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 2007 NR / Animated Adventure Directed by: Starring: |
- No tagline
Summary Capsule
- I think the words "Hellboy," "vampire countess," and "pagan witch goddess" pretty well sum things up, don't you think?
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Drew's Rating: If I were dating the last Hellboy Animated movie, I would cheat on that one with this movie, marry it, and raise a whole bunch of little movies.
Drew's Review: When you get right down to it, Hellboy's got things pretty good. I'll grant you, there's the whole "son of a demon, holds the key to Armageddon" thing, which… sure, kind of a drag. But look on the bright side: the guy has the greatest gun in the world, hangs out with cooler freaks than you'll find this side of a goth convention, and gets paid to beat the crap out of monsters for a living. If you can honestly say that's not something you want to see on your resume, it's possible you and I are very different people.
As I mentioned earlier, this movie feels a lot less restrained than its predecessor, as if the filmmakers had gotten comfortable flexing their creative muscles. One of my favorite aspects is the visible bond between Hellboy and Professor Broom. As the man who raised him, you figure Hellboy has to feel pretty close to the Prof, but Broom's death in the live action movie and the first comic kept that element from being explored much, so it's nice to see some quiet scenes between the two here. Another thing that surprised but pleased me is how adult the film is in places. Sword of Storms had monsters, but nothing scarier than you'd see on your average Saturday morning cartoon. By comparison, Blood and Iron is almost horrific, with gruesome images including a cradle dripping with blood and numerous (brief) scenes of torture. Nothing that'll turn your stomach, but it might be a bit disturbing for young kids, so bear that in mind.
Which leads me to one of the biggest ways I think Blood improves upon its predecessor: selling the direness of the situation. "Wake the Devil," the miniseries upon which Blood is based, was the B.P.R.D.'s first real defeat, and that comes through clearly in the movie — by the end, everyone has sustained some injuries, and you can almost see not only the physical but the emotional scars. Of course, a lot of that is due to the voice actors, all of whom remain in top form throughout. The one exception to that rule is Hecate, whose voice sounds much warmer and less threatening that I'd have imagined… almost sultry at times. I realize she's trying to seduce Hellboy (in a sick, twisted way), but I'd always imagined it sounding creepier to match her appearance. On the other hand, the animation is possibly even stronger this time around, with a particularly impressive sequence involving Hellboy fighting a werewolf in a room lit only by firelight… the orange glow and shadows are amazing.
My biggest complaint centers around the flashbacks… or rather, how they're presented. Clearly they're a necessary part of the tale, and that's fine, but these occur Memento-style in reverse chronological order; it's an interesting directorial choice, but it only partially works. Compounding that is the fact that it's not always clear when we shift from present day to the past — I knew the basic story coming in and even I was a bit confused, so I can imagine some Hellboy newcomers having difficulty following along. Also, it's a minor thing, but the movie keeps implying you can fill a bathtub with the contents of one person's veins, which is nonsense… I've always found it to take 3 or 4, bare minimum.
The only other noteworthy aspect of the film is that Erzsebet is essentially naked a couple of times. Nothing naughty is shown, but it's still a bit titillating. Nobody wants little Johnny's first stirrings of manhood to occur over a pair of blood-soaked, animated boobs — that's the sort of thing that can lead to some problems down the line — so parents, take heed. But putting that aside, I found Blood and Iron to be not simply as enjoyable as Sword of Storms, but significantly more so. Take the same strong animation and excellent vocal talent and throw in some more gothic horror and folklore, and you've got a winner on your hands. Give 'em hell, boy.
 "I'll make your son's pants go crazy!"
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- Erzebet's vampiric activities took place in a castle in Europe, so how did the ghosts of her victims relocate to a mansion in America? I guess they piggybacked on the torture devices?
- Ew, saggy vampire boobies!
- Soooo… superheating the giant metal thing = not such a hot idea.
- When even the Samaritan won't kill something, you've got problems.
Is It Worth Staying Through End Credits?
Yep. At the very end, director Tom Manning says, "I've heard all the stories. It is the official position of the United States government that the Lobster did not exist. He is a work of fiction. End of story." As he speaks, an image appears of Hellboy's childhood idol Lobster Johnson, a Nazi-hunting pulp hero in the vein of the Shadow or Indiana Jones, and the words "Shadow of the Claw" flash on the screen. This is a reference to The Phantom Claw, a planned third Hellboy Animated film that will only be made if sales of the first two movies justify it… so go buy 'em!
Unnecessary Background
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Erzsebet Ondrushko is based on Elizabeth Bathory, a 17th century Hungarian countess who kidnapped and murdered dozens, perhaps hundreds of peasant girls from her surrounding lands. The countess, a known practitioner of black magic, was arrested and tried in 1610; several of her accomplices were put to death (rather gruesomely at that), but to avoid scandal because of her nobility, Bathory was simply walled up in her castle, where she remained until her death three years later. Soon afterward, stories arose that the countess had bathed in the blood of her victims to maintain her youth and beauty. While there's no reference to this in the official records from her trial, it's become a well-known part of her legend, and numerous forms of media have portrayed Bathory as a vampire and given her the nickname "the Blood Countess."
Intermission! [some sources: IMDb]
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Blood and Iron is loosely adapted from "Wake the Devil," the second Hellboy miniseries. In it, a group of Nazis frozen since WWII awake and steal the corpse of vampire nobleman Vladimir Giurescu from a wax museum. Upon discovering this, the B.P.R.D. has to track it down before the body can be returned to Castle Giurescu, where the light of a full moon will revive him. The witch goddess Hecate also appears as Giurescu's "mother," dropping clues about Hellboy's true origin while fighting him as first a snake, then an iron maiden.
Groovy Quotes
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Kate: There IS some anecdotal evidence of hauntings. The usual stuff: shadowy apparitions, flickering lights, swinging chandeliers, cold spots…
Hellboy: Which usually means someone left a window open.
Sydney: They're really close, aren't they?
Liz: Oh yeah. You know, not everybody thought keeping a demon that the Nazis summoned to win World War II was a good thing.
Broom: There are things in this world that modern man relegates to fairy tales and video games. But they are real, and they are ugly, and they demand terrible payments for their "gifts."
Father Lepescu: ….how?
Erzsebet: How could I invade the "sanctity" of this church? Please. You put your faith in wood and plaster, but where is your savior?
Father Lepescu: It… it is a symbol of God's lo-
Erzsebet: My goddess gives me power and eternal beauty. Your God? What? False hope, unanswered prayers, a "better life after death"? I have that too. You are the forsaken one, father.
Abe: He's been drained of his blood.
Sydney [staring into bathtub]: I… I found it.
Hecate: Now, accept what you are. Come and walk with me.
Hellboy: Lady, I was gonna cut you some slack 'cuz you're a major mythological figure, but that? That's crazy talk.
Hellboy: Can't we do this some other time?
Hecate: You have made war against members of your own family, and mine. Ancient spirits of air, old gods of graves and shadows, demons of Hell… you are stained with the blood of your own kin. Now come to me!
Hecate: Don't you understand? We are not like others on this earth. We were born to walk in greater worlds!
Hellboy: This world's fine by me.
DVD Review
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The coolest special feature is an animated short that adapts "Iron Shoes," a brief Hellboy tale. It's fairly light on plot, but fun. There's also a couple of featurettes - one discusses the Professor Broom flashbacks and presents them in chronological order; the other talks about the development of the film and changes made during production. Plus there's an "e-comic," which basically involves the screen shifting between panels of a Hellboy story originally published in comic form, "The Penanggalan"… it's an interesting idea, but not great in execution. Finally, the first 300,000 copies of the DVD include a Hellboy Animated mini-comic; this one has Hellboy and Abe investigating the case mentioned briefly in Blood and Iron, a phantom monastery in Tibet.
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This review page was last updated on 7.11.07
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