Hellboy
Movie, 2004, Del Toro, Set in 1944, then the present
Hellboy is #1 of 6 in release order and #1 of 6 in chronological order in the Hellboy.
The story
In the final days of World War II, the Nazis attempt to use black magic to aid their dying cause. The Allies raid the camp where the ceremony is taking place, but not before they summon a baby demon who is rescued by Allied forces and dubbed "Hellboy". Sixty years later, Hellboy serves the cause of good rather than evil as an agent in the Bureau of Paranormal Research & Defense, along with Abe Sapien - a merman with psychic powers, and Liz Sherman - a woman with pyrokinesis, protecting America against dark forces.
Hellboy recap
Hellboy (2004) follows a demon summoned as an infant by Nazi occultists in 1944 and raised by the man who stopped them, now a secret agent fighting monsters. Guillermo del Toro wrote and directed it. Sixty years after the ritual, Professor Trevor "Broom" Bruttenholm (John Hurt) brings young FBI agent John Myers (Rupert Evans) into the Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense to mind his adopted son Hellboy (Ron Perlman). Grigori Rasputin (Karel Roden), revived by his disciples Ilsa Haupstein and the clockwork assassin Kroenen, sets a breeding monster called Samael loose in New York. Hellboy and the amphibious psychic Abe Sapien (Doug Jones) hunt its eggs through the sewers, while Hellboy pines for Liz Sherman (Selma Blair), a firestarter who has checked herself into an asylum. When Hellboy slips away to spy on Liz and Myers, Kroenen wakes inside the base and kills Broom on Rasputin's order. The team tracks Rasputin to a Moscow mausoleum, where he steals Liz's soul to force Hellboy to open the portal. Start the series here.
Hellboy ending explained
Hellboy ends with Hellboy snapping off his newly sprouted horns after Myers reminds him he can choose who he is, sealing the portal on the Ogdru Jahad. He stabs Rasputin, whose body releases a giant tentacled Behemoth; Hellboy lets it swallow him and blows it apart with a belt of grenades. He whispers to Liz in the afterlife, she wakes, and the two kiss among the flames. The script draws loosely on Mike Mignola's Seed of Destruction comic, with Myers invented for the film. Hellboy II: The Golden Army followed in 2008.
Post-credits scenes
No. Hellboy has no mid- or post-credits scene.
Where to watch Hellboy
Hellboy is streaming on fuboTV, Kanopy, Hoopla, and Xumo Play in the US. You can rent or buy it on Amazon, Apple TV, and Google Play.
Ratings
IMDb 6.9/10, Rotten Tomatoes 81%
Where it fits
- Release order: first, before Hellboy Animated: Sword of Storms.
- Chronological order: first, before Hellboy Animated: Sword of Storms.
What to watch before Hellboy
Nothing. Hellboy is the first of the Hellboy essentials, so it's the place to start.
Cast
- Ron Perlman as Hellboy
- Selma Blair as Elizabeth 'Liz' Sherman
- Doug Jones as Abraham 'Abe' Sapien
- John Hurt as Prof. Trevor 'Broom' Bruttenholm
- Rupert Evans as John Myers
- Jeffrey Tambor as Tom Manning
- Ladislav Beran as Karl Ruprecht Kroenen
- Bridget Hodson as Ilsa Haupstein
- Karel Roden as Grigori Rasputin
- Brian Steele as Sammael
- Corey Johnson as Agent Clay
- Kevin Trainor as Young 'Broom'
Directed by Guillermo del Toro.