Film

Nightman

Nightman is a 1997 superhero film where a saxophonist gains telepathic powers after a lightning strike, allowing him to sense criminals. It's a low-budget action vehicle with earnest charm, zippy pacing, and practical stunts. Made for people who loved 90s network TV superhero shows and don't mind modest special effects in service of genuine entertainment.

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The Shadow1994

Alec Baldwin brings style and wit to a pulpy 1930s vigilante with supernatural senses. Like Nightman, it's a comic-book adaptation that prioritizes mood and fun over realism, with clever action sequences and a hero who's more interesting than his rogues gallery.

But The plot is thin and the villains forgettable. If you need strong storytelling over atmosphere, you'll find yourself checking your watch.

The Shadow poster

The Phantom1996

Billy Zane in a purple outfit, planet-hopping adventure, and genuine enthusiasm for its own absurdity. Another mid-90s superhero film that knows what it is: a Saturday matinee with practical effects, charm, and no pretension about being high art.

But The dialogue is clunky and the plot resists logic. Camp only works if you're willing to meet it halfway, and some will find it exhausting rather than fun.

The Phantom poster

Darkman II: The Return of Durant1995

A sequel that actually understands its predecessor's strange energy. More focused on action and character than the first, with better pacing and a villain who genuinely threatens our hero. Solid, unpretentious superhero filmmaking.

But It's a direct sequel, so you'd want to watch the first Darkman. The budget constraints show in the effects, and it won't surprise anyone looking for innovation.

Darkman II: The Return of Durant poster

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Circuitry Man1990

Both are low-budget action films from the 90s that use technology and transformation to give ordinary people extraordinary abilities, told with earnest charm and practical ingenuity rather than studio polish.

A cyberpunk B-movie with Jim Metzler as a courier in a wired future, where technology and biology blur. Like Nightman, it's pulpy 90s action with genuine world-building, but filtered through neon-soaked sci-fi instead of street-level superhero action. Wildly inventive on a shoestring.

But The pacing is jagged, the dialogue oscillates between clever and cringeworthy, and the effects are more interesting as ideas than executions. Cyberpunk fatigue may set in fast.

Circuitry Man poster
More like this (5)

Spawn1997

Released the same year as Nightman, it's another comic-to-screen adaptation with practical effects, atmospheric direction, and real stunt work. Michael Jai White brings physicality to a hero, and the film has genuine visual flair despite its limitations.

But The plot drags in the middle and the dialogue can be stilted. The special effects, while creative, show their age and low budget fairly quickly.

Spawn poster

Black Scorpion1995

Joan Severance in a leather outfit, practical stunts, and an earnest commitment to entertaining you for 85 minutes. It's camp superhero action that knows exactly what lane it's in and drives confidently down it.

But The script is thin and the jokes don't always land. It's very much a product of mid-90s direct-to-video action cinema, which is either exactly what you want or completely not.

Black Scorpion poster

Timemaster1995

A minor 90s sci-fi film with charming practical effects and an earnest hero-gets-powers premise. If you love that era of below-the-radar action cinema, this has the DNA you're after.

But The acting is uneven and the plot is genuinely thin. It's a time-travel film that doesn't quite justify its own premise, and the budget shows everywhere.

Timemaster poster

Street Hawk1985

Street Hawk is the direct spiritual predecessor to Nightman—both are about an underdog operative with classified tech, a secret identity, and a mission to take down criminals that nobody else can reach. Nightman is essentially Street Hawk transplanted into the superhero register.

A short-lived TV series about a cop on a high-tech motorcycle with classified gear fighting crime. It's the DNA Nightman was built from: earnest 80s/90s television where the hero has a gadget, a code, and enemies to face each week. Pure comfort food action.

But It's a TV series, so it's a commitment. The episodic nature means some installments are thin, and 1985 TV pacing moves slower than modern action expects.

Street Hawk poster

The Visitor1979

Both use cosmic/supernatural origin stories to transform an ordinary person into a powered vigilante, but where Nightman is straightforward action, The Visitor is gloriously baroque and unhinged—same engine, completely different fuel.

A wildly unhinged sci-fi film where an alien being possesses a man to fight crime on Earth. It's chaos—flamboyant, strange, with John Huston and Lance Henriksen orbiting a story that barely holds together. Utterly original in its wrongness, yet strangely effective.

But It's bewildering and the plot logic is non-existent. If you need narrative coherence or modest stakes, this will exhaust you. It's aggressively strange.

The Visitor poster

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