Death Wish is a 1974 American vigilante drama thriller 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 and daughter are murdered 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.