The “trash” genre (a term for movies that are often poorly made, but can have historical, cultural, and societal significance) was very segmented in the 80s with productions like Evil Dead II and the earlier works of some eccentric directors, now very notable, such as Peter Jackson with masterpieces of this specific niche as “Braindead” and “Bad Taste” and also with the creation of the Troma Entertainment.
As time went by, these films were obfuscated by the meta horror productions of the 90s, the remakes of classical slashers movies in the 2000s and, now, by the post horror stories that are taking over all the atmosphere of this genre in cinema.
With very few examples of an outstanding trashy type of film in recent years, now, super heroes begin to be attached to these low cost movies, mainly the famous Mike Mignola’s character Hellboy.
Hellboy: The Crooked Man tries to reinvigorate the legacy of the Dark Horse Comics on the big screen, using the protagonist and its minimum budget to honor the comics and all the subculture of the trashy productions fans. However, not everything sounds so wonderful as it may seem. With a low pace, the film starts with the hero on a normal day, fighting a big CGI spider-demon.
Right in the beginning, every nuance and mise-en-scene seems to be in place. Even with the awful graphics, the artwork understands that this is not some feature film that has the obligation to take itself seriously. Little gags are thrown everywhere, a sense of action and horror is built up by all the shades of gray that are used to convey the spectator of the dark fantasy atmosphere that it wants to transmit.
Unfortunately, as said earlier, Hellboy: The Crooked Man is no wonderland, and not even good with its purpose either. When the arc of the nightmarishly villain takes place in the first plan, the picture loses the focus on what really matters: all the trashness that is around the narrative. In the second act, the gimmicks are mitigated with a more restrained story that does not accept all limitations that are inside its core and it always wants to be more than it could.
The darkness that lies in all the photography starts to take long shots, not using the fastness and campness of the first scenes of the film, and really tries to show off to a public that was amazed by the comic reliefs and the limited mechanisms presented to them.
Going to the climax until the end, the development of Crooked Man is extremely vague, but his presence does not mark any type of fear or shadow above his figure. Actually, everything, mainly in the third act, begins to change the perspective of a trashy film to a low budget post horror that is keen on being vinculate to a subversive horror piece more than a unpretentious one, not causing any type of horror or even trying to.
To sum up, Hellboy: The Crooked Man initially gives the impression, through its first act and part of the second, that it knows its place and embraces its trashy style. However, the movie soon abandons its fearful elements, opting instead for a dull, serious, and somewhat pretentious approach.
Hellboy: The Crooked Man releases in theaters soon.
