by Mike Mignola boy from hell and its myriad derivations are right up there as my favorite comics of all time. The mix of gothic, cosmic and monster horror with a bit of gallows humor really, really works for me. Guillermo del Toro made a couple boy from hell films with Ron Perlman. While it's good in its GDT way, none of them (especially the second one) really felt like a proper adaptation of the source material. The 2019 Neil Marshall boy from hell movie with David Harbor adapted the source material directly, but the film itself was very, very bad. Now we get Hellboy: The Crooked Man and… well, just take a look. Then we'll talk about it.
First some context. The Crooked Man was a three-issue arc by Mignola and artist Richard Corben from 2008. It detailed one of Hellboy's earlier missions for the Bureau of Paranormal Research and Defense. In 1958 Appalachia, Hellboy encounters some witches and witch-adjacent people and eventually crosses paths with the titular Crooked Man, a hanged 18th-century war profiteer who has returned from Hell to act as the resident devil in the region It's pretty terrifying, especially as Corben illustrates it.
Hellboy: The Crooked Man appears to be a very faithful (and small) adaptation of this particular story. On the face of it, that's good. One of the main problems with the 2019 film is that it adapted far, far too many stories, including The wild game, the longest and most epic story in the Mignola canon. Focusing on a one time adventure and maxing out the horror is a good idea.
However, just by looking at it, you can see the very low budget. You may have noticed that the movie comes to us from Ketchup Entertainment. KETCHUP ENTERTAINMENT. Brian Taylor (d crank franchise fame) is running, with himself, Mignola and Mignola's Baltimore contributor Christopher Golden on script duties. Jack Kesy (who very briefly played Black Tom Cassidy Deadpool 2) portrays Hellboy and appears unfinished. If Harbor was too contrived, Kesy looks like a decent amateur cosplay attempt.
So who knows! It can be good. It certainly seems more focused on actual horror. Which is the right direction to go following the dark fantasy mix of the last film. But I'm not convinced after this first glance. I'd love to see any live action outing get the tone of the comics right one day. whether Hellboy: The Crooked Man you can do it, you'll have to wait until it comes out at the end of the year.
Kyle Anderson is the Senior Editor at Nerdist. He hosts the weekly pop culture dive Laser Focus podcast. You can find yours film and television reviews here. follow him Instagram i Mailbox d.
