History Film / Darkman

** He might also be an amalgamation of several Batman villains; namely, Two-Face, Man-Bat & Clayface.

** He’s also kind of an amalgamation of several Batman villains; namely, Two-Face, Man-Bat & Clayface.

** He’s also kind of an amalgamation of several Batman villains; namely, Characters/TwoFace, Man-Bat & Characters/Clayface

** He’s also kind of an amalgamation of several Batman villains; namely, Characters/BatmanTwoFace, Man-Bat & Characters/BatmanClayface

* MoodWhiplash: Our main character is a serial MoodSwinger, and many scenes reflect this. A fine example is the carnival scene. It starts off wholesome with Peyton and Julie enjoying themselves, then it goes South when a carnie refuses to give Peyton a stuffed elephant toy prize for not staying behind the line, Peyton's patience deteriorates while the score becomes an increasingly intense CreepyCircusMusic... until it gets hilarious when Peyton finally grabs the jerk's fingers and breaks them, with a silly extreme close-up ReactionShot of the guy screaming in pain, Peyton screaming in rage, Julie screaming in horror, and topped with Creator/LiamNeeson at his [[LargeHam hammiest]] angrily commanding her "Take the [[PrecisionFStrike fuckin']] elephant!" right as his mask starts deteriorating, at which point the next scene becomes more somber and tragic when he's forced to run and hide from her.

The film was adapted to a LicensedGame by Ocean Software in 1991, which was released on UsefulNotes/NintendoEntertainmentSystem, UsefulNotes/Commodore64, UsefulNotes/AmstradCPC, UsefulNotes/{{Amiga}}, UsefulNotes/GameBoy, UsefulNotes/ZXSpectrum and UsefulNotes/AtariST.

* SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome: We get a double dose of this in a single scene. The first instance happens when Westlake confronts the BigBad. Naturally, the villain erupts into a VillainousBreakdown, cursing his enemy for all the destruction that was done to his organization, right? Wrong. This is a slick, savvy corrupt businessman who only used Durant and his cronies as hired muscle and knows full well how useful a BadassAbnormal who can impersonate others could be to him. Unfortunately for him, the borderline psychotic vigilante who has ''already'' personally disposed of his underlings still has a ''bit'' of an issue with him since he was the one ultimately responsible for ruining his life.

** Director Creator/JohnLandis as a burn ward doctor.

** Jenny Agutter as the nurse that stabs Darkman while he's in therapy.

* DarkIsNotEvil: Peyton becomes a disfigured and slightly unstable individual following his accident and surgeries, and hides his face in bandages and wears black trench coat and fedora hat, but he's still our protagonist who wants vengeance against the [[TheyLookLikeEveryoneElse normal looking but murderous]] corporate BigBad Strack.

* ScreamingWoman: A woman on the street screams after Pauly falls into a car in front of her. She screams again when she sees Darkman disguised as Paula sitting at a bench behind her.

* UnbuiltTrope: The film reads like a {{Deconstruction}} of the NinetiesAntiHero, despite being made when the trope was just starting to take hold. Darkman himself embodies many of the trope's characteristics in that he's CoveredInScars, brooding and psychotic, uses lethal force, has a [[DarkAgeOfSupernames one word, gritty name]], and has few heroic qualities; but also subverts it in that he's a scientist of average build instead of a [[RatedMForManly macho guy]], [[UnskilledButStrong has no actual fighting skills]], relies on ambushing and deceiving his enemies instead of weapons and brute force, and is generally more like a classic movie monster than a SuperHero. In addition, the film portrays him as a tragic figure instead of an awesome badass: The attack that scarred him also left him homeless and in [[DespairEventHorizon deep despair]], the treatment that gave him his powers made things worse by [[BlessedWithSuck taking away his sense of touch and leaving him emotionally unstable]], his quest for vengeance weighs on him greatly due to how morally compromising it is, and his one HopeSpot for getting Julie and his old life back fails because he has succumbed to HeWhoFightsMonsters, which he acknowledges to her at the end of the film.

* AuthorityEqualsAsskicking: For a SmugSnake in a suit, Strack actually puts up a pretty good fight against the superhuman Darkman in the finale. He just so happens to be in his element on high steel.

* BlingBlingBang: Durant's henchman Rick carries a .25 automatic that is silvered with filigree work all over it.