By Jack Ransom - October 7, 2024
Big Red’s fourth cinematic outing and the second attempt since Del Toro’s beloved flicks to create a new franchise run. Hellboy: The Crooked Man sees Hellboy (Jack Kesy) and a rookie B.P.R.D. (Adeline Rudolph) agent in the 1950s are sent to the Appalachians, where they discover a remote community dominated by witches and led by the sinister local demon, the Crooked Man (Martin Bassindale).
The two Del Toro flicks will forever be the fan favourites and inevitably anything relating to Hellboy that releases since is compared to those films (of which a third instalment cruelly never materialised). 2019’s gonzo, messy, edge-lord gore drenched reboot was a critical and commercial disaster (with director Neil Marshall disowning the film and vowing never to work within the blockbuster studio system again). Five years later, this $20 million dollar, horror focused outing creeped into public knowledge to an instantaneously mixed reaction.
Despite the dodgy and at times fan film looking first teaser trailer, I was intrigued by this folk horror approach to the character. I immediately snapped up the graphic novel it was inspired by. The Crooked Man story is not particularly long (in reality it would probably really only justify a short film if it was followed to the exact pagination), however it is bristling with atmosphere and makes for a welcome ‘everyday situation-esque’ story for the reader to sink into. What this feature nails is that grim, unnerving atmosphere and fans of the comic will be pleased to hear that it certainly is faithful to the source material, with the majority of the dialogue and even shot composition matching that of the comic (including the Grammy Witchball interlude brought a grin to my face). The film does add further elements to justify its 100 minutes (with trippy interludes of Hellboy’s origin and the welcome addition of Bobbie Jo Song as Hellboy’s BPRD colleague), however the pacing and structuring of the film can be a little choppy and the slow burn pacing does drag at times.
From a visual perspective the film is certainly a mixed bag. I can’t deny that the $20 million budget doesn’t look like it has been fully utilised (I recently watched both Terrifier sequels - the second costing $250,000 and third $2 million) and I will say that both are visually superior and stylistically more impressive than this. Despite the dodgy CGI elements, of which range from a video-game like spider to a genuinely trippy and intimidating giant crow. There is some solid practical effect work on display (the raccoon-body sequence being the standout) and the makeup and costuming for Hellboy, The Crooked Man and the various zombie-like village folk is solid. Unfortunately, the filmmakers opted for incredibly dark and at times barely coherent lighting that will have you squinting around the frame (there’s one particular church shootout which is borderline incoherent). I will also say that for one of the director’s of Crank 1 & 2 and the manic Mom & Dad - Brian Taylor is surprisingly restrained here. That being said, some of his signature stylistic choices such as sped up, blurred and distorted footage, when inputted here is hindered by the budget restraints and poor lighting. What I was pleasantly surprised by was the score. It’s dripping in unnerving folk tones that loom over the feature. Genuinely great stuff.
The performances are fine across the board. Jack Kesy nails the dry toned, straight-to-the-point and subtle Hellboy portrayal (far more restrained than Harbour’s bellowing wise-cracker, but not as layered as Perlman). It’s just a shame that the dialogue he has to work with at times isn’t particularly compelling. Adeline Rudolph and Jefferson White are both solid as his companion characters. Joseph Marcell is clearly relishing hamming it up as the blind Reverend Watts and the same with Martin Bassindale as the deviously mysterious and creepy as the titular Crooked Man and Leah McNara and Hannah Margetson tread the line between genuine hammy mania and a little grating with the overly Southern tones.
Hellboy: The Crooked Man is to be commended for trying something new with this cinematic adaptation of the character. The folk horror is cranked up, the atmosphere is palpable, the imagery is welcomely creepy and the performances are fine. However, the film is lacking genuine scares, dread and thrills that it could potentially deliver. The technical aspects are hit and miss in quality, the film does hit plodding and meandering territory at points and the screenplay isn’t the sharpest.
Hellboy: The Crooked Man released in cinemas September 27
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