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Hellboy (film)
Encyclopedia
Hellboy is a 2004 supernatural
superhero film
, starring Ron Perlman
, John Hurt
and Selma Blair
, directed by Guillermo del Toro
. The film is based on the Dark Horse Comics
work Hellboy: Seed of Destruction
by Mike Mignola
. It was produced by Revolution Studios
, and distributed by Columbia Pictures
. The film is about a demonic beast known as Hellboy
who secretly works to keep the world safe from paranormal threats.
Released in the spring of 2004, it grossed $59 million at the United States box office
, and $99 million worldwide and was favorably received by critics. A sequel, Hellboy II: The Golden Army, was released on July 11, 2008.
. With the help of Russian mystic Grigori Rasputin
, they intend to free the Ogdru Jahad
—monstrous entities imprisoned in another dimension—to aid them in defeating the Allies. Rasputin knows that this will be an apocalyptic event that he believes will create a paradise. He opens the portal with the aid of his disciples, Ilsa von Haupstein and Obersturmbannführer
Karl Ruprecht Kroenen
, Adolf Hitler's top assassin. An Allied team is sent to destroy the portal, guided by young Professor Trevor Broom
, who is well-versed in the occult. The German team is killed and the portal is destroyed—in the process absorbing Rasputin—while Haupstein and Kroenen escape. The Allied team discovers an infant demon with a right hand of stone came through the portal; they dub it "Hellboy
".
Sixty years later, FBI agent John Myers is transferred to the Bureau of Paranormal Research and Defense (BPRD) at the request of a much older Broom; he meets the adult Hellboy and a psychic, amphibious humanoid named Abe Sapien
. He learns that a third BPRD member, Liz Sherman
, has recently checked into a mental hospital to protect others from her volatile pyrokinetic
abilities. Despite regular visits and coaxing from Hellboy, she is determined not to return. Kroenen and Haupstein resurrect Rasputin in the mountains of Moldova
. The three unleash a hellhound
known as Sammael
. Rasputin imbues Sammael with the power to reincarnate and split his essence, causing two of the creature's eggs to hatch and mature each time one dies. Rasputin visits Liz as she sleeps, activating her powers and almost destroying the hospital. Myers convinces her to return to the bureau.
Sammael's ability to multiply becomes a problem, as Hellboy repeatedly kills it, creating dozens. Abe is injured while retrieving some of its eggs, and Kroenen critically wounds one of the FBI agents sent with Hellboy. Kroenen, whose mutilated body is run by mechanical parts, shuts himself down, pretending to be defeated. Kroenen's body is brought to the bureau. FBI Director Tom Manning
is angered by Hellboy's recklessness. Myers takes Liz out for coffee and to talk. Hellboy, jealous, covertly follows them. Rasputin appears at the bureau, reanimating Kroenen before confronting Professor Broom. Rasputin offers him a vision of the future, showing Hellboy is the agent that will destroy the world. Rejecting Rasputin's vision, Broom is stabbed in the neck by Kroenen and dies clutching a rosary.
Manning takes over the B.P.R.D. and locates Rasputin's mausoleum in an old cemetery outside Moscow
, Russia
. A team led by Manning and Hellboy enter the mausoleum, but swiftly become separated. Hellboy and Manning find their way to Kroenen's lair and defeat him. Telling Manning to stay back, Hellboy reunites with Liz and Myers at Sammael's nest to defend them, but the creatures overwhelm him. Liz uses her pyrokinetic powers to incinerate the Sammaels and their eggs. Hellboy, Liz and Myers lose consciousness and are captured by Rasputin. To force Hellboy to release the Ogdru Jahad
, Rasputin sucks Liz's soul out of her body, telling Hellboy that Liz will come back to life if he obeys. Hellboy awakens his true power as Anung un Rama, causing his horns to regrow. He nearly releases the Ogdru Jahad, but the injured Myers reminds him of who he is and that he has the right to choose his own path. Remembering his true self and what Broom brought him up to be, Hellboy rips off his horns, returning to his former self and resealing the Ogdru Jahad. Hellboy stabs Rasputin with one of his broken horns.
Rasputin has been possessed by a creature from the Ogdru Jahad. The tentacled Behemoth
bursts out of Rasputin's body and grows to immense size, killing Rasputin and Ilsa. Hellboy allows himself to be swallowed by the beast while detonating a belt of hand grenade
s. The explosion tears the Behemoth apart. Liz's vital signs are gone when Hellboy returns from the fight, but he whispers into her ear and her life is restored. When she asks how her soul was returned, Hellboy replies that he told the creatures from the other side the cost of taking her: "Hey, you on the other side. Let her go. Because for her I'll cross over, and then you'll be sorry." She and Hellboy kiss as she surrounds them in flame.
on March 30, 2004.
.
Metacritic
assigned the film a score of 72%, based on a weighted average of 37 reviews from mainstream critics.
Entertainment Weekly
gave the film a "B" rating and wrote, "Pop pretensions can't undo a basic contradiction: that our hero is fighting metaphysical evil with pure, meaty brawn. Hellboy is engaging, but it's got a lot more boy in it than hell".
In his review for the New York Times, Elvis Mitchell wrote, "Mr. del Toro avidly lavishes this texture on Hellboy . . . giving it a kiss of distinction. It's an elegant haunted house of a picture with dread and yearning part of the eeriness".
Roger Ebert
gave the film three and half stars out of four and praised Ron Perlman's performance: "And in Ron Perlman, it has found an actor who is not just playing a superhero, but enjoying it . . . he chomps his cigar, twitches his tail and battles his demons with something approaching glee. You can see an actor in the process of making an impossible character really work".
The film also received good reviews in the British press - for example, Peter Bradshaw from The Guardian
commented amusedly on the unhistoricity of the Nazis invading Britain in the initial sequence but overall called the film "bizarre and loopy, romantic and dynamic".
Claudia Puig USA Today
was less enthusiastic and wrote, "Hellboys special effects don't offer much of anything new, its far-fetched plot leaves a bit to be desired, and there is plenty that flat-out doesn't make sense. Those unfamiliar with the comic book may leave the theater bedeviled and scratching their heads".
s in 2005, including Best Fantasy Film, Best Special Edition DVD Release, and Best Make-Up, which it won.
Empire
magazine ranked Hellboy 11th in their "The 20 Greatest Comic Book Movies" list.
Hellboy was also ranked number 13 out of 94 in Rotten Tomatoes' "Comix Worst to Best" countdown (where 1 was best and 94 was worst).
in a two-disc special edition DVD on July 27, 2004, less than sixteen weeks after it opened in theaters. Included, were video introductions by Del Toro and Selma Blair, plus a feature that allowed viewers to click during selected parts of the film to comics drawn by Mike Mignola. Other bonus features include audio commentaries
by Del Toro, Blair, Mignola, Ron Perlman, Jeffrey Tambor and Rupert Evans, as well as visits to the "Right Hand of Doom" set and a two-hour documentary. This DVD topped the Nielsen VideoScan's First Alert DVD sales chart and the Video Store magazine's list of top rentals for the week ending August 1, 2004, registering a total of more than a half-million units in sales.
A three-disc unrated director's cut
DVD set was released on October 19, 2004. In addition to all of the features of the original two-disc set, with the exception of a new director's commentary replacing the old one, new features included Del Toro introducing 20 minutes of additional and extended scenes, a composer commentary with isolated score replacing the cast commentary, a Cast Video Commentary with Perlman, Blair, Tambor and Rupert Evans, multiple production workshop featurettes, a Comic Con 2002 Panel Discussion with Del Toro, Perlman and Mignola, and a A Quick Guide to Understanding Comics with Scott McCloud.
A high-definition Blu-ray
version of the director's cut was released on June 5, 2007. It contains most of the same content as the DVD set, but is missing a few features such as the video commentary and the composer commentary.
Supernatural
The supernatural or is that which is not subject to the laws of nature, or more figuratively, that which is said to exist above and beyond nature...
superhero film
Superhero film
A superhero film, superhero movie, or superhero motion picture is: action, fantasy and science fiction film; that is focused on the actions of one or more superheroes, individuals who usually possess superhuman abilities relative to a normal person and are dedicated to protecting the public...
, starring Ron Perlman
Ron Perlman
Ronald N. "Ron" Perlman is an American television, film and voice over actor. He is known for having played Vincent in the TV series Beauty and the Beast , a Deathstroke figure known as Slade in the animated series Teen Titans, Clarence "Clay" Morrow in Sons of Anarchy, the comic book character...
, John Hurt
John Hurt
John Vincent Hurt, CBE is an English actor, known for his leading roles as John Merrick in The Elephant Man, Winston Smith in Nineteen Eighty-Four, Mr. Braddock in The Hit, Stephen Ward in Scandal, Quentin Crisp in The Naked Civil Servant and An Englishman in New York...
and Selma Blair
Selma Blair
Selma Blair is an American actress who has worked in film, theatre and television. She has performed in feature films including Cruel Intentions, Legally Blonde, The Sweetest Thing, Hellboy, The Fog, Purple Violets and Hellboy II: The Golden Army...
, directed by Guillermo del Toro
Guillermo del Toro
Guillermo del Toro is a Mexican director, producer, screenwriter, novelist and designer. He is mostly known for his acclaimed films, Blade II, Pan's Labyrinth and the Hellboy film franchise. He is a frequent collaborator with Ron Perlman, Federico Luppi and Doug Jones...
. The film is based on the Dark Horse Comics
Dark Horse Comics
Dark Horse Comics is the largest independent American comic book and manga publisher.Dark Horse Comics was founded in 1986 by Mike Richardson in Milwaukie, Oregon, with the concept of establishing an ideal atmosphere for creative professionals. Richardson started out by opening his first comic book...
work Hellboy: Seed of Destruction
Hellboy: Seed of Destruction
Hellboy: Seed of Destruction is the first Hellboy comic book mini-series, published by Dark Horse Comics. It was conceived and illustrated by Mike Mignola and scripted by John Byrne.This was, in part, the basis for the first Hellboy motion picture....
by Mike Mignola
Mike Mignola
Michael Joseph "Mike" Mignola is an American comic book artist and writer who created the comic book series Hellboy for Dark Horse Comics. He has worked for animation projects such as Atlantis: The Lost Empire and the adaptation of his one shot comic book, The Amazing Screw-On Head.-Career:Mignola...
. It was produced by Revolution Studios
Revolution Studios
Revolution Studios is an American production company founded in 2000 by Joe Roth, a former chairman of Walt Disney Studios and 20th Century Fox. Revolution was formerly a strategic partner of Sony Pictures Entertainment, which distributed and marketed Revolution's films. The company's film division...
, and distributed by Columbia Pictures
Columbia Pictures
Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. is an American film production and distribution company. Columbia Pictures now forms part of the Columbia TriStar Motion Picture Group, owned by Sony Pictures Entertainment, a subsidiary of the Japanese conglomerate Sony. It is one of the leading film companies...
. The film is about a demonic beast known as Hellboy
Hellboy
Hellboy is a comic book superhero created by writer-artist Mike Mignola. The character first appeared in San Diego Comic-Con Comics #2 , and has since appeared in various eponymous miniseries, one-shots and intercompany crossovers...
who secretly works to keep the world safe from paranormal threats.
Released in the spring of 2004, it grossed $59 million at the United States box office
Box office
A box office is a place where tickets are sold to the public for admission to an event. Patrons may perform the transaction at a countertop, through an unblocked hole through a wall or window, or at a wicket....
, and $99 million worldwide and was favorably received by critics. A sequel, Hellboy II: The Golden Army, was released on July 11, 2008.
Plot
In 1944, the Nazis build a dimensional portal off the coast of Scotland during World War IIWorld War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. With the help of Russian mystic Grigori Rasputin
Grigori Rasputin (Hellboy)
Grigori Efimovich Rasputin is a fictional supervillain in the comic book series Hellboy. The character was created by Mike Mignola and John Byrne, based on the real life Russian mystic of the same name....
, they intend to free the Ogdru Jahad
Ogdru Jahad
The Ogdru Jahad are fictional characters in Mike Mignola's Hellboy comic. They are the Dragon of Revelation, and are destined to bring about the end of the world. Though the Ogdru Jahad are the ultimate antagonists in the series, they are not themselves active, their release from imprisonment...
—monstrous entities imprisoned in another dimension—to aid them in defeating the Allies. Rasputin knows that this will be an apocalyptic event that he believes will create a paradise. He opens the portal with the aid of his disciples, Ilsa von Haupstein and Obersturmbannführer
Obersturmbannführer
Obersturmbannführer was a paramilitary Nazi Party rank used by both the SA and the SS. It was created in May 1933 to fill the need for an additional field grade officer rank above Sturmbannführer as the SA expanded. It became an SS rank at the same time...
Karl Ruprecht Kroenen
Karl Ruprecht Kroenen
Karl Ruprecht Kroenen is a fictional character in the Hellboy comic book series, created by Mike Mignola.In the comics, Kroenen was a relatively unremarkable Nazi SS scientist, whose most distinguishing characteristic was that he always wore a gas mask and protective bodysuit, which Mignola...
, Adolf Hitler's top assassin. An Allied team is sent to destroy the portal, guided by young Professor Trevor Broom
Trevor Bruttenholm
Professor Trevor Bruttenholm is a fictional character in the Hellboy comic book universe, created by Mike Mignola and John Byrne. His first appearance was in the comic book Hellboy: Seed of Destruction, issue #1 .-Fictional character biography:...
, who is well-versed in the occult. The German team is killed and the portal is destroyed—in the process absorbing Rasputin—while Haupstein and Kroenen escape. The Allied team discovers an infant demon with a right hand of stone came through the portal; they dub it "Hellboy
Hellboy
Hellboy is a comic book superhero created by writer-artist Mike Mignola. The character first appeared in San Diego Comic-Con Comics #2 , and has since appeared in various eponymous miniseries, one-shots and intercompany crossovers...
".
Sixty years later, FBI agent John Myers is transferred to the Bureau of Paranormal Research and Defense (BPRD) at the request of a much older Broom; he meets the adult Hellboy and a psychic, amphibious humanoid named Abe Sapien
Abe Sapien
Abraham "Abe" Sapien is a fictional character in the comic book series Hellboy, created by Mike Mignola. He takes his name from "Icthyo sapiens," the fanciful species designation chosen for him by his colleagues in the 19th-century Oannes Club, and from Abraham Lincoln, on whose assassination date...
. He learns that a third BPRD member, Liz Sherman
Liz Sherman
Elizabeth 'Liz' Sherman is a fictional character appearing in the Hellboy comic book series created by Mike Mignola.-Fictional character history:...
, has recently checked into a mental hospital to protect others from her volatile pyrokinetic
Pyrokinesis
Pyrokinesis, derived from the Greek words and , was the name coined by horror novelist Stephen King for the ability to create or to control fire with the mind that he gave to the protagonist Charlie McGee in Firestarter...
abilities. Despite regular visits and coaxing from Hellboy, she is determined not to return. Kroenen and Haupstein resurrect Rasputin in the mountains of Moldova
Moldova
Moldova , officially the Republic of Moldova is a landlocked state in Eastern Europe, located between Romania to the West and Ukraine to the North, East and South. It declared itself an independent state with the same boundaries as the preceding Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic in 1991, as part...
. The three unleash a hellhound
Hellhound
A hellhound is a supernatural dog, found in folklore. A wide variety of ominous or hellish supernatural dogs occur in mythologies around the world, similar to the ubiquitous dragon...
known as Sammael
Samael
Samael is an important archangel in Talmudic and post-Talmudic lore, a figure who is accuser, seducer and destroyer, and has been regarded as both good and evil...
. Rasputin imbues Sammael with the power to reincarnate and split his essence, causing two of the creature's eggs to hatch and mature each time one dies. Rasputin visits Liz as she sleeps, activating her powers and almost destroying the hospital. Myers convinces her to return to the bureau.
Sammael's ability to multiply becomes a problem, as Hellboy repeatedly kills it, creating dozens. Abe is injured while retrieving some of its eggs, and Kroenen critically wounds one of the FBI agents sent with Hellboy. Kroenen, whose mutilated body is run by mechanical parts, shuts himself down, pretending to be defeated. Kroenen's body is brought to the bureau. FBI Director Tom Manning
Tom Manning
Tom Manning is a fictional character from the Dark Horse Comics universe. He is director of the Bureau of Paranormal Research and Defense.Manning has classically been portrayed as a stuffed-shirt bureaucrat who refuses to trust the paranormal members of his agency, even though their presence is...
is angered by Hellboy's recklessness. Myers takes Liz out for coffee and to talk. Hellboy, jealous, covertly follows them. Rasputin appears at the bureau, reanimating Kroenen before confronting Professor Broom. Rasputin offers him a vision of the future, showing Hellboy is the agent that will destroy the world. Rejecting Rasputin's vision, Broom is stabbed in the neck by Kroenen and dies clutching a rosary.
Manning takes over the B.P.R.D. and locates Rasputin's mausoleum in an old cemetery outside Moscow
Moscow
Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
, Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
. A team led by Manning and Hellboy enter the mausoleum, but swiftly become separated. Hellboy and Manning find their way to Kroenen's lair and defeat him. Telling Manning to stay back, Hellboy reunites with Liz and Myers at Sammael's nest to defend them, but the creatures overwhelm him. Liz uses her pyrokinetic powers to incinerate the Sammaels and their eggs. Hellboy, Liz and Myers lose consciousness and are captured by Rasputin. To force Hellboy to release the Ogdru Jahad
Ogdru Jahad
The Ogdru Jahad are fictional characters in Mike Mignola's Hellboy comic. They are the Dragon of Revelation, and are destined to bring about the end of the world. Though the Ogdru Jahad are the ultimate antagonists in the series, they are not themselves active, their release from imprisonment...
, Rasputin sucks Liz's soul out of her body, telling Hellboy that Liz will come back to life if he obeys. Hellboy awakens his true power as Anung un Rama, causing his horns to regrow. He nearly releases the Ogdru Jahad, but the injured Myers reminds him of who he is and that he has the right to choose his own path. Remembering his true self and what Broom brought him up to be, Hellboy rips off his horns, returning to his former self and resealing the Ogdru Jahad. Hellboy stabs Rasputin with one of his broken horns.
Rasputin has been possessed by a creature from the Ogdru Jahad. The tentacled Behemoth
Behemoth
Behemoth is a mythological beast mentioned in the Book of Job, 40:15-24. Metaphorically, the name has come to be used for any extremely large or powerful entity.-Plural as singular:...
bursts out of Rasputin's body and grows to immense size, killing Rasputin and Ilsa. Hellboy allows himself to be swallowed by the beast while detonating a belt of hand grenade
Hand grenade
A hand grenade is any small bomb that can be thrown by hand. Hand grenades are classified into three categories, explosive grenades, chemical and gas grenades. Explosive grenades are the most commonly used in modern warfare, and are designed to detonate after impact or after a set amount of time...
s. The explosion tears the Behemoth apart. Liz's vital signs are gone when Hellboy returns from the fight, but he whispers into her ear and her life is restored. When she asks how her soul was returned, Hellboy replies that he told the creatures from the other side the cost of taking her: "Hey, you on the other side. Let her go. Because for her I'll cross over, and then you'll be sorry." She and Hellboy kiss as she surrounds them in flame.
Cast
- Ron PerlmanRon PerlmanRonald N. "Ron" Perlman is an American television, film and voice over actor. He is known for having played Vincent in the TV series Beauty and the Beast , a Deathstroke figure known as Slade in the animated series Teen Titans, Clarence "Clay" Morrow in Sons of Anarchy, the comic book character...
as HellboyHellboyHellboy is a comic book superhero created by writer-artist Mike Mignola. The character first appeared in San Diego Comic-Con Comics #2 , and has since appeared in various eponymous miniseries, one-shots and intercompany crossovers... - John HurtJohn HurtJohn Vincent Hurt, CBE is an English actor, known for his leading roles as John Merrick in The Elephant Man, Winston Smith in Nineteen Eighty-Four, Mr. Braddock in The Hit, Stephen Ward in Scandal, Quentin Crisp in The Naked Civil Servant and An Englishman in New York...
as Professor Trevor "Broom" BruttenholmTrevor BruttenholmProfessor Trevor Bruttenholm is a fictional character in the Hellboy comic book universe, created by Mike Mignola and John Byrne. His first appearance was in the comic book Hellboy: Seed of Destruction, issue #1 .-Fictional character biography:... - Selma BlairSelma BlairSelma Blair is an American actress who has worked in film, theatre and television. She has performed in feature films including Cruel Intentions, Legally Blonde, The Sweetest Thing, Hellboy, The Fog, Purple Violets and Hellboy II: The Golden Army...
as Liz ShermanLiz ShermanElizabeth 'Liz' Sherman is a fictional character appearing in the Hellboy comic book series created by Mike Mignola.-Fictional character history:... - Rupert EvansRupert EvansRupert Evans is an English actor, who is well known in the United Kingdom for his television career.Evans was born in Staffordshire, England. He attended Milton Abbey School, in Dorset, and went on to train at the Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art...
as John Thaddeus Myers - Karel RodenKarel RodenKarel Roden is a Czech actor, known for his roles in Hellboy and The Bourne Supremacy.Roden's father and grandfather were also actors. After studying theatrical art in Prague he has played many roles in theatres and movies. First, he graduated school of ceramic, then he was admitted to the Academy...
as Grigori Efimovich RasputinGrigori Rasputin (Hellboy)Grigori Efimovich Rasputin is a fictional supervillain in the comic book series Hellboy. The character was created by Mike Mignola and John Byrne, based on the real life Russian mystic of the same name.... - Jeffrey TamborJeffrey TamborJeffrey Michael Tambor is an American actor, perhaps best known for his roles as George Bluth Sr. and Oscar Bluth on Arrested Development and Hank Kingsley on The Larry Sanders Show.-Early life:...
as Tom ManningTom ManningTom Manning is a fictional character from the Dark Horse Comics universe. He is director of the Bureau of Paranormal Research and Defense.Manning has classically been portrayed as a stuffed-shirt bureaucrat who refuses to trust the paranormal members of his agency, even though their presence is... - Doug JonesDoug Jones (actor)Doug Jones is an American film and television actor best known to science fiction, fantasy, and horror fans for his various roles playing non-human characters, often in heavy makeup, in films and television series such as Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Hellboy, Pan's Labyrinth and Fantastic Four: Rise...
as Abe SapienAbe SapienAbraham "Abe" Sapien is a fictional character in the comic book series Hellboy, created by Mike Mignola. He takes his name from "Icthyo sapiens," the fanciful species designation chosen for him by his colleagues in the 19th-century Oannes Club, and from Abraham Lincoln, on whose assassination date... - David Hyde PierceDavid Hyde PierceDavid Hyde Pierce is an American actor and comedian best known for playing psychiatrist Dr. Niles Crane on the NBC sitcom Frasier, for which he received many accolades including four Emmy Awards for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series.-Early life:Pierce, the youngest of four siblings,...
as Voice of Abe Sapien (uncredited) - Brian SteeleBrian SteeleBrian Steele is an American actor best known for playing many of Hollywood's favorite monsters and creatures.-Roles:On television, he played the Bigfoot called Harry in the series Harry and the Hendersons before moving on to play creatures in theatrical motion pictures, with roles like Mr. Wink in...
as SammaelSamaelSamael is an important archangel in Talmudic and post-Talmudic lore, a figure who is accuser, seducer and destroyer, and has been regarded as both good and evil... - Ladislav BeranLadislav BeranLadislav Beran is an actor and choreographer.Beran was born in the Czech Republic. He was a choreographer for the film Rebelové , and appeared as a drug dealer in the film Blade II . He has also made an appearance in the movie Hellboy , starring as Kroenen...
as Karl Ruprecht KroenenKarl Ruprecht KroenenKarl Ruprecht Kroenen is a fictional character in the Hellboy comic book series, created by Mike Mignola.In the comics, Kroenen was a relatively unremarkable Nazi SS scientist, whose most distinguishing characteristic was that he always wore a gas mask and protective bodysuit, which Mignola... - Bridget HodsonBridget HodsonBridget "Biddy" Hodson is a British actress better known for her roles of Elaine in mini-series The Mists of Avalon and Ilsa Haupstein in film Hellboy. She used the stage name Biddy Hodson from 1983 to 2004 and her name Bridget Hodson from 2004 onwards....
as Ilsa Haupstein
Release
Hellboy had its world premiere at the Mann Village Theater in Westwood, CaliforniaWestwood, California
Westwood is a census-designated place in Lassen County, California, United States. Westwood is located west-southwest of Susanville, at an elevation of 5128 feet...
on March 30, 2004.
Box office
The film opened in wide release on April 2, 2004 where it grossed USD $23.1 million in 3,028 theaters on its opening weekend. It went on to make $59.6 million in North America and $39.7 million in the rest of the world for a worldwide total of $99.3 million, well above its $66 million budget.Critical reception
The film was well received by most critics with an average review score of 81% based on 192 reviews, which earned it a "Certified Fresh" rating on Rotten TomatoesRotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...
.
Metacritic
Metacritic
Metacritic.com is a website that collates reviews of music albums, games, movies, TV shows and DVDs. For each product, a numerical score from each review is obtained and the total is averaged. An excerpt of each review is provided along with a hyperlink to the source. Three colour codes of Green,...
assigned the film a score of 72%, based on a weighted average of 37 reviews from mainstream critics.
Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly is an American magazine, published by the Time division of Time Warner, that covers film, television, music, broadway theatre, books and popular culture...
gave the film a "B" rating and wrote, "Pop pretensions can't undo a basic contradiction: that our hero is fighting metaphysical evil with pure, meaty brawn. Hellboy is engaging, but it's got a lot more boy in it than hell".
In his review for the New York Times, Elvis Mitchell wrote, "Mr. del Toro avidly lavishes this texture on Hellboy . . . giving it a kiss of distinction. It's an elegant haunted house of a picture with dread and yearning part of the eeriness".
Roger Ebert
Roger Ebert
Roger Joseph Ebert is an American film critic and screenwriter. He is the first film critic to win a Pulitzer Prize for Criticism.Ebert is known for his film review column and for the television programs Sneak Previews, At the Movies with Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert, and Siskel and Ebert and The...
gave the film three and half stars out of four and praised Ron Perlman's performance: "And in Ron Perlman, it has found an actor who is not just playing a superhero, but enjoying it . . . he chomps his cigar, twitches his tail and battles his demons with something approaching glee. You can see an actor in the process of making an impossible character really work".
The film also received good reviews in the British press - for example, Peter Bradshaw from The Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
commented amusedly on the unhistoricity of the Nazis invading Britain in the initial sequence but overall called the film "bizarre and loopy, romantic and dynamic".
Claudia Puig USA Today
USA Today
USA Today is a national American daily newspaper published by the Gannett Company. It was founded by Al Neuharth. The newspaper vies with The Wall Street Journal for the position of having the widest circulation of any newspaper in the United States, something it previously held since 2003...
was less enthusiastic and wrote, "Hellboys special effects don't offer much of anything new, its far-fetched plot leaves a bit to be desired, and there is plenty that flat-out doesn't make sense. Those unfamiliar with the comic book may leave the theater bedeviled and scratching their heads".
Accolades
Hellboy was nominated for four Saturn AwardSaturn Award
The Saturn Award is an award presented annually by the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films to honor the top works in science fiction, fantasy, and horror in film, television, and home video. The Saturn Awards were devised by Dr. Donald A. Reed in 1972, who felt that films within...
s in 2005, including Best Fantasy Film, Best Special Edition DVD Release, and Best Make-Up, which it won.
Empire
Empire (magazine)
Empire is a British film magazine published monthly by Bauer Consumer Media. From the first issue in July 1989, the magazine was edited by Barry McIlheney and published by Emap. Bauer purchased Emap Consumer Media in early 2008...
magazine ranked Hellboy 11th in their "The 20 Greatest Comic Book Movies" list.
Hellboy was also ranked number 13 out of 94 in Rotten Tomatoes' "Comix Worst to Best" countdown (where 1 was best and 94 was worst).
Home media
Hellboy was released on DVDDVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
in a two-disc special edition DVD on July 27, 2004, less than sixteen weeks after it opened in theaters. Included, were video introductions by Del Toro and Selma Blair, plus a feature that allowed viewers to click during selected parts of the film to comics drawn by Mike Mignola. Other bonus features include audio commentaries
Audio commentary
On disc-based video formats, an audio commentary is an additional audio track consisting of a lecture or comments by one or more speakers, that plays in real time with video...
by Del Toro, Blair, Mignola, Ron Perlman, Jeffrey Tambor and Rupert Evans, as well as visits to the "Right Hand of Doom" set and a two-hour documentary. This DVD topped the Nielsen VideoScan's First Alert DVD sales chart and the Video Store magazine's list of top rentals for the week ending August 1, 2004, registering a total of more than a half-million units in sales.
A three-disc unrated director's cut
Director's cut
A director's cut is a specially edited version of a film, and less often TV series, music video, commercials, comic book or video games, that is supposed to represent the director's own approved edit...
DVD set was released on October 19, 2004. In addition to all of the features of the original two-disc set, with the exception of a new director's commentary replacing the old one, new features included Del Toro introducing 20 minutes of additional and extended scenes, a composer commentary with isolated score replacing the cast commentary, a Cast Video Commentary with Perlman, Blair, Tambor and Rupert Evans, multiple production workshop featurettes, a Comic Con 2002 Panel Discussion with Del Toro, Perlman and Mignola, and a A Quick Guide to Understanding Comics with Scott McCloud.
A high-definition Blu-ray
Blu-ray Disc
Blu-ray Disc is an optical disc storage medium designed to supersede the DVD format. The plastic disc is 120 mm in diameter and 1.2 mm thick, the same size as DVDs and CDs. Blu-ray Discs contain 25 GB per layer, with dual layer discs being the norm for feature-length video discs...
version of the director's cut was released on June 5, 2007. It contains most of the same content as the DVD set, but is missing a few features such as the video commentary and the composer commentary.