Verbal Diorama

Hellboy, as a concept, shouldn't work as well as it did in 2004. (Well, we saw what rebooting it in 2019 did....)Mike Mignola's comic blends folklore, mythology, the paranormal and Lovecraftian horror, and needed a director who could take all that and make it visually appealing, and coherent to the layman. It also needed a lead actor who could portray the strength, vulnerability and humour needed for a main character who would put off the most conservative of viewer just by being a big red demon with the word 'hell' his name.The winning combination of Guillermo del Toro's direction and Ron Perlman headlining made Hellboy from what could have been a dull, lifeless mess to a rich, funny, heartwarming, visually stunning story of a comic book hero that came years before the MCU made superheroes the norm.Ron Perlman simply is Hellboy. He will always be Hellboy. Sorry David Harbour, but it's true.With a cast rounded out by the master of bodily expression Doug Jones, a subdued but intense Selma Blair and the always