the man, but Sarah kicks him in the crotch, grabs the gun and holds it on Curve. He then smashes a neon sign before leaving.
Ashe smashes through a peep show glass window and attacks another gang member. The show owner shoots Ashe with a shotgun (but of course doesn't hurt him), and then Ashe grabs the shotgun, knocks the owner out and shoots the gang member. He beats the guy up and ends up tearing his eyes out (we only see the bloody results).
Two gang members torture the tattoo parlor owner by putting the tattoo needle into his eye.
Several gang members arrive at Sarah's place and shoot machine guns to get in and kidnap her.
A female gang member then fights with Ashe (tossing throwing stars at him, hitting him with poles and stabbing him with a knife) until he throws her into a wall and then out the window where she falls and crashes onto a car on the street below.
Ashe fires a gun at Curve who ducks out of the way. Others then open fire and riddle Ashe with bullets (but of course don't hurt him).
Ashe shoots a bad guy's motorcycle that blows up and throws the man onto the road. Ashe then takes the man and drags him into a river (where we assume he sinks and drowns).
Judah uses his fingernail to slice a bloody cross into Sarah's forehead.
Judah impales a crow's wings with knives and then kills the crow, later drinking its blood.
Judah then beats up Ashe, ties a rope around him and tries to hang him. He then grabs a whip and begins whipping Ashe much to the gathering crowd's delight. Sarah then rushes up and stabs Ashe in the forehead (but since he's had the crow's blood that action can't hurt him). He pulls out the knife and then stabs her in the gut. Ashe then pushes Judah back and runs him through a pole which sticks through Judah's chest. Finally a flock of crows descend on Judah and he dissolves away.

Reviewed September 2, 1996

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