Dylan Dog: Dead Of Night - Horror Spot DVD Review

Dylan Dog: Dead Of Night - Horror Spot DVD Review

By Jose

Plot:

The adventures of supernatural private eye, Dylan Dog, who seeks out the monsters of the Louisiana bayou in his signature red shirt, black jacket, and blue jeans.

Cast:

Brandon Routh (Dylan Dog), Peter Stromare (Gabriel), Sam Huntington (Marcus), Taye Diggs (Vargas), Kurt Angle (Wolfgang), Anita Briem (Elizabeth)

Review:

Dylan Dog is an Americanized version of the Italian horror graphic novel character, and as far as adaptations of comics from another culture goes, this one hits the mark in expectations. Where the source material got extremely dumbed down, save for the trademarked coat and red shirt. Director Kevin Munroe's vision of this character became somewhat of a generic monster hunter type of film. Though a plus point would be its treatment and narrative style in full detective noir, with Routh's Dylan Dog being reluctantly pulled from retirement by his client Elizabeth (Anita Briem) to investigate the death of her father, as well as that of his assistant Marcus (Sam Huntington).


This investigative trip of course introduces the audience to Dylan Dog and the mythos that the undead (from vampires to werewolves to zombies) all have hidden human identities and walk the Earth quite undetected. With a truce in place to keep the peace and Dylan being the only trusted human for the monsters to go to when someone crosses the line or breaks the peace. There's a little back story here on Dylan's origins and the reasons behind his forced retirement, but nothing truly to wow or build upon any depth to the character.

The thrill factor of course is the make up and effects. Having the monsters look their nasty part, although they aren't something that hasn't been seen before on screen. Action sequences are ho-hum, with the feeling that the story can't quite decide how to empower Dylan, making him become as powerful as Routh's previous comic book outing in at least the indestructibility factor, while equipped with some funky weapons that we should see more of. And the trailer actually summed up the entire plot, having revealed too much and letting out that the filmmakers aren't quite confident with their end product, and the marketers a little bit clueless on how to sell this film, hence its poor show in box office.


Brandon Routh did a great job with the character. Sam Huntington, his co-star from Superman Returns as well as he played Jimmy Olsen, did a good job being the very whiny assistant, whose wisecracks and constant shouting get onto your nerves, and you wonder when his character could shut up if at all for five minutes. In a good way though. The Marcus character doesn't exist in the books simply because of a potential copyright tussle if what was deemed as a Grucho Marx look-alike got interpreted, but this modern replacement was as funny in a lot of ways.


Dylan Dog has a Men in Black feel to it. Only replacing aliens in our midst with that of monsters roaming around. If only it had stuck more faithfully to its source, then it could have been something quite unique. But it was a good horror comedy regardless.

Ratings: 3 out of 5