Dylan Dog: Dead of Night Review

This is a comic!

THE MOVIE: CRITIC'S TAKE

I first heard of this film from Comic Con. I saw the trailer and it looked pretty decent. I asked a few people about it and they all seemed excited to get this comic adaption off the ground. Then like a thief in the night the film dropped from not only my mind but from the film industry for over a year. I encountered an old contact of mine and he told me about this movie once again. I looked it up and found that it had a limited release with little to no marketing and fell through the cracks of Hollywood. I received a copy of the film and was asked to review it. After watching it I can tell why it flopped and why no one was interested. It was a decent film starring half polished or washed up actors looking to break back into the industry. Oddly enough... I liked the film. It's a B movie but a B movie I think most comic horror geeks will like.


STORY

Dylan Dog, played by Brandon Routh, is a retired monster detective who is trying to live a normal life. His friend Marcus, played by Sam Huntington, believes he needs to get out more and find real people who need his help, not these rich folks who pay him to get the dirt on their spouses. He receives a call for a new job but finds out it's not what he's looking for. Liz, played by Anita Briem, father was murdered by a monstrous creature and no one believes her. Dog refuses to help her due to his past ventures. Dog wished he would have because then maybe he would have saved his friend, Marcus, from becoming part of the undead.

Asshole

He was killed by a zombie on steroids and now Dylan has no other choice but to pick up the case. He quickly learns that Liz's father was murdered by a werewolf and that she needs protection. She joins him on his quest and learns that her world is secretly occupied by Zombies, Vampires, Ghouls, Werewolves, and other undead creatures. She also learns what her father was really into.

Is he Jesus?

Her dad was a smuggler of ancient items that can cause serious damage to everyone. This brings him to the leader of one of the wolfgangs named Gabriel, played by Peter Stormare. They don't like dog very much because they believe that he is a monster hunter not a monster protector. Eventually Gabriel gears him in the right direction. It seems that the vampires are trying to bring a demon back to earth to destroy all of the undead. It looks like Vargas, played by Taye Diggs, is being a bad boy.

Bad vamp boy

He wants to be the ruler of the world and bring his vamps to the frontline. This brings Dylan to face his past and overcome his demons. He learns that nothing is as it seems and that he was away from the game for too long. With the help of his only friend he learns the full truth and has no other choice but to play the game. Will he win and save the day? You know I can't tell you that but I can say I was impressed with how the ending turned out. They added a new suspense kill to the genre. I like it!

ACTING

The acting here was real plain. Even Taye Diggs seemed not to care for this film. The chemistry wasn't pleasant and a lot of these actors need to go back to school. I can say that Brandon Routh has improved with his acting since doing Superman Returns. He played his part well and I believed him as a supernatural detective. He wasn't great in this film because he really needs to work on his emotions but he did a good enough job to keep me invested.

Kurt angle, the WWE wrestler and current TNA star, has a decent role in this film as Wolfgang. Kurt Angle does have some acting ability but you can tell he was forcing it. Maybe after a few more acting roles he can grow as an actor in Hollywood. He does have the potential to get decent roles. The best actor here was Sam. He drove the movie along well and had chemistry with everyone he touched. I can see him doing more films in the future.

SPECIAL EFFECTS

For a B movie the special effects were decent. The monsters looked real enough except for the werewolves and that demon. From the head it looked intimidating but as the camera scrolled down you could tell how fake it looked. I couldn't get scared by the demon anymore but other than that the film's effects are gritty and decent to look at. It's a step up from most B movies.

Yuck

WRITING AND DIRECTING

The film was directed by Kevin Munroe and written by Thomas Dean Donnelly and Joshua Oppenheimer. The writing here isn't too bad and the dialog is passable. I don't know if it was the writers or actors here (probably the actors) but the film lacked emotion and clarity. The only character I cared about was Sam's. The pacing seemed to scatter about but I guess you can blame the director for that. He did a decent job filming but when it came to cut scenes it seemed to take away the effect of the last scene. He needs to learn how to transition so the film can flow better.

Nice ride!

THE END

The film is quite watchable if you're into this type of genre. Don't expect anything special coming from this. It's the type of film that you can watch at home if nothing is on. Some might even call it a cult classic despite it's flaws. I'm going to watch it again someday only to copy Dylan Dog's suit for Halloween. I think I'll look quite badass in it.

So getting this costume for Halloween

OVERALL


STORY 5 out of 10
ACTING 5 out of 10
SPECIAL EFFECTS 5 out of 10
WRITING 5 out of 10
DIRECTING 5 out of 10


TOTAL 5 (GIVE IT A TRY ONE DAY)