Richard Haas Movies
Mike Mignola's acclaimed comic book series about a creature from Hades who joins the battle against evil arrives on the screen in vivid form in this adaptation directed by distinctive horror filmmaker Guillermo del Toro. During World War II, the Third Reich has joined forces with the evil Grigori Rasputin (Karel Roden), who has used his occult powers to summon up a young demon from the depth of Hell to be used as the ultimate Axis weapon. However, the demonic creature is captured by American forces, and put in the care of Professor Broom (John Hurt), the founder of a top-secret organization called the Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense. Under Broom's tutelage, the creature develops empathy and a desire to do good while his physical powers and paranormal talents are honed to a fine point. Sixty years later, the demon, now known as Hellboy (Ron Perlman), is part of an elite secret defense team alongside Liz Sherman (Selma Blair), a beautiful young woman who can create fire with her mind, and Abe Sapian (Doug Jones), an aquatic humanoid with the power of telepathy. Despite his many years of fighting for right, Hellboy finds himself facing his greatest challenge when the powerful Rasputin returns, determined to bring the demon back to the forces of darkness so that evil may finally rule the world. Hellboy's supporting cast also includes Jeffrey Tambor, Rupert Evans, and Brian Steele. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ron Perlman, John Hurt, (more)
British actor Robert Carlyle stars as the 20th century's most infamous dictator in this two-part TV biopic. The film covers the life of Adolf Hitler from his childhood to his emergence as absolute ruler of Germany in 1934. Most of the ground covered should be familiar to history buffs: Hitler's failed efforts to become a great artist, his frustration at watching his adopted country fall apart at the seams during World War I, his resolve to put Germany back on its feet by exploiting the nation's horrendous postwar economic woes and its ingrained anti-Semitism, his 1923 arrest, the publication of Hitler's virulent screed Mein Kampf, the growing popularity of National Socialism, and the fatal error made by senile German chancellor Von Hindbenburg (Peter O'Toole) to "neutralize" Hitler by giving him a relatively unimportant political post in 1933. Also covered is Hitler's abortive romance with his half-niece Geli Raubal (Jena Malone) and his longer relationship with the estimable Eva Braun (Zoe Telford). Given the difficulties faced by actor Carlyle and the screenwriters to successfully convey pure, unadulterated evil, much of what we learn about Hitler is conveyed by the observations and reactions of other characters, notably crusading but ineffectual anti-Nazi journalist Fritz Gerlich (Matthew Modine), and especially German publisher Ernst Hanfstaengl (Liev Schreiber) and his wife, Helene (Julianna Margulies). Originally a staunch supporter of Hitler, Hanfstaengl eventually comes to realize the danger the man poses to the world ("He's not human. He simply studies others to become human."); in contrast, Helene, who at the outset is vaguely opposed to National Socialism, is ultimately seduced and swept up by the movement. Not surprisingly, this film stirred up a great deal of controversy even before it aired; some Jewish leaders and prominent Holocaust survivors worried that Hitler might come off as being sympathetic (a concern that may have dictated altering the film's title, which was to have been Hitler: The Early Years); and one of the film's producers was summarily dismissed after issuing a public statement which seemed to compare Germany's blind, unthinking allegiance to Hitler to America's rallying behind George W. Bush during the Iraq crisis. Hitler: The Rise of Evil originally aired May 18 and 20, 2003, on CBS. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robert Carlyle, Stockard Channing, (more)
