David Harbour stars as ‘Hellboy’ in HELLBOY. Photo Credit: Simon Varsano. Image courtesy of Lionsgate Publicity.
6. Hellboy
Like many fans of Guillermo Del Toro’s previous Hellboy movies, my immediate reaction to seeing they were rebooting the franchise was pearl-clutching horror. How could anyone do better than Del Toro’s elaborate magical masterpieces and Ron Perlman’s curt sarcasm?
Well, maybe no one can; but in truth, the reboot sounds like it could be a worthy challenger.
Firstly, the reboot is meant to be darker and more in-line with the comic canon than Del Del Toro’s beautiful glittering epics. This new Hellboy will boast an R rating, and overall be grittier, gorier, and draw on more horror elements. The starkly different tone will certainly be a good way to further differentiate the original movies from the reboot. Of course, it could also take the funny and energetic originals and make them dour and joyless. Only time will tell.
Secondly, the guy they have directing the reboot is the same person who directed The Descent, a phenomenal action horror movie in which an all-female team of spelunkers have to fight for their lives in an unknown (but not unoccupied) cave system. It’s a phenomenal horror movie, and if Neil Marshall is taking Hellboy in the same direction, the results could be absolutely killer.
Ron Perlman may have been iconic in his role as Hellboy, but David Harbour (aka the gruff cop from Stranger Things) could well be the only person capable of filling those shoes. And according to the overall positive responses to a test screening, this new reboot, despite its R rating, won’t be taking itself too seriously. With any luck, this new Hellboy will be a good gory time that goes an entirely new direction from Guillermo Del Toro’s untouchable movies.