Dark Horse Comics: Hellboy Blood and Iron



Hellboy: Blood and Iron is the second in the Hellboy Animated series (the first being Hellboy: Sword of Storms), written by Tad Stones and Mike Mignola. It first aired on March 17, 2007 on Cartoon Network, and aired again on July 19, 2008 to promote the release of Hellboy II: The Golden Army, and was released on DVD by Anchor Bay Entertainment on March 10, 2007. The film's storyline is based in part upon the Hellboy: Wake the Devil storyline from the original comics.[1 ]

The title is a reference to Otto von Bismarck's famous "Blood and Iron speech."

Also included on the DVD is the short film Iron Shoes, which is based on the Hellboy story of the same name. The Iron Shoes demon is voiced by Dan Castellaneta.

Plot
a series of flashbacks played in reverse chronological order it is related that in 1939, Professor Trevor Bruttenholm investigated a series of murders in Eastern Europe. Erzebet Ondrushko, a vampiress who bathed in the blood of innocents to stay young, was responsible. She had sold her soul to the Queen of Witches, the goddess Hecate, and had just kidnapped the fiancee of one of the townsmen. When the search party confronted Erzebet in her castle, all members of the party were horribly killed, and Bruttenholm was left to face her alone. He tricked her into the sunlight, effectively destroying her.

In the present day, an elderly Bruttenholm, who is overcome with memories of his encounter with Erzebet, takes a particular interest in a publicity stunt case in the Hamptons on Long Island. A haunting has been reported in a mansion recently purchased by developer Oliver Trumbolt, a friend of a U.S. Senator with hands deep in the BPRD's budget, and considered a low priority. Bruttenhom insists that their most advanced team should go: Liz Sherman, Abe Sapien, Hellboy and junior agent Sydney Leach as well as himself (to everyone's surprise). Bruttenholm does not explain his motives at first.

''Ana, a blushing bride-to-be is met on the streets by two elderly women who encourage her to go to her bridal gown fitting, where she meets Erzebet, who had already killed the shop owner and her baby. Ana innocently comments that Erzebet reminds her of her "older" sister, offending her until she notices that Erzabet has no reflection. She screams, and everything goes dark. Later, upon being told that Father Lupescu was the one who convinced Ana to go to her fitting despite the disappearances of the young girls in the village, Erzabet pays him a visit, frightening him with her dark powers and confirming that his faith is not enough to keep her power from affecting the town.''

The BPRD team arrives at Trumbolt's site and sets up to investigate the haunting. Despite a few open windows, a creepy lifelike replica of Erzabet and an old, suspiciously familiar-looking groundskeeper, everything seems normal until night falls and they each encounter strange ghostly apparitions, culminating in dozens of spirits of Erzabet's former victims. Excited that he may have found a goldmine, Trumbolt ignores the professor's warnings and is attacked.

''Ana goes to visit Father Lupescu who convinces her that she should not fear danger because the church is strong and the faith will keep her from harm. She hurries off to have her fitting done, running into Professor Bruttenholm as she leaves. Bruttenholm attempts to explain to Lupescu about Erzabet's true nature and her allegiance to Hecate, but he becomes offended and turns Bruttenholm away.''

Using his abilities to detect metal, Leach finds a secret passageway through the house's cellar, inadvertently coming across Trumbolt's body, drained of blood. The blood has been placed in a bathtub, apparently for Erzabet's revival. Bruttenholm and Liz head for the gardens to stop Hecate and Erzabet's Harpy hags from summoning her back from the dead while a werewolf attacks Hellboy and Abe. Abe is knocked unconscious and taken by the harpies for experimentation while Hellboy fights the werewolf, eventually subduing it and revealing that it is Father Lupescu, the groundskeeper whom Bruttenholm had earlier identified. Meanwhile, Liz and Bruttenholm are attacked, first by wolves, then by Erzabet's withered body, which knocks Liz out and takes Bruttenholm. Hellboy is dropped through a hole in the courtyard and meets Hecate, who is perplexed as to why he helps the mortals, and tries to lure him to the dark side. He bluntly refuses again and again, forcing Hecate to take a physical form to deal with him. After Abe escapes them, the harpies come across Hecate, but one is killed as she violently thrashes with Hellboy and the other escapes. Erzabet bathes in Trumbolt's blood and rejuvenates herself, but she begins to wither and decay again from the Holy Water which Bruttenholm had added to the bath. He breaks off a chair leg and finishes her off. Her death enrages Hecate who brutally attacks Hellboy and badly wounds him, and when he realizes her weakness is the sun, he lures her outside, forcing her back into the darkness of her own realm, defeated.

''Bruttenholm is preparing for his trip to Transylvania where rumors have it that there is a vampire on the loose. As he is packing, his colleague comes in and they discuss the "right hand of doom" (Hellboy's stone hand); Bruttenholm asserts that so long as evil exists, good will rise up against it, before revealing an image of Hellboy's right hand, signifying that he will be responsible for the destruction of the world.''

Hellboy wakens in his bed, admiring Bruttenholm, his adopted father, before falling back to sleep again.

The Good

 * Professor Trevor Bruttenholm (John Hurt): Former director of operations for the BPRD who is significantly older than he was on one of his first missions where he encountered the vampire Erzebet Ondrushko. Defiant in surrendering to his age, he rallies the BPRD on a strange hunch on a haunting that turns out to be an attempted resurrection of his dreaded worst enemy. James Arnold Taylor voices the young Trevor Bruttenholm.
 * Hellboy (Ron Perlman): The BPRD's top agent, a demon discovered in the 1940s during an attempt for the Nazi regime to finally win World War II. He looks to Professor Bruttenholm as a father figure and seems to be the most worried about him being hurt on this mission. He is practically indestructible but is severely wounded during his fight with the evil goddess Hecate.
 * Sydney Leach (Rob Paulsen): A newcomer and a junior agent in the BPRD. He is awkward, but reliable, and has an innate ability to detect metal by touch allowing him to find hidden doorways and switches, he is both nervous and excited to be with BPRD's "A-Team" for this mission.
 * Abe Sapien (Doug Jones): An aquatic humanoid who seems completely out of his element here, he is made the victim of the harpy sisters and is nearly made into a fish fillet, he manages to escape using his athletic skills and is one of Hellboy's best friends.
 * Liz Sherman (Selma Blair): A hotheaded pyrokinetic who can generate and wield fire at will. She is the voice of reason with the other agents, but often short changes her ability to maintain control of her fire. She manages to save all of them at one point or another throughout the film.
 * Professor Kate Corrigan (Peri Gilpin)
 * Tom Manning (Jim Cummings)

The Bad

 * Hecate (Cree Summer): From the mythological goddess of witchcraft and sorcery, Hecate spends much of her time questioning why the powerful demon king's son Hellboy chooses to live in the world of men. Putting him through many tests and ultimately pitting herself against him. She has the ability to rapidly change form, and is very strong. Her chosen form is that of a Nāga or serpent and often summons other serpents to do her bidding.
 * Father Lupescu (James Arnold Taylor): Though ultimately choosing the side of right, Father Lupescu was once a righteous man of the cloth whose faith was put into doubt through the actions of Erzebet Ondrushko. Though Professor Bruttenholm assured him that the faith of the one holding the cross gave him power over vampires, he ran, unwittingly becoming a victim in a plot to resurrect Erzebet. The harpy-hags transform him into a werewolf to do their bidding, and use it as a punishment when he tells the BPRD too much. He redeems himself after his death at the hands of Hellboy and is seen alongside Anna whose fate he believed was his fault many years ago.
 * Erzebet Ondrushko (Kath Soucie): A selfish, vain and evil woman who is revealed to have been turned into a vampire by Hecate so she can revel in her beauty for eternity. She often bathed in the blood of her victims to restore any looks that wore away due to aging. She was destroyed by Trevor Bruttenholm in the 1930s, but eventually met resurrection. Thanks to his resourcefulness and willingness to be put into harm's way, he had the opportunity to destroy her again.
 * Harpy-Hags (Dee Dee Rescher and Grey DeLisle) : Two old hags who are actually harpies and Erzebet's lackies devoted into bringing her back. They are also followers of Hecate and are as vicious as they are conniving. One of them was accidentally killed by Hecate.

Minor characters

 * Anna (Grey DeLisle): A blushing bride to be who is kidnapped when going to try on her dress, prompting a search party consisting of Trevor Bruttenholm. She is one of the ghosts seen haunting the house in the Hamptons many years later.
 * Anna's Fiance (Rob Paulsen): Not named in the film, he is at first brave and dedicated to finding Anna when she is taken, but upon seeing her body he loses his nerve and runs only to be killed by wolves.
 * Oliver Trumbolt (J. Grant Albrecht): A rich man who had purchased a "haunted" mansion in the Hamptons. He had requested BPRD agents to visit as a publicity stunt to promote the oddity of the residence and was more than surprised when Hellboy and the rest of their top agents arrived. At first skeptical of the actual paranormal activities he quickly turns around believing he landed a goldmine, but his greed led to his demise.