When “Hellboy – Call Of Darkness” was released in theaters in April 2019, it received only very limited interest from the blockbuster audience. The film starring ‘Stranger Things’ and ‘Black Widow’ fan favorite David Harbor is certainly not the total failure it was often promised, as we explain in our solid three-star FILMSTARTS review. So if you missed it then or skipped it out of loyalty to cult director Guillermo del Toro’s previous films, you now have the opportunity to catch up on the spectacle free of charge.
Starting today, February 1, 2024, you can watch “Hellboy – Call Of Darkness” at Netflix current. If you don’t have a red N subscription but are still interested, you can also currently obtain the FSK-16 title in the flat rate program WOW (formerly Sky Ticket)* to see. The film is also available on (4K/UltraHD) Blu-ray, DVD and as paid video-on-demand.
If you’re an Amazon Prime customer, you can watch the film there too free streaming*. All you have to do is register for the seven-day free trial of the Superfresh channel. If you do not want to cancel again, you will pay 6.99 euros per month after the trial period.
Darker. More direct. More difficult.
From 2004 to 2008, Oscar winner Guillermo del Toro (“Shape of Water”) presented us with two live-action and two animated films based on author Mike Mignola’s “Hellboy” comics. Although his work with “Sons Of Anarchy” star Ron Perlman as the horned redskin didn’t exactly generate huge box office revenues, a real cult developed around them.
For years, extremely dedicated fans tried through various campaigns to get the studio to put a new franchise entry from the Mexican master director into production – without success. Del Toro’s ideas for such a project simply seemed far too expensive for the donors. Instead, “The Descent” and “Doomsday” creator Neil Marshall, another horror and action-experienced director, was ultimately tasked with completely rebooting the subject.
“Hellboy – Call Of Darkness” could only earn back its budget of 50 million dollars with a bang and is therefore considered an outright flop. Much of this may be due to the negative reactions from the fan base, who condemned and dismissed the venture even before filming as neither del Toro nor Perlman were involved.
That’s a shame, because that’s how they went wrong certainly not a perfect, but still very entertaining film. The special effects are perhaps only mediocre and some of the humor seems slightly out of place. However, David Harbour, who gives a dusty performance, is completely convincing. Moreover, ‘Hellboy – Call Of Darkness’ is a lot darker, more straightforward and brutal than its predecessors – which comes much closer to the atmosphere of the comic original.
This is the story of “Hellboy – Call Of Darkness” on Netflix
Sure, the terrifyingly tall and muscular Hellboy (Harbour) is a half-demon. Nevertheless, he is a brave and efficient fighter for good, although he is also quite disillusioned by the endless series of villains he faces. His latest opponent adds a lot to this feeling. Because it’s about the powerful and extremely annoying witch and self-proclaimed Blood Queen Nimue (Milla Jovovich).
With the help of an army of powerful henchmen, led by the monster Gruagach (Douglas Tait), Nimue sets out to bring destruction and death to Earth. The already demanding confrontation with her is made even more difficult for Hellboy by a confrontation with his own past. After all, he himself was once chosen to bring about the downfall of humanity before being adopted by Prof. Broom (Ian McShane) and turned into a weapon against evil…
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