I went into this film wanting to love it a lot more than I actually do. I mean, Hellboy AND Merry Brandybuck/Charlie Pace in the same movie about Victorian grave robbers who have run-ins with the undead? It’s like someone spied on my comic book and movie collections and boiled up something awesome in my dreams while I was sleeping. But ultimately something about the movie fell just a little short.

It probably has more to do with my own expectations…and a little to do with the marketing/presentation of the film. The cover and artwork make it look like this is equal parts horror/comedy. The truth is actually weighted much more on the comedy side of things. Which again, isn’t necessarily a bad thing. I was just expecting a little more horror and gore served up with my laughs.

All in all, this is a nice little indie flick that definitely shows some promise for all involved, including Ron Perlman and Dominic Monaghan (it’ll be really nice once their careers actually take off). The set pieces are enjoyable and the creature effects are nice and practical (not much CGI nonsense here). They even managed to work in a couple of nice surprises in the storyline, including a mysterious coffin that’s frozen solid for some strange reason.

Finally, the DVD release (and I’m assuming the Blu-Ray as well) comes with a little comic book adaptation of the film, which somehow fits the more pulpy aspects of the movie. I’m not sure who actually did artwork for the comic, but it was slightly reminiscent of Mike Mignola’s (creator of Hellboy) stuff. Pretty sweet. Check this out if you’re a fan of horror and/or British comedy.

PS: I was completely kidding about Perlman and Monaghan. I love their collective body of work and celebrate their entire catalogues.