4 Star

The Boy Is Back.

Yes, the Hellboy (Jack Kesy, Baywatch, 12 Strong) is back, bigger, badder and hell-bent on bringing justice to the Appalachians. With creator Mike Mignola (Batman: Gotham by Gaslight, Hellboy: Frozen) onboard, you know this is going to be Hellboy authentic, as we head back to the end of the 1950s. This time he is paired up with a B.P.R.D (Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense) rookie lab-geek Bobbie Jo Song (Adeline Rudolph, Resident Evil, Chilling Adventures of Sabrina (TV Series)). Be prepared for some spooky goings-on when the Crooked Man (Martin Bassindale, Royal Shakespeare Company: The Two Gentlemen of Verona, On Chesil Beach) turns up. This really feels like a graphic novel, so settle back and let Hellboy do his Thing.

Hellboy will be available to own in the UK from 9th December 2024 on 4K Special Collectors Edition, Blu-ray, DVD and Digital, courtesy of Icon Film Distribution.

It’s six-hundred miles to Fairfield, and Hellboy, Bobbie Jo Song and junior G-man travel in a boxcar, transporting a demonic spider that is supposed to be sedated, but there are weird sounds in the air that only Hellboy and the arachnid seem to pick up on. It bursts from its enclosure and grows very big, the ensuing fight for life causes the boxcar to career off the tracks and tumble down the wooded hillside. Hellboy, Bobbie and the spider are thrown free and  as they come to rest, they have to battle the spider, until it shrinks and disappears down a mining ventilation shaft. Hellboy knows that there is something wrong with these woods.

Who builds a tunnel to hell in the middle of the woods?

Dark things call to dark things.

They go in search of civilisation, but what they find is a bewitched boy and a returning traveller, Tom Ferrell (Jefferson White, Yellowstone (TV Series), God’s Country) who says that the local witch is Cora Fisher (Hannah Margetson), but Tom has a tale about when he met the Devil, or as he is called around these parts ‘The Crooked Man’ (Martin Bassindale). As Hellboy and Jo follow Tom, he tells the tale of his young love of Effie Kolb (Leah McNamara, Vikings (TV Series), Dublin Murders (TV Series)) and how she convinced him to become a witch like her. He performed the rights, and taking the bones of a black cat, the Crooked Man appeared making the bone in his hand his ‘lucky bone’, the one he carries all the time, and saw him come through WW II unscathed.

Something is going on around here, and it’s down to Hellboy, Jo and Tom to sort it out, and find that damn spider. Spooky Riveting Stuff.

A great addition to the franchise and a great release, well worth adding to your collection.

HELLBOY: THE CROOKED MAN is out now on 4K Special Collectors Edition, Blu-ray, DVD and Digital

4K Special Collector’s Edition (UK-exclusive release) includes:
-Premium O-ring packaging
-Four collectible art cards
-Double sided poster
-Cast and crew interviews
-B-roll

Blu-ray includes
-Cast and crew interviews
-B-roll