Hellboy: The Crooked Man review – Big Red goes back to basics in horror-fuelled reboot

Hellboy is back, and going back to basics with a modest budget, self-contained story, and new actor playing Big Red in a horror-fuelled period piece.

Hellboy has had ups and downs on the big screen. Guillermo Del Toro’s first movie was well received by newcomers and longtime fans alike, while Ron Perlman was beloved in the title role.

A sequel – subtitled The Golden Army – received even more acclaim. But a planned third movie never materialised, while a 2019 reboot was an unhappy experience for all involved, including the eventual audience.

But now Hellboy returns, in a new iteration written by the character’s creator, Mike Mignola. One that keeps things simple and leans into horror, with some success.

What is Hellboy: The Crooked Man about?

Taking its cue from the James Bond movies, Mignola’s approach is to immediately thrust viewers into the midst of a Hellboy adventure, so there’s no context, no origin story, just Big Red mid-way through a mission.

The year is 1959, and together with rookie paranormal researcher Bobbie Jo Song (Adeline Rudolph), Hellboy is transporting dangerous cargo on a train through the Appalachian countryside.

That cargo is the most deadly arachnid in the world, and to kick things off with a bang, said spider escapes, resulting in an early action sequence that’s underpinned by a rock ‘n’ roll soundtrack, and ends with the creature missing, and our heroes stuck in the woods.

Hellboy immediately sniffs out “the stink” in their surroundings; a darkness that called out to the spider, and reaches out to him. Big Red then stumbles on a bewitched child in a cabin in those woods, and hears of a woman called Cora Fisher (Hannah Margetson) who has struck fear into the remote community.

Hellboy is concerned, and initially refuses the call to adventure. But Bobby Jo is keen to get stuck into her first piece of field work – and is also incredibly convincing – so Big Red is soon hunting for the source of the evil that’s poisoning the land.

Dispensing action for horror

This results in Hellboy fighting all manner of monsters, from a big snake and symbiotic parasites to shape-shifting humans and something altogether more Lovecraftian.

Brian Taylor – best-known for the Crank movies – stages these sequences with style. He also employs multiple narrative devices to tell the story, including visions, hallucinations, and flashbacks, while sudden transitions keep the story progressing at a decent clip.

But in spite of multiple fight scenes, Hellboy leans into horror more than action. Witches seem to hold the key to the mystery, with local enchantress Effie Kolb (Leah McNamara) being both terrifying and hilarious as she tortures and torments her prey. Most notably, war veteran Tom Ferrell (Jefferson Wright) harbors a dark secret of his own.

There’s also more to Cora’s story than meets the eye, which connects to the other name in the new movie’s title.

Who is the Crooked Man?

The Crooked Man was a Hellboy series from 2008, scripted by Mignola, with art by Richard Corben. It told the tale of a Civil War war profiteer who got his comeuppance, and then returned from the dead to collect souls on behalf of the Devil. At which point he became known as the Crooked Man.

As played by Martin Bassendale, he’s a scary fellow, made creepier by some spectacular makeup effects. His story – and the film itself – follows the comic pretty closely, with action revolving around a mystical bone, mysterious mines, and a church that sits atop something quite terrible.

It also puts the boy from hell on a collision course with Satan’s emissary on Earth, which results in both a fair fight and a blood-soaked finale.

The problem with Hellboy

All of which makes for a pretty compelling adventure. Trouble is, as played by Jack Kesy, Hellboy is likeable but isn’t all that exciting or interesting as he chain-smokes his way through proceedings.

Icon Film

Jack Kesy plays Big Red in Hellboy: The Crooked Man

Following in the footsteps of Ron Perlman and David Harbour is a tall order, as they both have celluloid charisma to spare. So rather than compete with that star-wattage, Kesy goes in a different direction, by playing a more understated Big Red.

But that means there’s something of a vacuum at the heart of the movie. Although this approach works in the smaller scenes – particularly when he’s interacting with unrequited love Bobby Jo – it means the protagonist is regularly upstaged by the story’s many monsters and villains. Which simply shouldn’t happen in a Hellboy movie.

Is Hellboy: The Crooked Man good?

The Crooked Man is a very different kind of Hellboy, being smaller and cheaper than what’s come before. But that’s enabled Mike Mignola to tell a Big Red story on his terms.

That definitely works in the film’s favor, as unlike Hollywood’s recent comic book movies, there are no characters or sequels being set-up, and no multiverse confusion to explain. Which gives the movie laser-like focus.

Though while the canvas is small and the story self-contained, the themes therein are large, concerning light and dark, heaven and hell, and ultimately, the battle for one man’s soul.

Hellboy’s own makeup isn’t a patch on what’s come before. But elsewhere, the creatures’ designs are spectacular, making the movie’s many monsters a feast for the eyes.

Hellboy: The Crooked Man score: 3/5

Hellboy: The Crooked Man isn’t a superhero movie in the traditional sense, but it’s a decent horror movie built around a likeable comic book character.

Hellboy: The Crooked Man hits screens on September 27, 2024. For more scary movies, check out our list of the best films at FrightFest and our countdown of the best horror movies of all-time. And for comic book action, take a look at all the upcoming Marvel movies and TV shows in development.