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Review – Hellboy Animated: Blood & Iron

19th July 2021

SUMMARY The Bureau of Paranormal Research & Defence are brought into a publicity stunt of a case for a supposedly haunted mansion in Long Island, owned by a big shot entrepreneur with ties to the BPRD’s budget. Upon arrival, the parlour tricks turn to paranormal warnings. Ghosts and ghouls haunt this house but as victims of a far greater horror, an Eastern European blood countess known as Erzsebet Ondrushko. ART Just to get the negative out of the way, the animation can be choppy at times, especially during action sequences. It doesn’t ruin the flow of the film but it is noticeable unfortunately. Okay now to the endless praise, when not in full motion, the animation and artistry is gorgeous. Whoever said you can’t replicate a beloved comic book art style in an animated adaptation needs to watch this. The film is dripping with Mignola’s grim and gothic atmosphere and art style with very few additions that do indeed add to the style. As an animated film, the sky is the limit with what you can bring to life visually. Where this film really shines is in it’s visual restraint. Scenes of pure horror are left to the imagination with an orchestra made up of horrifying sections; instead of strings we have the sounds tearing flesh, percussion is replaced with the sounds of crunching bones and it’s all accompanied by a choir of echoing screams. The only horror we see is on the faces of those who narrowly escaped a nightmare. WRITING There’s a satisfying full circle to this film wherein Mignola adapted Francis Ford Coppola’s Bram Stoker’s Dracula into a graphic novel in his own image. Now Mignola gets to make his own classic Stokeresque vampire story with Blood & Iron into a film. The psychological and emotional horror of Stoker’s Dracula mixed with the dark and witty action of Hellboy blends seamlessly as a story. The Del Toro adaptation gang is all here; Ron Perlman, Selma Blair, Doug Jones and the late John Hurt all reprising their roles and gifting the film with their synonymous voice talents. Not to mention the additional stellar voicecast of Jim Cummings, Rob Paulsen, Peri Gilpin and James Arnold Taylor. Stand out performances are given by Kath Soucie as Erzsebet Ondrushko and Cree Summer as Hecate, Goddess of Magic & Witchcraft. OVERALL In conclusion, Hellboy Animated: Blood & Iron is a gripping animated feature length film with a full package of humour, action, horror and emotional weight with an all star voice cast and uncanny art style replication. Why this particular piece of Hellboy media didn’t spawn a long running animated TV Show is beyond me, a true missed opportunity to provide something dark, action-packed and educational! [yasr_multiset setid=4] [yasr_visitor_multiset setid=4] Let us know your thoughts on Hellboy Animated: Blood & Iron and be sure to check out our reviews for Hellboy Animated: Sword of Storms & Hellboy & The BPRD! Buy tickets for BGCP Comic Con in and around Glasgow Scotland – BUY TICKETS Check out all of our Comic, Movie, Television and Videogame Reviews HERE and our Podcasts/Interviews HERE If you want to be part of the BGCP community, Join us on Discord, Twitter, Instagram etc then click HERE

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Review – Hellboy Animated: Sword of Storms

18th July 2021

Review – Hellboy Animated: Sword of Storms SUMMARY Hellboy takes a tour of Japan unlike any other when the deities of Thunder and Lightning possess a renowned professor of Japanese fables. With his red right hand and the sword of storms in his left, Hellboy looks to right the wrongs of an ancient mythological tale of romance, betrayal and horror, cutting down all the folklore in his way. Don’t trust the umbrella! ART With it’s roots in Japanese mythology, there’s more than enough synergy and variety between the primary animation style and traditional Japanese kaiga artwork throughout the film. Making for a magnificent balancing act between beautiful scenery that’s eerie and terrifying characters which are elegant. Speaking of variety, there are so many different characters and creatures spread across this story and they’re all likeable, even the ones that are truly horrifying to look at; like if Scooby Doo merged with Little Nightmares. WRITING Playing out more like the labours of Hercules in a Japanese setting, this animated film stands out with it’s deep and creepy Japanese history, fables and folklore such as Raijin and Fujin; the Gods of Thunder and Lightning, disembodied flying heads known as Nukeubi and the Spider Woman, Jorōgumo. All of which are given time to be bad ass and haunting in their own ways. See? Education CAN be fun! While not the main genre of the film, it deserves to be noted that this film is hilarious. Every little quip, joke, dig and comic relief lands perfectly, very seldom does it disrupt the flow of the overall serious tone and instead adds character and an air of pleasant fantasy amongst the horror and drama. OVERALL In conclusion, Hellboy Animated: Sword of Storms is a fantastical animated film crawling with ambience and action. The beloved cast and crew do an incredible job to make this an impassioned love letter to Japanese folklore and Mike Mignola. My only complaint is that there aren’t more of these films or at least a TV Show! [yasr_multiset setid=4] [yasr_visitor_multiset setid=4] Let us know in the comments your thoughts on Hellboy Animated: Sword of Storms, your favourite animated adaptation of a comic and be sure to check out our review for Hellboy & The BPRD! Buy tickets for BGCP Comic Con in and around Glasgow Scotland – BUY TICKETS Check out all of our Comic, Movie, Television and Videogame Reviews HERE and our Podcasts/Interviews HERE If you want to be part of the BGCP community, Join us on Discord, Twitter, Instagram etc then click HERE

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Review – Hellboy vs Lobster Johnson: The Ring of Death

4th February 2026

Review – Hellboy vs Lobster Johnson: The Ring of Death Written by Mike Mignola & Chris Roberson Art by Mike Norton & Paul Grist Published by Dark Horse Comics Released in May, 2019 SUMMARY Hellboy vs Lobster Johnson: The Ring of Death is written by Mike Mignola. Hellboy and fellow B.P.R.D. agent Victor Koestler decide to kick back from their usual paranormal investigations to watch some late-night TV on the couch. What should air but Hellboy himself facing off against Mexico’s Lobster Johnson in an old-fashioned superhero flick. Despite sharing a screen with a supposed idol, Hellboy has mixed feelings and is reluctant to watch it for some reason… ART The black and white film’s presentation is undoubtedly paying homage to the late great Luchador El Santo and his films of the 60s and 70s. Mike Norton’s tweener artwork is a fitting accompaniment to Mignola’s fun but gritty story, creating an overall blissful package. Hellboy, a literal spawn from Hell, dressed up in a Problem Child-like Devil costume is both hilarious and truly wholesome. As if the boyhood dream of engaging his idol has come true. WRITING While not deep in its number of pages, the lore of the comic is actually a major part of the Mignolaverse with some kayfabe elements surrounding it. The Ring of Death is but one of many faux Lobster Johnson films with a Mexican actor portraying the titular character. Guillermo del Toro himself was rumoured to direct a remake of this film…in the Mignolaverse, as in a fictional del Toro! It’s a headache inducing character to research but a welcome one to be sure. The Ring of Death is revealed in the post credit-like comic, Down Mexico Way, to be a drunken Hellboy escapade during his time in Mexico which explains his reluctance to relive the events. The beauty and real story is in the minor details. Dialogue is over the top and hoaky just as it should be for this storyline, Scorsese couldn’t have written better dialogue than this. OVERALL In conclusion, this is a neat little tongue in cheek comic to own, its only reason for existing seems to be to pay homage to the luchador El Santo. More so, it just has fun with beloved characters. Who wouldn’t wanna chill with Hellboy while watching some TV? Presented as a joke that everyone is in on, it’s simply harmless and inclusive collectable. While I enjoyed the comic, I wouldn’t go out of my way to purchase it. It’s best as a Free Comic Book Day offering to diehard fans of Hellboy and Mike Mignola. Drop a rating below on our Review of Hellboy vs Lobster Johnson: The Ring of Death.

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Hellboy Movie 2019 Review: A Soul-Crushing Dumpster Fire

16th February 2026

Hellboy Movie 2019 Review: A Soul-Crushing Dumpster Fire INTRODUCTION: The Worst Superhero Film Ever? Welcome to our Hellboy Movie 2019 Review. While taking notes for this piece, I realized that the movie is impressive in only one way. It made me question the futility of time. Why was I wasting my short life re-watching this atrocious piece of trash? This might be the worst film I have ever seen. Frankly, it took the crown of “worst superhero movie” from Fan4stic. This reboot is downright insulting to fans. I still cannot believe they chose this garbage over a third Guillermo del Toro film with Ron Perlman. CHARACTERS: A Whiny Hero and Sleepwalking Actors A major part of any Hellboy Movie 2019 Review is the cast. David Harbour had big shoes to fill. In his defense, he tries his best with extremely poor material. However, the writers turned Big Red into a moaning, whiny teenager. Furthermore, the excessive makeup prevents Harbour from emoting. His mouth opens and closes like a puppet while shoddy ADR dialogue plays over it. The supporting cast is equally insufferable. Alice gives one of the worst performances I have ever witnessed in a comic book movie. Meanwhile, Ian McShane clearly sleepwalked through his role for an easy paycheck. Milla Jovovich plays a stereotypical witch and brings nothing new to the table. TECHNICALS: Cheap CGI and Horrible Editing In this Hellboy Movie 2019 Review, we have to talk about the visuals. I have seen cheap CGI before, but this takes the cake. Almost every creature looks like an unfinished student project. The fight with the giants is particularly bad. It takes place in broad daylight, which exposes the amateur effects. The editing is also horrible. It feels like a cheap 90s television show. The soundtrack is misused, featuring songs that add absolutely nothing to the scenes. Even the humor fails. The movie relies on gross-out burp jokes and “pantomime” dialogue that feels more like a poor kids’ film than a dark horror-action epic. VERDICT: The Final Hellboy Movie 2019 Review Ultimately, Neil Marshall’s Hellboy is a disaster. Please don’t see this unless you hate yourself. It is two hours of your life that would be better spent doing literally anything else. CGI Quality: 1/10 Writing: 1/10 Overall Rating: 1/5 Stars Check out our other 2019 reviews: Review – Shazam! (Movie) (2019) Review – Jedi: Fallen Order (2019) Want to see if it’s really that bad? Buy Hellboy (2019) on Amazon.

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