Hellboy: Blood and Iron
We’re doing something a little different with the Upfront this month, highlighting the recent discs from Anchor Bay. For this first week of May, we’d like particularly to draw your attention to the approaching release of Hellboy Animated: Blood and Iron.

I gave the first Hellboy Animated feature, Sword of Storms, a positive review right about… here. I loved the thing’s spirit and characters, and quite enjoyed the transposition into Japanese folklore. Blood and Iron takes things back to a realm more familiar to fans of the comic with a gothic, European setting and monsters. Look for the DVD release on June 12, and look for the hype starting right about now:

Hellboy Animated: Blood & Iron is reminiscent of the classic ‘Hammer Horror’ films: an atmospheric tale of gothic thrills and chills – stunning to look at, terrifying in content. In 1939, the young Professor Broom destroyed the vampire Erzsebet Ondrusko. Now, decades later, it seems that someone is trying to bring her back and Professor Broom (John Hurt – Hellboy, V for Vendetta) wants to investigate this worrisome development himself.

The agents from the Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense – Hellboy, Liz Sherman and Abe Sapien – go with him, far more worried about defending their top researcher than with anything paranormal! But their view is soon revised when they find themselves battling werewolves, ghosts, harpies…even Erzsebet herself.

We will have a full review up for this darkling gem as its advent approaches.