Hellboy; Blood and Iron
Blood and Iron is the second dtv future from the 'Hellboy: Animated' line of films. In case you're unfamiliar with the series, it's an expansion of the muy good Guillermo del Toro adaptation of Mignola's original universe. No cheap Saturday morning knockoff here, the cast boasts voice talent from the film; Ron Perlman and Selma Blair most notably. The artwork, while lacking Mignola's signature darkness and harsh angularity, I will admit is such better suited to animation than the real deal. Of course, all this is just window dressing. Writing is paramount round here, and these scripts are killer.
While the first HB:A film 'Sword of Storms'
was basically a crash course in chilling critters from Japanese folklore,
'Blood' takes us down a more traditional route, focusing on the European vampire
mythos. The main troublemaker this time is the infamous blood countess Elizabeth
Bathory- (Although they changed her name for some goofy reason, there's no
mistaking the lass.)
The setup is simple; a vulgar businessman recruits the BPRD to prove that the
transported castle he recently purchased really is haunted. It isn't long before
the skull-headed specters of murdered peasant girls start leaving bloody
handprints all over the windows, and the next thing you know, there's werewolves
and harpies running around all akimbo. The series does a wonderful job of
matching Mignola's esoteric storytelling style. The narrative not only avoids
genre clichés, but also manages to tie its villainess into Greek mythology,
allowing the import of assorted nasties from classical folklore. There's also an
abundance of nice moody design on display. In some parts it bears something of a
resemblance to the art of Edward Gorey.
As much as I appreciate Mignola's original
work, I have to say that the film did a far better job exploring his characters.
The best example of this is HB's father figure Professor Broom. Dead in the
first scene of 'Seed', he was never given proper development or import
in the original paper universe. Del Torro's film corrected this in spades, and
'Blood' goes a bit further, giving us a look into the Professor's first case
with the BPRD.
Inspired in part by 'Memento', Broom's narrative is woven into the main story in
reverse sequence. It's a nice trick, and despite being born of a need for story
padding, it works rather well.
A nice little extra is the short animated
adaptation of Mignola's 'The Iron Shoes', in which HB goes up against a
homicidal Irish goblin. (It's based loosely on the legend of the Redcap, who
murders sleeping travelers and dips its hat in their blood.)
Also, the dvd features an e-comic version of the rare Hellboy adventure 'The
Penanggal'
Ghosts, vampires, Celtic demons, and a Malaysian girl's head flying around with its guts dangling out. Who could ask for anything more?
8.0