By Dan Skip Allen

There are a lot of fans who love various film properties: horror, Star Wars, Powers Rangers, and many other IPs, including “The Crow” which has been a film franchise based on the comic book series by James O’Barr. Some of those fans aren’t exactly happy with what they got previously, so they decide to make a movie of said property themselves. Not everybody has these kinds of capabilities, but some do. One of those somebody’s is Cody Faull. He is a big fan of The Crow franchise and decided to do a crowd fundraising campaign so he can make a Crow film of his own, “Days of Sodom: A Crow Fan Film”. The time has come for this movie to be released, and here is my review of said film.

Thorn Gray (Cody Faulk) is a young police detective in Baltimore, Maryland. He has a wonderful wife, Caroline (Natalie Polisson), who is pregnant with their first child. He has an honor and responsibility regarding the job he does for the police, but there is some corruption in the police department that works in. The mayor of the city, Mayor Mino (Vernon Wells), has the police under his thumb. They do a lot of dirty work for him, including murder. When detective Thorn starts getting close to some of the shady dealing in the department, they take matters into their own hands and murder his wife and child and eventually him. He gets reborn into an avenging angel known as The Crow, so seek vengeance on those responsible for killing the innocent souls of the city.

Despite this movie’s small budget, it has a surprisingly big cast. Some of the cast members are as follows. In a cold opening, Mickey James plays an investigative journalist, Tara Dawson. This starts the film off fast and shows the direction Faulk is going in. The Mayor Minos (Vernon Wells) is a part of that, but he has more sinister plans throughout the film. Caroline Gray (Natalie Polisson, plays the lead character’s wife, and she is part of how the motivation for the Crow gets put into motion. It’s a tragic scene. Carl Musk (Robert Franzese) is a computer tech guy and surveillance expert who gets caught in the cross fire. Dante (Maven Huffman) and Virgil (Robert Allan Mukes), are both corrupt cops who get what’s coming for them and Roy (Brian Lyons-Burke) is Thorn’s old partner who does go along for the ride with the rest of the corrupt cops. This cast of relative unknowns does a good job of helping the story develop and move forward slowly.

One of my favorite things about this film is its cinematography by Bill Causey and Konstantin Terentiev. They were able to capture the dark bleak nighttime scenery very well. They used some Hollywood trickery to give this movie its look. Smoke machines, cigarette smoke, fog, and other things helped show a dark atmosphere.  I loved a lot of the nighttime shots they were able to get. Along with that was the lighting. I loved how they used reds and blues along with the yellows from lamps and so forth to light a lot of scenes. The lighting shows a great feel the director was going for with this film.

Another part of the movie that didn’t involve acting or direction was the score by Brandon Hawley. He created a dark and brooding score to match the scope of the film. The moody music played into all the killing and violence the directors and writers were going for. There were a lot of horns and drums from what I could hear. Horns can do yeoman’s work, creating a brooding atmosphere regarding the score. Right from the beginning of the movie, I noticed the music, and it didn’t last me down. There were a few songs that sounded good as well. They matched the tone of the film. It’s always a good thing when the music matches the aesthetic the movie is going for.

I didn’t know anything about this movie before watching it. I wasn’t invested in it like others were. I only heard rumors of its coming from a local film critic online. That being said, Faulk deserves a lot of credit for what he was able to achieve. This was a very professional looking film. Considering he wore three hats during the production, I was amazed by how good this movie looked and sounded. The acting was good as well. He played a dark character who didn’t say much, so I didn’t expect much from him at all. He was fine as both the Thorn and Crow characters. That’s not where he shined, though. I think his direction was fantastic. I got a genuinely dark and moody film. All the technical stuff played into that perfectly. I am looking forward to another movie from the burgeoning filmmaker. 

As a whole, “Days of Sodom: A Crow Fan Film” wasn’t a bad movie. It was what I would have come to expect from a film of this scope. I wasn’t the biggest fan of “The Crow” franchise. I’m in the minority I know. The first one starring Brandon Lee was amazing. I recently saw it again and I still loved it. The last one starring Bill Skarsgard wasn’t good at all. This one is in between those two for me. Considering the budget, I think Faulk was able to do a great job on this film. It captured the vibe of what you’d think a Crow movie would be. It had a great revenge plot, a good hero, a terrific supporting cast, cinematography, and score. What more do you want? The aesthetic of what I would have wanted a Crow film to look and sound like we’re here. I applaud Faulk and his team on a job well done considering all the obstacles they had to overcome on a production like this one. They made a small movie look and feel like a big film. That’s a good thing.

3 ½ stars