Hellboy: The Crooked Man (2024)

Hellboy:-The-Crooked-Man-(2024)
Hellboy: The Crooked Man (2024)

Although it remains an obscure one at best, “Hellboy: The Crooked Man” was announced to be produced with a budget of 20 million dollars, which is an even more curious number than its ‘low’ budget reboots. With such a low price tag, one might imagine expecting a makeshift YouTube fan film complete with gratuitous excess fidelity that simply obsesses over replicating the story arcs and brings to life a collection of images, all of which were showcased in Mike Mignola’s eponymous comic book. That’s why it is understandable that Mignola not only earned a cameo but was credited as a screenwriter. But Taylor\’s involvement as a director is quite a shocking detail. Being part of the duo together with his creative associate of The Crank movies and The Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance, plus his low-budget exploitation movie “Mom and Dad” which is also successfully theatrical, Taylor has directed those types of films that shine with movement and style rather than with plot. With ‘The Crooked Man’ that didn’t seem to be the case though.

Fans of Hellboy who are probably first lovers of Ron Perlman and then David Harbor would have thought these two performers are ideal for the elder version of the character, now they would instead be introduced to a less aggressive and rather submissive character in Jack Kesy who has seen more success in films like 12 Strong. He might throw in a comment every now and then, but it is unlikely that he tries humor in a real hardcore style, while trying to recall some things from his younger days that performed great and actively influenced the present. Yet, despite the fact that Hellboy as a character is resentful, aggressive, and edgy, he loves to hate everyone and gives a sense of love to those few people who can tolerate him, those same people who occupy the same large spaces and who come from the different universes, freezing together already occupying fans and lovers of the elder and much more beloved ‘Big Red’, the blame lies with the screenwriting which doesn’t allow Jack to settle down.

In the comic book universe, Hellboy, after a kind of boring encounter with a large spider on a train, which shows up only here and is not great for the rest of the ongoing story, is lost in the woods of rural Appalachia with his B.P.R.D. (Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense) rookie companion Jo (Adeline Rudolph). They then encounter a few of the villagers who they promise to help because they are being troubled by local witches and the Crooked Man, the latter of which has tenuous links to the colonial evils associated with America, only mentioned before to be dismissed.

Like the previously referenced train sequence, Jo is also not a part of the comics, or rather, she doesn’t appear in the movie at all. That’s not the case for Sonstige, however, Even whilst remaining a persistent figure, her function is to stay silent and occasionally make remarks relating to the oddities encountered by her as well as Hellboy while traversing the woods under the direction of some local ex-soldier named Tom (Jefferson White) who has not impressed any of the fans as well. As the three walk, they see and partake in folk-horror activities of a trilogy, none of which is presented in a cinematic way. The movie is basic and awkward, with two flickering distant action shots, and no sense of place in the few times that such action shots are restrained.

There is something amusing about this odd special effect, as though a wandering skeleton was putting on a skinsuit, the picture consists mostly of dull conversations that are unconnected to the visual. Hellboy often claims he can smell evil and death lingering over the woods, with the camera, however, rarely showing the actual setting its characters are walking through. They take steps, see a witch they’ve only partially seen, take more steps, and see another one; it gets to feel rather absurdly monotonous.

Constantly, there is a complete disregard for emulating the comic’s iconic artwork by Richard Corben, who was able to infuse sheer grotesqueness into every single piece of the book. This is not replaced by any visual inspiration either. Standing possibilities, which appear in “The Crooked Man”, is totally devoid of any interest, as well as the psychic flashback sequences the characters undergo, which come across as more of a requirement than a creative endeavor. As one moves closer to meeting the titular antagonist, the story seems to be more of an afterthought and the amount of attention given to its development also drops. Sven Faulconer’s music fits the well-defined description of ‘creepy’ perfectly but there is, from the lighting to the mise en scene, little to applaud.

Unlike previous Hellboy films, this film has its shortcomings and shortcomings. The Crooked Man does not bring anything distinctive that can be regarded as a love for the lead character or his bizarre world. Theoretically, a tight budget should have forced a concentration on the series over-the-top horror features, but quite the opposite has occurred. What is left is the shell of the Hellboy intellectual property.

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