Hellboy: The Crooked Man (2024)

The new Hellboy was on sale on Fandango so I snagged it.

Plot

While on a mission in 1957, Hellboy and rookie agent, Bobbie Jo Song, find themselves stranded in the Appalachian wilderness. They team up with a returning local to stop a coven of witches and local devil.

Review

Unconnected to any of the previous Hellboy flicks, this film is based on Mike Mignola's The Crooked Man miniseries. This is my favorite Hellboy story. This film adapts that story while adding new elements. Agent Song was created for the film. Additionally the movie dives into Hellboy's origin and I don't remember that in the original story.  

I loved Del Toro's supernatural action spectacles, but this movie isn't like that. It's an Appalachian folk horror movie, that also has Hellboy. The cast is solid. He's not Ron Pearlman, but Jack Kesy does a fine job. He felt like the comic Hellboy and honestly I didn't think he looked bad. 

Quite a few of the effects are practical, though there is some janky CGI. Still overall, I really like the look and style of the movie. There are a few title cards interspersed and I believe these come from the miniseries, though I don't have a copy to check. 

The new elements to the story didn't really bother me. Agent Song's banter with Hellboy was entertaining and adding someone that's partially skeptic to the mix adds a new dynamic to the story, without taking anything away.

If you're a Hellboy fan or like folk horror, I definitely recommend this one. Just make sure you go into it knowing that it's not a big budget action movie. 

In Your Game

Going to stat these items for 5e, but honestly they work for many systems.

Ephie Kolb's Horse Bit

Wondrous Item, Rare

Anyone wearing this magical horse bit turns into a horse. In horse form the wearer can't speak, but their words and strong emotions are translated to the horsey equivalent. 

Curse. Unlike many cursed items it doesn't require a Remove Curse spell, it can be be simply removed by anyone other than the horse. 

Tom Ferrell’s Shovel

Wondrous Item, Very Rare

This tool was imbued by Tom's lucky bone and the holy spirit by Reverend Watts. You can use it as a weapon against the damned. When you hit a Fiend, Undead, or someone under a fiendish contract (such as a witch or some warlocks), that creature takes 1d10 Radiant damage.

Simple Melee Weapon

                    Damage                                    Weight           Properties

Shovel        1d4 slashing or bludgeoning        5                  versatile (1d6)