Review of Hellboy (2004) by Al M — 05 Aug 2010

Along with Frank Miller's Sin City and Martha Washington comics, John Byrne's Next Men, Mike Allred's Madman, and others, Mike Mignola's Hellboy, which appeared in a variety of mini-series and one-shots, was one of the works that made Dark Horse Comic's Legend imprint such an important and groundbreaking collection of works.

And Guillermo del Toro does an amazing job of translating Mignola's quirky, strange blend of Lovecraftian horror, bizzaro comedy, and extreme action into a stylish and unforgettable thrillride that proves what big budget blockbusters can actually be like.

Alternately creepy, hilarious, poignant, and bad-ass, Hellboy is comic cinema at its finest and a testament to del Toro's ability to move between artsy foreign cinema and big budget Hollywood without losing his sense of style or his powerful command of the horror, science fiction, and fantasy genres.