Devil’s Night? Raining all the time? Might as well watch The Crow!

The night before Halloween was referred to as “Devil’s Night” or “Hell Night” from the 1970’s through the 90’s. It was also called “Mischief Night” due to the numerous acts of vandalism and violence across the U.S., particularly in the city of Detroit.

One of the most famous portrayals of Devil’s Night was in the 1994 movie The Crow, which served as the greatest and last film in the short career of Brandon Lee, the son of legendary martial arts actor Bruce Lee. Lee previously starred in the movies Showdown In Little Tokyo (alongside Dolph Lundgren) and Rapid Fire. Lee’s performance as Eric Draven, who becomes the title character after being brutally murdered along with his fiancee, is iconic. It later inspired the revamp of WCW’s Sting in pro wrestling and is also one of the influences behind Heath Ledger‘s similarly iconic performance as The Joker in 2008’s The Dark Knight. Also similarly, Lee and Ledger performed their last roles in these movies, respectively. Ledger died months before The Dark Knight’s release due to abuse of several medications.

However, Brandon Lee died on the set while filming The Crow. He was shot by a prop gun that was supposed to have blanks in it but was improperly loaded with live rounds. Brandon Lee was buried alongside his late father Bruce Lee. Also shortly after Brandon Lee’s death, a biopic of his father, Dragon: the Bruce Lee Story, was released with a dedication to his memory in the credits.

Featuring an ensemble cast with Brandon Lee, Ernie Hudson (Ghostbusters, Oz), Bai Ling (Wild Wild West, Entourage, Lost), David Patrick Kelly (The Warriors, Commando), Tony Todd (Candyman, Platoon) & Michael Wincott (Romeo is Bleeding, Strange Days, Along Came a Spider), The Crow was based on a 1989 comic book and spawned three sequels (City of Angels, Salvation and Wicked Prayer) and a short-lived Canadian television series (The Crow: Stairway to Heaven)