I honestly believed it was improbable to make a Hellboy movie dull, but I’ve been mistaken, and quite significantly so. The film begins acceptably enough, featuring the kind of action associated with Hellboy—a train and a large spider—but it doesn't remain that way for long; it quickly becomes slow-moving. The tone and direction evoke Tim Burton’s films, but beyond that, there aren’t many parallels. The story …

This movie holds a special spot for me; it’s the sole franchise I’ve experienced exclusively in theaters, always as the only audience member present. The newest installment follows the central devil (Jack Kesy) who is traveling with a dangerous spider alongside an up-and-coming paranormal investigator called "Bobbie Joe" (Adeline Rudolph). An incident then lands them unexpectedly within the Appalachian woodlands, whe…