After Guillermo del Toro’s well-liked and richly imagined Hellboy films, as well as 2019’s misbegotten David Harbour-led attempted reboot, it may have seemed like the cinematic adventures of comicdom’s beloved demon-turned-paranormal investigator had come to a close. But fear not. Creator Mike Mignola would appear to have had greater involvement — he co-wrote with frequent collaborator Christopher Golden — in this latest installment, Hellboy: The Crooked Man. Unfortunately, however, it’s immediately evident what a decidedly low-budget affair this entry is, and despite its relative faithfulness to the Mignola’s comic, it never really transcends its obvious direct-to-streaming pedigree.
It’s 1959, and Hellboy (Jack Kesy) and his colleague Bobbie Jo Song (Adeline Rudolph) wind up stuck in the Appalachian woods after their train derails during a battle with a giant and gnarly shapeshifting spider, which gets away — which means more on that later, presumably. This opening sequence is likely the most elaborate in the movie, but it’s also clearly a work of strained resources — the VFX are rough to say the least. In any case, stranded and searching for their quarry, our heroes meet Tom Ferrell (Jefferson White), a shell-shocked WWII veteran who is also some sort of witch, and who has returned to his home here in Appalachia in order to confront the titular Crooked Man (Martin Bassindale), who’s running around stealing souls and other nefarious things of that nature.
It’s a straightforward enough conceit and an intriguing circumstance to plunk the likes of Hellboy into. Unfortunately, The Crooked Man‘s uniformly dingy outdoor locations and underground passageways end up doubling the monotony of the film’s endless expository dialogue, and things fail to enliven even with the occasional shrieking witch lady or spooky blind preacher popping up. Kesy does a decent enough job taking over the role all things considered, but he also seems generally too young and not remotely gruff enough to play legendarily irritable jerk. Meanwhile, nobody else in the cast manages to make a difference, let alone an impression.
Looking to the source material, Mignola’s comics absolutely ooze atmosphere, and his artwork is thrillingly idiosyncratic and off-kilter. Sadly, none of that vibe comes through at all in The Crooked Man. Director Brian Taylor (late of Neveldine/Taylor) have proven himself capable shooting frenetic action sequences, so ostensibly he ought to be able to do something more inventive with his camera here than just some shallow focus and blurred frames — but no such luck. The whole film simply feels like a missed opportunity, especially given how fertile the the source material is, and that it details some of the darker Hellboy lore out there. Perhaps given the method of release and absence of any real marketing, this shouldn’t be a surprise. But even given the fact that it takes actual expectations to lead to disappointment, The Crooked Man still manages to be a notable bummer.
DIRECTOR: Brian Taylor; CAST: Jack Kesy, Jefferson White, Adeline Rudolph, Lean McNamara; DISTRIBUTOR: Ketchup Entertainment; STREAMING: October 8; RUNTIME: 1 hr. 39 min.
