Hellboy Script Review
"Guillermo del Toro has fast become the most promising horror director of the new century, and I myself have fast become a big, big fan. His tragic, personal vampire story Cronos ranks alongside Nadja and Interview with a Vampire as one of my favorite vampire movies of the 1990s, and his under-rated thriller Mimic is a wonderfully entertaining film whose detractors, though seemingly out there somewhere, I have yet to meet. (Sadly, I have yet to see his acclaimed recent film, The Devil's Backbone.) This last year, he released the hit sequel, Blade 2 , a gutsy and guts-filled adaptation of the Marvel comic book, which contained more adrenaline and testosterone than any non-surgical procedural film released this year. Now, he is slated to direct an adaptation of another comic book, Mike Mignola's Hellboy - a modern cult classic which takes its cue from popular cult and pulp classics from the first half of the century.
I myself am a fan of Hellboy, but a self-confessed recent one, and to date I have not read many installments in Mignola's series. As such, I review this very early draft of del Toro's script for Hellboy with even more trepidation than is customary: not only is this draft a full three years old (it is dated March, 1999 and is noted as an internal first draft, revised), and therefore, potentially completely unlike the script with which they are working today, but I am also not completely familiar with the mythology of the character, and must be very careful when judging how del Toro, who presumably knows much more about Hellboy than I do, has adapted the series. At best, this review can serve as a preliminary judgment on the quality of the first draft, which is quite excellent, and as such bodes quite well for the eventual finished product.
[Hellboy] This draft of Hellboy loosely follows the plotline for the character's first min-series, Seeds of Destruction . But whereas that tale was a Lovecraftian affair of dark rituals, old gods, family secrets, aquatic monsters, rotting architecture and scholars gone mad, the screenplay takes an understandable turn towards the adventurous. Most of the Hellboy stories I have read have involved him being informed of a horrific mystery of some kind and then essentially waltzing in and solving it through magic and his gigantic stone fist, and while these make for generally entertaining reads, they would also make for decidedly one-dimensional movies. Guillermo del Toro wisely expands his focus on events that the mini-series quickly brushes aside, upping the action ante accordingly, and incorporates certain Indiana Jones and X-Files-ish elements to the proceedings, which to his credit never feel completely tacked on. (And the inclusion of these influences is after all appropriate, since these series and their off-shoots are the pulp and cult classics of our own generation.)
Like Seeds of Destruction, Hellboy begins with the 'birth' of the red giant that will come to save the world a whole bunch of times. It is the end of the Second World War, and Adolf Hitler has, as is historically documented and already toyed with in Raiders of the Lost Ark , amongst other stories, taken to the supernatural in order to end the war victoriously. To this end, he has charged the dark magician Grigori to bring forth the OGDRU JAHAD, six sleeping elder gods awaiting their return to our dimension. But where the comic book had a quirk of magic, fate and clairvoyance deliver the result of Grigori's dark ritual into a handful of soldiers, psychics and occultists (including Hellboy's 'father,' Bruttenholm... naturally pronounced 'Broom'), here the handful of soldiers are eschewed in favor of a full army regiment, and the group of intellectuals dovetailed solely into Broom. An obvious but exciting-sounding battle ensues between the Allies and Nazis present, resulting in the disappearances of key figures in the Nazi's ritual, including Grigori, his Aryan disciple Ilsa, the decrepit Von Krupt and the be-gas masked Kroenen. The ritual is halted before it began... or at least, that was the idea, before the Allies find a red, tailed, horned baby with a stone right hand 'cowering between a gargoyle and a stone saint.' (Cute metaphor, huh?)
55 years later (in 1999... the age will no doubt be different in the final draft), Hellboy has not only become America's premiere paranormal investigator, but also a secret one, much to the fascination of conspiracy nuts everywhere. The script is littered with interviews with people who claim to have seen Hellboy, who have pictures taken of him, or who think he's a complete load of malarkey. Hellboy lives in the privacy and security of the basement in the FBI's Bureau of Paranormal Defense, behind a series of metal doors which would make Maxwell Smart envious. The seclusion, and his lifelong pampering by the FBI and his surrogate father, Broom, has made him a difficult man to love: spoiled but repressed, heroic but familiar with horrors that would make most men fall to the depths of insanity. He is Hellboy, a pissed-off son of a bitch whose only purpose in life seems to be to kick demon ass.
Or is it? Though simplified here, the origin of Hellboy is nonetheless a mystery. Why would a ritual whose purpose was to revive ancient, evil gods result instead in the birth of horned child (well, he shaves his horns with a belt sander, but you get the idea)? Grigori, who once had the more famous nom de plume, Rasputin, has awoken and re-united with Ilsa, Kroenen, and the ancient demon Sammael. They alone know the purpose of Hellboy's existence, and they intend to use our hero to finish the dark ritual they started so many years ago.
In the comic book (to the best of my knowledge), they have yet to establish the purpose of Hellboy's birth and stone hand, yes? (Although someone please e-mail me if I am wrong and this review will be quickly fixed.) Well, one of the conceits of this draft of Hellboy is that it does concretely state why he exists, why he was born with a stone hand, and the overall effect is that the script, unlike most of the comics, has an ending that feels too resolved for its own good. At the end of Hellboy, the screenplay, love is found, mysteries are solved, and the super-imposed words 'The End' have no question mark following them. Happy ending, good times.
But this uncharacteristic Hellboy ending, along with a last minute transformation that is a little too reminiscent of Alien: Resurrection for its own good, really is the only distinct flaw to be found with this very early draft. And while the urge to end the film with a distinct, undeniable conclusion is understandable, it not only doesn't seem characteristic of the original series, it doesn't completely gel effectively with the rest of the screenplay which, though occasionally a little straight-forward (like setting up Hellboy to go to Russia by simply placing a piece of paper torn in half at 'the scene of the crime'; although, if this kind of plotting can be considered a flaw, and I'm not saying it necessarily is, it is a crime the comic book often commits as well), but is also fairly gutsy in nature. This isn't an action-adventure-horror film which shies away from disturbing imagery, like eggs being laid in Hellboy's skin, or the sudden, unintentional murder of an entire hospital by Hellboy's pyrokinetic love-interest Liz, even storytelling oddities or the disappearance of popular aquatic supporting character Abe Sapiens until the end of the final credits. And like del Toro's other previous action-thrillers Blade 2 and Mimic, these organic but uncommon occurrences on celluloid play off well (like when he allowed the kid sidekicks in Mimic to be murdered, or filled Blade 2 with demonically sexual imagery) - but if there were a problem with those two films, as well as Hellboy, it is that the Hollywood-styled endings come across as too simplistic for an otherwise daring narrative. This seems to something of a leitmotif in this stage of Guillermo del Toro's career, however - the difficult give and take between making gutsy, independent-minded horror films while trying to follow the existing, expected, and crowd-pleasing rules of his chosen genre.
Even at the very early stage represented by this draft, Hellboy seems ready to take audiences into a dark but entertaining world of the magic, mystery and the macabre, with a little gunplay thrown in for good measure. Like its source material, it's a straight-forward, action-horror adventure with unexpected but uncomplicated twists and turns that entertained me as much as any script I've read in a long time. If this draft fails to change too drastically before the film starts shooting, all of us Hellboy fans (and most of you non-Hellboy fans) are due for some happy theater-going times ahead. And if this really is the launch pad for a far different script to come, then knowing del Toro we can only expect an improvement (and if anyone would actually like to send me that new draft, I encourage you get in touch with me. Please?)."
Entering A New Zone
Producers of UPN's upcoming update of The Twilight Zone told SCI FI Wire that they want to honor Rod Serling's original series, while bringing it into the 21st century. "I think we're going to tell simple stories with an ironic twist," executive producer Ira Steven Behr said in an interview. "And we're going to tell stories that will interest people who are watching television today. ... We're functioning with an audience that grew up on video games and George Lucas [and] Steven Spielberg. ... So we want to tell the same type of stories that Serling told. [But] we obviously have to tell them in a slightly different way."
Still, executive producer Pen Densham said that he hopes to tap the same mythic power of stories that Serling did. "The key of all these things is they have to tell the truth about human nature," Densham said. "They have to touch a poignant, powerful piece of the human condition. Whether it's about the guy who refuses to make any sacrifices for anybody else and ends up losing everything. Or whether it's about a man who has married somebody he's so incredibly jealous of that he drives her away, and then realizes when he's willing to give her her freedom so that he can live with her. ... These are the primal parts which stories come from. What Rod did ... in the 1959 era, he saw there was a need for new mythology, and he spoke to people through those stories about the things that were going on in their time and age. ... A lot of what we're doing is just touching base with those primal things, and in a very pure way."
Densham (The Outer Limits) and Behr (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine) have assembled a stable of writers to come up with new stories, starting with a pilot that features Jeremy Piven as a man who acquires clairvoyance after being struck by lightning. Each hour-long episode of the new Twilight Zone will feature two self-contained half-hour stories, introduced by actor/director Forest Whitaker. The producers also hope to enlist the help of top-level actors and directors.
"We started off with Jonathan Frakes directing the pilot, which I think is a real achievement," Densham said. "And ... with Jeremy Piven ... as an actor to come to join us. And I think we will attract people of that caliber, if the stories we tell have a poetry that artistic people can see in them. ... I don't think people just do it because it's The Twilight Zone. Why they'll do it is those stories [that] allow them to stretch themselves in some way. To challenge what they've been conceived as, so they can reframe their own creativity, or ... find a way of exploring, which normal television strictures or feature strictures wouldn't allow. ... We're hoping ... people come and have fun." The Twilight Zone will air on Wednesdays at 9 p.m. ET/PT, right after Enterprise.
Jason Alexander to Star on 'The Twilight Zone'
"Seinfeld" veteran Jason Alexander will be starring in an upcoming episode of "The Twilight Zone," UPN announced Thursday. The network is host to a new version of the popular Sci Fi series, which will premiere on Wednesday, September 18 at 9 p.m. ET.
Most recently seen in the film, "Shallow Hal" and last season's failed ABC series "Bob Patterson," Alexander will play "one of the most legendary and dreaded characters ever conceived." An airdate for this episode will be announced at a later time.
The new series will be hosted by actor/director Forest Whitaker ("Panic Room" ). Jonathan Frakes of "Star Trek" fame directs the pilot episode of this version of "The Twilight Zone."
PRODUCTION COMPANY / Shooting Dates: TRIBUNE FIREWORKS Shoot: June 17 - November, 2002
PRODUCERS:
1. Producer: Wendy Grean
2. Executive Producer
3. Production Manager: Lynn Malley
4. Other
5. Production Coordinator: Alice Wickwire Foster
DIRECTOR: Various
KEY CAST: Michael Biehn
Karen Cliche
Jesse Nilsson
Michael Biehn's The Fan will be released on DVD September 24.
From darkhorizons.com
Hellboy: A panel with Mike Mignola, Guillermo del Toro & Ron Perlman is happening at San Diego Comic Con. Time: 3pm Thursday in Room 6A.
Jonathan Frakes is Beyond Belief as he enters a new Twilight Zone
For more than a decade, actor-director-producer Jonathan Frakes' name has been synonymous with all things genre --whether you're talking about Star Trek (he's directed two features, numerous episodes and, of course, plays Number One, Cmdr. William T. Riker), or series like the now-departed Roswell, or Beyond Belief: Fact or Fiction.
As the host of Beyond Belief, Frakes introduces viewers to bizarre stories that couldn't possibly be true, and then challlenges them to separate the real from the fantastic. SCI FI currently airs episodes of Beyond Belief every Monday through Thursday at 8 p.m. ET/PT, and will be continuing to do so throughout the summer.
You've been doing Beyond Belief now for how many years?
Frakes: It's the best-kept secret on television. We've been on and off. I've been doing it for at least four years. But we always seem to be on the air for part of the season; one of these years, it will catch on to the point where it will actually be on somebody's schedule.
How did you first get involved in doing Beyond Belief?
Frakes: In my role as the "official" spokesperson for the paranormal. I guess because of the Star Trek connection, I have a healthy respect for all things alien?and it's something I've always been connected with.
I've done a lot of hostings and wraparounds and voiceovers for paranormal-type shows. Space, psychic, aliens, and one of the themes of the Beyond Belief shows is that they are beyond belief. Whether they are true or not, they challenge your imagination, and they question what is real and what is not.
Dick Clark and Al Schwartz and Mari Edelman, who do the show, asked me to do it, and I always look forward to getting back with these guys.
As host, are you involved at all in picking the stories themselves?
Frakes: Not at all. I often do the wraparounds with Al, who directs them and produces them, and Barry, who writes them?without having seen the episodes about which I'm speaking, so I can't slant the audience. Because it's, in a way, like a family game show. The premise is, at the end of the show, you decide amongst yourselves at home which segments are true, and which ones are not. Beyond Belief: Fact or Fiction: Which are fact and which are fiction? So, as the host, I'm better off not knowing, so I don't slant the audience with a wink. People seem to respond to this format of paranormal game show.
Sometimes, do you hear of stories that make you wonder, "How can that possibly be?"
Frakes: That's right. And those are often the ones that are true.
Are you sometimes surprised yourself by which stories are true, and which are fiction?
Frakes: I am often surprised. They've chosen stories with that in mind, obviously, so that the most far-fetched ones, the ones you think are going to be written by our writing staff, are the ones that are actually true. And I think that's fun for the audience.
Any stories that shocked you, when you learned they really were true?
Frakes: Well, I think there were stories that I had trouble buying, but Barry and Al claim they're true, so I have to trust them [laughs].
Do you find yourself believing in the paranormal yourself?
Frakes: I'm asked that question a lot. I believe in psychic connections. I believe that we'd be naive to pretend that we're the only life form in the universe or the galaxy, and I think there are unexplained phenomena that do happen.
How many new episodes are there this summer?
Frakes: We did 13 new ones. I did these shows a year ago. Dick Clark was trying to get the show back [earlier], but Fox wanted the show because they needed it for their summer schedule.
Since working on these episodes, you've been very busy. Tell us about how you became involved with the new Twilight Zone, which will air on UPN this fall.
Frakes: I directed the pilot, which sold. That will be on UPN's schedule after Enterprise, which is fabulous.
Was it fun working on a genre anthology show like that?
Frakes: It was great. The script by Pen Densham was right in the tone of the original Rod Serling shows. And Jeremy Piven is the star of the pilot episode; he's a wonderful, interesting, wild actor. The new Rod Serling, as you might know, is Forest Whitaker. So it's a nice team to be involved with. And one of our old Star Trek show runners?Ira Behr?is running the show with Pen Densham. So it's a good group.
It must be interesting being paired up with Ira Behr again, only on a show that isn't Star Trek.
Frakes: Ira got hired after we did the pilot. So I'll be working with Ira when I go back to work to do some episodes of the series.
Did you follow the original Twilight Zone?
Frakes: I was a huge fan. Unlike Star Trek, which I didn't know much about, Twilight Zone is something that I used to watch in reruns as a kid. The series, its premise and anthology setup, the cautionary tone and the idea that the leads were often Everyman characters, so you always seemed to believe that this could be you. I think that was one of the great appeals of the show: that audiences placed themselves easily into the dilemma that the characters faced.
[With the pilot,] I think we brought it into the 21st century in terms of the shooting style, certainly, and the technology and the visual effects. Yet we honor the cautionary tales and morality plays that the episodes often are. But the subject, by nature of the fact that it's 40 years later, will be more contemporary. I think it honors the original show in a very good way, and it moves us into this millennium.
So what else are you working on now?
Frakes: Nemesis is wrapped and coming out in [December], and I'm hopefully going to be directing a movie version of an old English television series called The Thunderbirds. I'm on my way to a meeting that will determine whether or not that will happen; if not, I'll probably go into another movie with the Nickelodeon people, who I did Clockstoppers with last year, and I'll stay busy with Twilight Zone, and trying to sell some other series for next year. And they just called me about [directing] Enterprise, but I'm not sure if I'm going to be able to do the one they offered, but I'll probably be over there at some point this year to do at least one. I've been very impressed by that series.
Can you leave us with one final thought -- what stands out in your mind about working on Star Trek: Nemesis earlier this year?
Frakes: It was nice to be able to be just an actor between setups. And it was nice to be back with our family. It was as if we had never left, and that was a comforting, satisfying feeling.
"News" not good for Bravo
Maybe TNT knew something when it commissioned 13 hourlong episodes of "Breaking News" and then canceled it without airing even one.
More than a year after that ultimate indignity, Bravo, which bought "Breaking News" from New Line TV, scheduled the worldwide premiere of the series with two primetime episodes Wednesday and managed to pull only a 0.4 rating in cable homes.
But Bravo is looking on the bright side. That number may appear small, but it's still 14% higher than Bravo averaged in the Wednesday 8-10 time period for the year to date, and 22% higher in adults 25-54, the audience that Bravo targets in its programming.
Bravo is not the usual place to find scripted drama series about high-powered professionals working for a 24-hour news network, so it plans to keep promoting it in the hope that more viewers find the show during the summer doldrums. Bravo's contract specifies a three-year license term.
"Breaking News," filmed in Vancouver on a big budget, for cable, of $1.5 million an hour, stars Tim Matheson and Clancy Brown.