Hellboy: The Crooked Man review by Bobby Blakey
Mike Mignola’s Hellboy has been a hit with fans since he debuted in San Diego Comic Con Comics # 2 in 1993. Since he has gone on to not only numerous comic series and mini-series, but both live action and animation. In 2004 Hellboy made his debut on the big screen and spawned a sequel in 2008 and a remake in 2019. Now Crank and Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance co-director Brian Taylor is bringing his vision of the hero from hell with Hellboy: The Crooked Man starring Jefferson White, Adeline Rudolph and Jack Kesy taking on the role of Hellboy. Could this latest chapter offer something that stands out or will it be the nail in the coffin on this franchise?
Hellboy: The Crooked Man follows Hellboy and rookie BPRD agent Song, who find themselves stranded in 1950s Appalachia. There they discover a community of witches led by a sinister evil called The Crooked Man, with mysterious ties to Hellboy’s past.
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I know the original trailer that dropped for this looked a bit cheesy, but with Mignola getting an actual writing credit this time around and the focus on the supernatural and horror like Hellboy is supposed to be, gave me a small since of hope. While I have loved every iteration of Hellboy none of them were without their faults with the original films being a ton of fun, but for me never really captured the essence of the books theme. As great as both Perlman and Harbour looked in the role I have to admit that Kesy looks way more like Mignola’s actual drawing of the character.
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Knowing the lower budget to this film I went in with different expectations and hoped that its focus on the darker world would elevate it to something worthy of the Hellboy legacy. I was initially concerned as the first spider
creature we see is not the best CGI, but also with the budget on the film is to be expected. That is par for the course of any time the CGI is used for some animals and creatures, but the focus on more practical effects helped to let that go. Thankfully they focus more on the horror element of the witches and Crooked Man and don’t rely heavy on the bigger CGI elements making it the most dark and grounded film in the franchise.
Kesy is great as Hellboy bringing the usual cocky attitude and fearless approach to everything he does. His visuals are similar to the look in the original films, but his longer neck and thinner legs make him the perfect live action iteration. The rest of the cast were fine, and I loved getting to see Yellowstone star Jefferson White doing something different and fun.
I ended up enjoying this quite a bit as it feels like a Mignola story. Being based on the actual Crooked Man mini-series gave them a direction for the character and the world to let fans see it come to life as it was read. Sure, the lower budget doesn’t make it always the most impressive in overall execution, but it’s well done to the point where it delivers what it wanted to and what Hellboy should. Given a bigger budget could have forced them to go way over the top and take us back out of what makes Hellboy so great.
Hellboy isn’t the kind of character that should be a big superhero spectacle film, but instead period pieces in the world of horror. This film captures that element unlike anything we have gotten before and may not be the best of the films we have gotten but is the most accurate to who Hellboy is and what he does. I loved the lower budget and old school vibes it brings especially in the credits feeling like old horror films from the 60s like the Universal and Hammer films.
If you are an old school Hellboy fan, then you will likely appreciate the films aesthetic a lot more than those that are just a fan of the films. Either way, I hope this film does well enough to get more of these smaller and darker films with the character.
Decide for yourself and check out Hellboy: The Crooked Man when it hits Blu-ray and DVD on December 17th from Ketchup Entertainment and Millennium.