the plot: Dr. Peyton Westlake (Neeson) is in the final stages of developing a new synthetic skin. That is, until one evening, when a team of vicious gangsters, led by the sadistic Durant (Drake), interrupt Westlake's research. Durant and his goons are looking for a stack of incriminating documents that Westlake's lawyer-girlfriend (McDormand) left in the lab. When Westlake refuses to give up the evidence, Durant tortures the scientist and blows up the lab. Westlake survives, though horribly scarred and disfigured. Hideous, absolutely insane and believed dead by the rest of the world, Westlake seeks revenge against Durant and his boss Louis Strack (Friels). He uses the synthetic skin, which is highly unstable and lasts only 100 minutes, to impersonate, and murder, the members of Durant's gang.

why it's good: Darkman is a sort of midpoint in director Sam Raimi's career. Already famous among horror fiends for his two Evil Dead films, Raimi was starting to attract notice from the big studios in the early 1990s when he made Darkman. By the end of the decade, Raimi had helmed mainstream flicks like A Simple Plan and the big-budget zombie-fest Army of Darkness and was on tap to direct the mega-blockbuster that would be Spider-Man. For a B-movie, Darkman boasts a great cast: there's a pre-Fargo Frances McDormand as well as Liam Neeson before he became all serious and legitimate with Schindler's List. Neeson gives a great scenery-chewing performance, shouting and raving and growling, all while covered in gory makeup and bandages. He makes a great antihero-ugly, insane and extremely violent toward criminals, yet still eager to be reunited with his love. Larry Drake's Durant is everything a pulp villain should be-ultra-slimy, bloodthirsty and not afraid to chop off people's fingers with a cigar cutter. Darkman is a pure Raimi film, with the director's trademark shaky-cam shots, mentally unstable heroes and mix of action, comedy and horror.

why you should own it: Unlike Evil Dead and Spider-Man, which got the super-deluxe DVD treatment, Universal's Darkman disc is strictly no-frills. There are no commentary tracks, no theatrical trailers, no extras at all, unless you count the optional Spanish subtitles. Darkman is worth renting, but unless you can buy a copy for under $5, don't bother owning.