The appeal of Mike Mignola’s Hellboy comics is they encompass so many genres. Their closest connection is to horror, but you’ll find fantasy, fairy tales, crime procedurals, and lots of comedy, as well. That’s why it’s been tough to nail the perfect Hellboy film on the big screen. Guillermo Del Toro’s two movies continue to be popular with a devoted audience, while the recent reboot failed to make an impression. But it’s the latest attempt, Hellboy: The Crooked Man, that looks to be the most comics accurate by leaning hard into its horror roots.
Directed by Brian Taylor (Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance) and starring Jack Kesy in the title role, Hellboy: The Crooked Man is set in the 1950s as the big red guy and the BPRD take on a coven of witches led by a supernatural villain known as the Crooked Man.
Kesy is joined in the cast by Martin Bassindale, Jefferson White, Adeline Rudolph, Joseph Marcell (Geoffrey!!), and Leah McNamara.
Taylor, Mignola, and Christopher Golden adapted the screenplay, based on a Mignola storyline.
SYNOPSIS: In the 1950s, Rookie BPRD agent Bobbie Jo Song is tasked with delivering a spider to the BPRD, but must seek Hellboy’s help when things go awry. Together, they travel to Appalachia to take on the Crooked Man, who has been sent back to Earth to collect souls for the devil.
Hellboy: The Crooked Man opens later this year.