Hellboy

Released 2004
Stars Ron Perlman, Selma Blair, Jeffrey Tambor, Karel Roden, Rupert Evans, John Hurt, Doug Jones, David Hyde Pierce (voice)
Directed by Guillermo del Toro

Hellboy opens in October 1944 Scotland, where a team of Nazis is trying to recruit otherworldly aid to Hitler's failing cause. Their efforts are foiled, but not before a creature passes through an open portal - a baby demon who is nicknamed "Hellboy." Taken under the wing of American scientist Professor Bruttenholm (John Hurt), Hellboy (Ron Perlman) grows up as an agent for the shady FBI Bureau of Paranormal Research and Defense. (Their purpose: "There are things that go bump in the night - we are the ones who bump back.") There, along with fellow "freaks" Abe Sapien (Doug Jones), an aquatic type, and Liz Sherman (Selma Blair), a firestarter, he defends the United States from supernatural dangers. The latest threat is Rasputin (Karel Roden), the resurrected Russian spiritualist who has made a pact with a group of dark gods. In return for everlasting life and great powers, he will open their way to Earth. In order to do so, he must convert Hellboy to his cause, or, at the very least, blackmail him. And Red (as his friends call him) has two weaknesses - his affection for his adopted father and his unvoiced love for Liz.

Summary by James Berardinelli

I had never heard of the "Hellboy" comics, but I thought I'd give the movie a chance. I'm glad I did, because it was pretty fun. It's like a combination of "X-men" and "Men in Black", and it's funny without being campy. Red goes up against a pretty formidable foe, a regenerating slimeball that divides when killed, and this leads to some excellent action scenes. The movie doesn't make a lot of sense, but I thought it was a lot of fun. --Bill Alward, September 26, 2004