The scenes are "burned" into my memories, but not the title?!

August 31, 2008 1:37 PM

What's-that-movie time! Featured character: a man wrapped in full-body bandages because he was in a fire.

I saw this movie during the early 90's, and it was on TV. I'm guessing it was made during the 80's or even as far back as the 70's. There's only two scenes I remember:

- The scene where the main character is in his pre-fire condition. I think he had a close-trimmed beard, dark-haired. He's kind of sitting up with some difficulty, like he's tied down, and watches one of those bird-shaped tipping thingies with a top-hat (no idea what they're called) swing down and hit a lighter with its beak, causing it to ignite and set the whole place and him on fire. I remember him screaming offscreen when it happens.

- Another scene where he's talking to a woman. He's completely wrapped up in bandages now, and talks with a lisp. You can see one of his eyes staring out crazily, and the bandages are slightly bloodied. He's wearing a black coat. The woman was either blonde or brunette, possibly the former, and she looks a bit flipped-out (not surprisingly).

Can anyone identify this movie? It's quite possible it's some B-movie. Sorry I can't get a better description or more scenes; I was maybe 6 or 7 when I saw this. Maybe even younger.

posted by curagea to media & arts (12 answers total)

I could easily be wrong, but I think that might be Darkman.
posted by JMOZ at 1:44 PM on August 31, 2008

I'm guessing with JMOZ. Do these scenes look like it?
posted by Snerd at 1:49 PM on August 31, 2008

Seconding Darkman. From the link:

As Smiley recovers from Darkman's beating, he notices that Darkman has recreated Durant's death trap a hundredfold: he has the drinking bird and the lighter, but has loosened the valves on ALL the gas canisters in the warehouse. Smiley rushes towards the bird and lighter and attempts to grab them, only to discover that it is just a holographic duplicate and the REAL bird and lighter are all the way across the room....However, by the time Smiley realises this, the bird ignites the lighter, and Smiley dies in an explosion that obliterates the entire building.

Link has stills of the scene, too. Got to it via the Wikipedia article for Drinking Bird.
posted by carsonb at 1:50 PM on August 31, 2008

It must be Darkman. In the scene where he is first attacked, he's actually beaten badly, and burned with acid, before being left on the floor. It's from that vantage point that he sees the bird about to detonate the explosives. During the explosion, there's a shot of his fiery body flying out of the building and into a body of water across the street.
posted by saffry at 2:00 PM on August 31, 2008

Hm... maybe this is it, though I don't remember it being an action movie, nor do I remember seeing the main character with a hat. And I swear the main character has a beard, or maybe that's just some poor chap.

But anyways, I'll check it out and see if it's the one. Thanks y'all!
posted by curagea at 2:31 PM on August 31, 2008

I was going to say Darkman too - the tipping-bird explosion is a trademark scene of the film - but it's possible it's Darkman II; they reshot the original torture scene with the new lead actor, Arnold Vosloo (Liam Neeson in the 1st) and I seem to recall Vosloo doing a lot more of the film sans-hat, though neither were bearded as Dr Westlake.
posted by ArkhanJG at 2:50 PM on August 31, 2008

It's absolutely Darkman. For the clincher: did he, at any time, make a fake human skin that could be worn? That disintegrated?
posted by Deathalicious at 3:13 PM on August 31, 2008

@Deathalicious: Not that I remember. I just remember his true bandaged face. Strangely, I looked up screenshots of Darkman, and I don't remember seeing two eyes - in my memory, only the left eye is visible, and that eye is way wide, like it's gonna pop out or something. Oh well.
posted by curagea at 5:20 PM on August 31, 2008

Possibly the Singing Detective or the shitty film knockoff? I don't think it has that bobbing hat thing though. Or the fire.
posted by serazin at 6:52 PM on August 31, 2008

Yeah, the Singing Detective (either version) wasn't burned in a fire; he had a horrible disease.
posted by exphysicist345 at 10:23 PM on August 31, 2008

Do either of these trailers look familiar?
posted by ArkhanJG at 12:22 AM on September 1, 2008

There was also a 30 minute TV pilot for a series based on darkman. Not found anything more, perhaps it was that if not the film?
posted by ArkhanJG at 12:32 AM on September 1, 2008