Death Wish is a 1974 American vigilante action drama film loosely based on the 1972 novel of the same title by Brian Garfield. The film was directed by Michael Winner and stars Charles Bronson as Paul Kersey, an architect who becomes a vigilante after his wife is murdered and his daughter sexually assaulted during a home invasion. This was the first film in the Death Wish film series; it was followed eight years later with Death Wish II and other similar films.