Review of Dylan Dog: Dead of Night (2011) by Dathan R — 25 Sep 2012

Dylan Dog(Brandon Routh) is a private investigator who specializes in domestic cases in New Orleans, along with his assistant Marcus(Sam Huntington). However, he finds himself reluctantly drawn back into the world of the supernatural when he goes to the aid of Elizabeth(Anita Briem) when her father, an importer, is found brutally murdered in their Garden District home. Come to think of it, Gabriel(Peter Stormare) is none too happy to see Dylan either while for Vargas(Taye Diggs) it is business as usual as he sells vampire blood out of his club.

"Dylan Dog: Dead of Night" starts badly and ends awkwardly with a denouement that does not really make a whole lot of sense. In between there is not a half bad movie that while not as good as an average episode of either "Grimm" or "Lost Girl," still manages a decent amount of world building. It is neat what it does with New Orleans but it was not necessary to set it there.(One question: What did the undead do during Katrina? Or am I better off not knowing?) And I especially liked the look into zombie culture, with the comic relief neatly offsetting some of the dourness. While Brandon Routh, whose bland charm mixes badly with the attempt to do hard boiled noir, is badly miscast, at least, Taye Diggs is having fun.