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It must be hell to have horns and a stone hand. Rasputin The Mad Monk of Russia never died. He not only survived but during World War II worked for the Nazis. Hitler hoped that Rasputin might be able to unleash the 7 Gods of Chaos to help Hitler win the war and dominate the world. The only thing that can stop Hitler and Rasputin’s minions which includes a nasty masochistic half mechanical man named Kroenen (Ladislav Beran in some scenes)is Professor Bloom (Kevin Trainor as the young Bloom) who has studied the occult. He and a group of American soldiers storm Rasputin’s castle stopping the 7 Gods of Chaos from entering our world. In the process Rasputin is sucked into the other strange realm and a tiny red monkey like creature that looks like Satan with a stone hand. ***

Sixty years later Rasputin’s minions revive him bringing him back from the other side. Meanwhile Professor Bloom (Hurt) has established a paranormal division of the F.B.I with Hellboy (Perlman) and Abe Sapien (Doug Jones but voiced by David Hyde Pierce of “Fraiser” fame) a half human/half sea creature and Liz (Blair) a human with the ability to control fire. With the addition of a new assistant John Myers (Evans) recruited from the F.B.I. these five are all that stand between us and chaos. The only problem is that Rasputin has plans for using Hellboy himself to help release the 7 Gods of Chaos himself. ***

A fun, invigorating thrill ride with witty dialogue and nice character moments, “Hellboy” becomes much more than an adaptation of a popular comic book. Del Toro (“Mimic”, “The Devil’s Backbone”, “Blade II”, “Cronos”). Del Toro invests considerable effort to bring Mignola’s complex characters to life and adds characters that actually enhance the original creation. It’s a marvelous movie filled with invention that was almost overlooked by audiences. Certainly there are elements of the script that are clichéd but, on the whole, Del Toro packs so much visual and narrative invention into the slightest scene that these minor flaws can easily be overlooked. Del Toro's film makes visual references to other films (particularly those of animator Ray Harryhausen) and other comic book artists as well (Jack Kirby is a bit favorite)and still manages to retain its own identity. ---

This two disc set clearly went on an eating binge. How else to explain all the wonderful extras packed on this great set. To begin with we have a nice introduction by the director. On the first disc featuring the feature film there are branching behind the scenes sequences you can access while watching the film itself and then return to where you were. It’s a fascinating glimpse behind the movie almost giving you the experience as if you were on the set then watching the assembled dailies the next same day. ***

We also get a first on DVD. The branching comic drawn by Hellboy creator, artist and executive producer Mike Mignola is a really, really cool feature for fans of the comic book and the film. There’s also a storyboard track that allows comparisons between film and storyboard. The DVD ROM portion contains the original screenplay which you can print out as well as the Script Supervisor’s Book (the person that makes sure that there’s continuity between various shots in terms of costuming, scars, blood on the face, etc.) and Del Toro’s own Director’s Notebook. A lot of grand features on the first disc with some of the best features put on the second disc. ***

The second disc includes a video introduction by actress Selma Blair. There’s an exhaustive 2 ½ hour documentary that discusses the origin of the comic book, the transition from comic book to film and the creation of the effects in the film. We also get deleted scenes with optional commentary (which, rumor has it, will be recut into the film for a “Special Edition” of the film around Christmas). Character biographies written by writer/director Del Toro also show up on the second disc. Additionally we also get Motion Board-a-matics (which allows a director to visualize how a film will look before it is shot via animated storyboards), multi-angle storyboard comparisons, posters, trailers and TV spots. ---