.jpg "The Crow (2024)")
So, when I heard that Bill Skarsgård was taking on the role, I went in with cautious optimism. He’s got the presence, the range, and the eyes for it. Unfortunately, this new version doesn’t seem to know what it wants to be, and the result feels like an empty shell with no heartbeat.
The Crow (2024)
Let’s start with what works. Bill Skarsgård is great. He commits fully to the role of Eric, giving the character a raw, wounded energy that almost saves the film from itself. Almost. FKA Twigs (aka Tahliah Debrett Barnett) as Shelly has the kind of haunting charisma you want from a supernatural love story; she’s ethereal, mysterious, and grounded all at once. And Danny Huston, as always, brings gravitas to his role as the antagonist. If he is in something, I am going to pay attention and hope he is the bad guy. He’s one of those actors who can make a line of dialogue sound like prophecy.
But that’s about where the praise stops.
The movie’s biggest problem is emotional weight, or the lack of it. In the original, Eric and Shelly’s love was the film’s soul. They were engaged, planning a life together, brutally murdered on the eve of their wedding. Their story hurt because it mattered. Their love was the kind of thing you could feel in the air, something worth crossing death to reclaim.
Here? I just don’t buy it. Their relationship feels more like a concept than a connection. We’re told they love each other, but never shown that, only in the most shallow of ways. Without that, the revenge story loses its heart. The violence feels hollow, the tragedy performative. It’s all mood and no meaning. This is no fault of Skarsgård or FKA Twigs, they sell it the best they can.
Visually, it’s stylish, moody neon, dark rain, that same “urban myth meets grunge music video” aesthetic, but even that feels oddly sterile. The original Crow’s world was grimy, angry, and alive. This one feels manufactured, like a high-end perfume commercial with blood spatter. Eric Draven in the original is a driven force of vengeance, not for the goal or pleasure of killing (quite the opposite in fact), but because of his pain. Eric is this one feels like he is killing because something was taken from him. The difference is subtle, and knowing that difference tells you why the first one is a classic and the new one forgettable.
Skarsgård deserves better. He brings shades of sorrow that could have anchored a stronger script, and FKA Twigs radiates the kind of energy that should have made her Shelly unforgettable. But without the emotional architecture, it’s all just noise and ash.
I wanted to like it. I really did. I wanted to give it a chance. But this version of The Crow misses the point; the resurrection of love, not the celebration of vengeance.
NIGHT SHIFT & Occult D&D Ideas
If you’re playing NIGHT SHIFT, The Crow has always been the archetype for “The Driven,” characters who return from death to right unbearable wrongs. The Driven from The Night Companion is made for this kind of story:
- Origin: Murdered unjustly, bound to the world by rage and unfinished love.
- Motivation: Redemption, closure, or vengeance; sometimes all three.
- Tone: It’s not about being undead; it’s about being unable to rest.
- Mechanics: In NIGHT SHIFT terms, your “anchor” (the emotional bond that holds you here) is everything. Without that, you’re just another spirit with a weapon.
The original Crow is how you do it right, a Driven character whose power is love corrupted into wrath. The 2024 remake? It’s the opposite, wrath with nothing to redeem it. Still, as game fuel, there’s plenty to mine here: tone, atmosphere, and tragedy. Just make sure your version remembers the heart behind the horror.
Dungeons & Dragons has this in the Revenant. They even made a class for it in 4e. This could work for 5e.
I also created a Revenant class for Old-School Essentials in Monster Mash.
October Horror Movie Challenge 2025
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