🔥 Hellboy: The Crooked Man (2024) 🔥

“The Devil Went Down to Appalachia.”


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Let’s start by showing y’all the trailers, shall we? 🎥

Yes ur not wrong or seeing anything, this 100% looks like a fan film, but thst isnt always a bad thing. So is this a good thing wel stick around and find out.


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Non-Spoiler Plot Overview

Hellboy: The Crooked Man takes the franchise away from bombastic CGI chaos and back toward its horror roots. Directed by Brian Taylor (best known for Crank), this entry ditches big studio backing and instead leans on stripped-down settings, practical atmosphere, and folk-horror vibes.

Set in the 1950s, the film follows Hellboy (Jack Kesy) as he travels to rural Appalachia with a rookie BPRD agent. What they find is a community haunted by old curses, witchcraft, and the terrifying figure of the Crooked Man — a demon who once was a human conman that sold his soul to the Devil and now collects souls in the backwoods like trinkets.

The story is deliberately smaller in scale: no giant CGI monsters destroying cities, no armies of demons. Just Hellboy caught in a nightmarish folk tale.


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Character Rundown

Hellboy (Jack Kesy) – A new face under the horns, Kesy plays Hellboy with a quieter, moodier tone. He’s not Ron Perlman’s snark machine or David Harbour’s angsty bruiser; instead, he’s subdued, letting the Appalachian horror setting do the heavy lifting. He’s fine, but not particularly memorable.

Rookie Agent Tom Ferrell (Jefferson White) – A local tied to the cursed land who joins Hellboy on his journey. His perspective grounds the story, but he’s more a lens into the horror than a character with real weight.

The Crooked Man (Adeline Rudolph’s segment villain, main actor credit: unknown in early listings) – The titular figure, a warped folk-horror demon. His design is creepy, and his presence carries menace, but the film’s budget keeps him from ever feeling truly terrifying.

Supporting Witches and Townsfolk – The film leans heavily into old Appalachian folklore archetypes, with suspicious villagers, creepy sermons, and twisted occult rituals. They add flavor but no breakout performances.



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Pacing / Episode Flow

The movie keeps things slow and methodical, which fits the folk-horror atmosphere. Long treks through the woods, whispered warnings, and lingering shots of cursed symbols set the tone. But that slower pacing also makes the film feel stretched. Without bigger set pieces or standout performances, it sometimes drifts into being more dull than dreadful.


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Pros ✅

Back-to-basics horror — a refreshing shift after the overstuffed 2019 reboot.

Appalachian setting feels eerie and unique for a Hellboy story.

Folk-horror atmosphere delivers a few genuinely unsettling sequences.

Practical effects and smaller-scale monsters give it grit.



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Cons ❌

Low budget is very obvious: flat cinematography, sparse sets, and weak CGI in the climax.

Jack Kesy’s Hellboy is serviceable but lacks the spark Perlman or Harbour brought.

Supporting cast is thin; no big-name actors or standout performances.

Story feels too slight — no real oomph or memorable payoffs.

The Crooked Man, while creepy in design, doesn’t leave the lasting impact a title villain should.



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Final Thoughts

Hellboy: The Crooked Man is a decent course correction after 2019’s chaotic misfire. It leans into horror, embraces its Appalachian setting, and dials things down to folk-tale dread. That alone makes it better than the last attempt. But it also lacks ambition: no standout stars, no strong narrative punch, and budget restraints that constantly show.

It’s the kind of film that works in flashes but rarely soars. Creepy? Yes. Atmospheric? Sure. Essential? Not really. It feels like a “mid-tier horror rental” that happens to have Hellboy in it, rather than a bold franchise relaunch.


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Rating

7/10


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Spoiler Warning ⚠️

From here on out, the crooked path leads into spoilers.


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Spoilers

The film’s core horror revolves around the Crooked Man himself, revealed to be Jeremiah Witkins — a greedy conman who sold his soul to the Devil in the 18th century. Now a grotesque, elongated demon, he stalks the woods, preying on villagers and binding their souls through cursed contracts.

Hellboy and Tom encounter witches in the woods who worship Witkins, forcing them through ritual trials. The most unsettling sequence involves a witch with her mouth sewn shut, muttering curses that twist the environment around them.

In the climax, Hellboy confronts the Crooked Man in an abandoned church. The low budget really shows here: shadows hide most of the fight, and the demon’s final form is more stiff than scary. Hellboy resists the Crooked Man’s attempt to bargain and instead burns him out of existence using both his stone hand and a ritual aided by Tom’s family heirloom.

The ending is quiet: Hellboy tells Tom that evil like this never truly dies — it just waits for new deals to be made. The two walk off into the woods, leaving the cursed town behind. No sequel bait, just a bleak, folk-horror ending.