Hellboy: Rise Of The Blood Queen - 8 Things It Must Do Differently From Del Toro's Films
5. It Needs To Be More Gothic
Dark Horse
Now, we all know that del Toro loves gothic horror, and that love clearly shows in his work on Hellboy. The problem, however, is that both those films had a problem with atmosphere - they felt distinctly more 'comic book-y' than they did horror... y.
And for any Hellboy adaptation, nailing that tone and atmosphere is massively important. Mignola's panels are intrinsic to the character himself, and Dave Stewart's colours exude the gothic style in full; it's like reading Stoker, Shelley and Homer all in one, complete with a loveable red protagonist to tie it all together.
Tonally, this new Hellboy film needs to feel tense and suspenseful. The character's commentary always breaks the tension - something David Harbour will no doubt be able to do easily - but the creatures he encounters need to look gruesome, and the foes he faces need to feel threatening. Otherwise, what's the point?
WhatCulture's very own resident movie guy, Ewan has been working in the content creation biz for over 10 years now, having started as a freelance contributor to WhatCulture Gaming all the way back in 2015. After graduating with a First-Class Honours in History from Northumbria University in 2017 (where he won a prize for a totally killer dissertation on the Watergate years), Ewan took on the role of Comics Editor at WhatCulture and quickly developed WhatCulture Comics into one of the biggest superhero-focused channels on YouTube. He followed this with a brief hiatus at Screen Rant in 2021, where he worked across the Gaming and Film sections as a writer and editor, before returning to WhatCulture as a Senior Content Producer / Presenter in 2023. He started his own podcast, We Love Dad Movies, in 2022, and has contributed several written pieces to the Eisner-nominated comics website Shelfdust as well.
In his current role, Ewan incorporates his love of cinema, comic books, and history into written pieces and video essays for WhatCulture's Film & TV channel, as well as WhatCulture Gaming and WhatCulture Horror, with a particular focus on nineties-era Dad Movies, old school Westerns, and Golden Age Hollywood Noir. John Carpenter is his fave, and he thinks Batman Beyond should never have been cancelled. If that's your vibe, you'll probably like his stuff.
