This fantasy horror from Sam Raimi - the independent director's first studio movie - is a splashy amalgam of The Phantom of the Opera and Doctor X, with a perfectly cast Liam Neeson donning synthetic flesh masks to take revenge on the mobsters who disfigured him. Pathos and tragedy are always lurking beneath the horrific surface of The Evil Dead creator's kaleidoscopic take on classic 1930s Grand Guignol, given a nifty 1990s spin by exaggerated camera moves and psychedelic visuals. This tasty buffet of gothic moodiness, startling make-up effects and expressionistic artifice sees Raimi on vibrant virtuoso form.

Dr. Peyton Westlake is on the verge of realizing a major breakthrough in synthetic skin when his laboratory is destroyed by gangsters. Having been burned beyond recognition and forever altered by an experimental medical procedure, Westlake becomes known as Darkman, assuming alternate identities in his quest for revenge and a new life with a former love.