Hellboy: The Crooked Man tries its hardest to deliver a fresh, horror-driven take on the famed comic character, but ultimately it stumbles through a tedious experience that fails to engage.
Set in 1959, the film follows Hellboy (Jack Kesy) and his B.P.R.D. partner Bobbie Jo Song (Adeline Rudolph) as they venture into Appalachia on a mission involving witches, demons, and a pact with the devil. They soon meet Tom Ferrell (Jefferson White), a WWII veteran who must confront the consequences of an old deal with an infernal entity known as the Crooked Man. The trio face off against an array of grotesque creatures and paranormal horrors, but for all its effort, the story never manages to fully deliver on the dark potential of its source material.
It’s always admirable when a film makes the most out of a limited budget, but sometimes even the best intentions can’t save a production from itself. The low-budget effects do their best to distract, but not enough to compensate for the lack of compelling storytelling.
Jack Kesy’s performance as Hellboy is commendable—he fits well into the character’s shoes, but the dialogue and thin plot do him no favours. At times, it feels like Kesy is pulling the film along single-handedly. The effects, when considering the budget, are surprisingly decent, but the production itself is amateurish, often pulling the viewer out of what should be an immersive supernatural experience. The clunky pacing and underdeveloped characters further weigh down what could have been an exciting chapter in Hellboy’s story.
The lack of financial backing is evident throughout. From repeated locations to limited action sequences, Hellboy: The Crooked Man never shakes off the sense that it’s a small-scale production pretending to be bigger than it is. For hardcore fans of the comic series, there may be enough nostalgia and grim visuals to make it worth watching, but for mainstream audiences, the film will likely feel like a chore rather than entertainment.
Fun Fact:
Reported to have a $20 million budget, which is the lowest of all four adaptations.
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