It wasn’t bad at all, just very different from what we’re used to with this character. This one leans much more into psychological horror, focusing on fear and atmosphere rather than big demons and explosive action. It’s a pretty interesting shift. I was honestly surprised it premiered so late in Spain, almost two years after the rest of the world, but better late than never.
I actually liked David Harbour’s version and of course Ron Perlman’s is iconic, so this felt like a clear departure from both. The settings and sometimes even the camera work gave me strong The Blair Witch Project vibes mixed with a bit of Resident Evil 4. It has that lost in the woods with something deeply wrong kind of energy. I know it’s based on a comic with the same name, but I’m not sure how faithful it is to the source material.
The CGI wasn’t bad. Hellboy himself looked solid and convincing, and the rest holds up decently. That said, you can feel the limited budget throughout the film, which is a shame. With more funding, a tighter script, a stronger director vision and a bigger scale, I genuinely think a Hellboy movie could be incredible. The character has so much potential.
Jack Kesy does a really good job as Hellboy. He handles the action well, even if it’s hard not to picture Ron Perlman’s face when you think of the character. Adeline Rudolph is solid as his partner, very much the office agent thrown into field work type, and she plays it well. And I was genuinely surprised and happy to see Jefferson White. I love him in Yellowstone, so seeing him here with a significant role was a great surprise, and he does a very good job.
The story itself isn’t bad. Again, it reminded me a bit of Resident Evil 4, with the whole isolated forest, unstable people, and creeping dread. I actually appreciated not having to sit through Hellboy’s origin story for the third time. Repeating that again would have felt unnecessary. At the same time, the film could have used a bit more context in certain areas because some things feel underexplained.
One issue I had is the overuse of loud sound cues. Sound design is important in horror, but there were moments where it felt like they were just throwing in loud noises to force a scare, and it became more annoying than effective. Some of the jump scares did work though, especially the ones that weren’t the typical predictable kind.
With a bigger budget, clearer explanations, and a stronger script that doesn’t lose its footing in places, this could have been a genuinely great horror entry for the character. I really hope someday we get a more ambitious, fully realized Hellboy adaptation because the character absolutely deserves it.
It wasn’t bad at all, just very different from what we’re used to with this character. This one leans much more into psychological horror, focusing on fear and atmosphere rather than big demons and explosive action. It’s a pretty interesting shift. I was honestly surprised it premiered so late in Spain, almost two years after the rest of the world, but better late than never.
I actually liked David Harbour’s version and of course Ron Perlman’s is iconic, so this felt like a clear departure from both. The settings and sometimes even the camera work gave me strong The Blair Witch Project vibes mixed with a bit of Resident Evil 4. It has that lost in the woods with something deeply wrong kind of energy. I know it’s based on a comic with the same name, but I’m not sure how faithful it is to the source material.
The CGI wasn’t bad. Hellboy himself looked solid and convincing, and the rest holds up decently. That said, you can feel the limited budget throughout the film, which is a shame. With more funding, a tighter script, a stronger director vision and a bigger scale, I genuinely think a Hellboy movie could be incredible. The character has so much potential.
Jack Kesy does a really good job as Hellboy. He handles the action well, even if it’s hard not to picture Ron Perlman’s face when you think of the character. Adeline Rudolph is solid as his partner, very much the office agent thrown into field work type, and she plays it well. And I was genuinely surprised and happy to see Jefferson White. I love him in Yellowstone, so seeing him here with a significant role was a great surprise, and he does a very good job.
The story itself isn’t bad. Again, it reminded me a bit of Resident Evil 4, with the whole isolated forest, unstable people, and creeping dread. I actually appreciated not having to sit through Hellboy’s origin story for the third time. Repeating that again would have felt unnecessary. At the same time, the film could have used a bit more context in certain areas because some things feel underexplained.
One issue I had is the overuse of loud sound cues. Sound design is important in horror, but there were moments where it felt like they were just throwing in loud noises to force a scare, and it became more annoying than effective. Some of the jump scares did work though, especially the ones that weren’t the typical predictable kind.
With a bigger budget, clearer explanations, and a stronger script that doesn’t lose its footing in places, this could have been a genuinely great horror entry for the character. I really hope someday we get a more ambitious, fully realized Hellboy adaptation because the character absolutely deserves it.
