Hellboy

"From the dark side to our side."

2004 2h 2m EN

👍

6.7

SOLID

🍅

81%

FRESH

👌

METACRITIC

⭐

6.9

IMDB

★6.7TMDB · 7,661🍅81%Rotten Tomatoes●72Metacritic★6.9IMDB · 369,044

FantasyAction

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

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.

“From the dark side to our side.”

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Cast

Ron Perlman
Hellboy
Selma Blair
Elizabeth 'Liz' Sherman
Doug Jones
Abraham 'Abe' Sapien
John Hurt
Prof. Trevor 'Broom' Bruttenholm
Rupert Evans
John Myers
Jeffrey Tambor
Tom Manning
Ladislav Beran
Karl Ruprecht Kroenen
Bridget Hodson
Ilsa Haupstein

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Guillermo del Toro
Writers: Guillermo del Toro, Peter Briggs, Mike Mignola
Languages: Russian, English
Countries: United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Mid-budget at $66M — the now-extinct middle tier of Hollywood.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

ERA

Did you know

Released 22 years ago.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

Dialogue crosses 2 languages: Russian, English.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

CINEMA

Did you know

Part of the "Hellboy Collection" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

CAST

Did you know

263+ people credited in cast and crew — a small city's worth of labour.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Guillermo del Toro, shot by Guillermo Navarro. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Marco Beltrami. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Peter Amundson shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Guillermo del Toro directs. Guillermo Navarro behind the camera. Marco Beltrami scores. Peter Amundson cuts. Profitable at the box office. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in Russian, English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Mid-budget at $66M — the now-extinct middle tier of Hollywood.
2Released 22 years ago.
3Dialogue crosses 2 languages: Russian, English.
4Part of the "Hellboy Collection" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.
5263+ people credited in cast and crew — a small city's worth of labour.
6Directed by Guillermo del Toro, shot by Guillermo Navarro. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
7Original score by Marco Beltrami. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
8Editor Peter Amundson shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
9Ron Perlman and Selma Blair and Doug Jones carry the top of the cast.
10Marketing tagline: "From the dark side to our side.".
11IMDB entry: tt0167190 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
12Classified under 22 themes, including "nazi", "sacrifice", "superhero", "paranormal phenomena".

The technical file

Cinematography: Guillermo Navarro
Original score: Marco Beltrami
Editing: Peter Amundson
Production design: Stephen Scott
Costume design: Wendy Partridge
Makeup / hair: Georgina Abanto
VFX supervisor: Sean Hoessli
Sound: Steve Boeddeker
Stunt coordinator: Pavel Cajzl
Runtime: 122 min · 2h 2m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $66,000,000
Box office: $99,318,987
Return: 150% of budget
Original language: EN
Certification (US): PG-13
IMDB: Hellboy (2004)
Rotten Tomatoes: 81% 🍅 Fresh
Metacritic: 72/100
IMDB rating: 6.9/10 · 369,044 votes
MPAA: PG-13

Awards

3 wins & 23 nominations total

Part of

Hellboy Collection

The character Hellboy is a demon who fights for the U.S. government and himself against dark forces including Nazis and Baba Yaga, in a series of tales that have their roots in folklore, pulp magazines, vintage adventure, and horror fiction. This collection includes the theatrical release films.

Also by

Guillermo del Toro

Stills · wallpapers

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Full-resolution frames — open one to save it as a wallpaper.

Wallpaper

Trailers & featurettes

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Community reviews

What people are saying

Gimly2018-10-05
★ 8/10
I love the Mike Mignola Hellboy comics, and this movie is a pretty massive deviation from that source material. Oddly though, I'm kind of not bothered by that. In fact in some cases, like that of the character of Karl Ruprecht Kroenen, the film version is actually an improvement. A regular re-watch of Hellboy is a pretty frequent occurrence in my household. Final rating:★★★★ - Very strong appeal. A personal favourite.
tmdb440066252019-03-09
★ 7/10
Hellboy is not a movie for everyone, no matter how much humour is in the screenplay. Nevertheless, Guillermo del Toro's usual knack for outstanding visuals, cool looking action, and focus on character development makes Hellboy unique and entertaining af. Also, Ron Perlman is an amazing leading man. His charisma makes him one of the most underrated actors of our time.
CinemaSerf2025-03-27
★ 7/10
Now on the face of it, this ought to be terrible. A couple of Nazis are on a remote Scots island using the spirit of the legendary Russian Rasputin (Karel Roden) to conjure up the devil. Luckily, their plan is interrupted by intrepid commandos under the leadership of scientist “Broom” (John Hurt) who not only thwarts this nefarious plan but also manages to rescue what was emerging from the devilish abyss and return with it to his lab where the half-horned “Hellboy” fits perfectly with his collection of other beings living in the officially denied “Bureau of Paranormal Research”. The thing is, “Broom” is getting on a bit and is concerned that without his steadfast leadership, his beloved subjects will fall under the aegis of the military, so he recruits the enthusiastic young “Myers” (Rupert Evans) to take the reins as the occupants of his museum must faced a reenergised Nazis under their vengeful Russian mystic and equipped with their new, multi-faceted “Sammael” who can replicate, Hydra-style, every time it dies - only it’s not just heads it regrows. With battle lines increasingly drawn, it falls to the pesky “Hellboy” (Ron Perlman), his mind-reading amphibian colleague “Abe” (Doug Jones) and his hitherto unrequited love interest “Liz” (Selma Blair) to get on with the old ridding the world of evil thing. The visual effects here work well, but rather than just let them do all the work, Guillermo del Toro also makes sure there is plenty of characterful dialogue and loads of action to keep this rollicking along for two hours. Perlman looks like he is enjoying himself and that’s contagious as this mixes fantasy and sorcery with some good old fashioned prejudice; just an hint of decency from an on-form Hurt and Myers all topped off by a dose of theatrical ham from Roden doing his best Christopher Lee. Of course, the combination of Satan and the Swastika takes some beating in the realms of evil and though I don’t suppose the conclusion is in much doubt, there is plenty of ebbing and flowing going on and nobody is safe as the action hots up.