'Hellboy: The Crooked Man' Ending Explained: Hellboy's final showdown with local devil seals the town's fate
Contains spoilers for 'Hellboy: The Crooked Man'
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: 'Hellboy: The Crooked Man', based on a comic book by Mike Mignola, is set in the 1950s where Hellboy (Jack Kesy) and Bobbie Jo (Adeline Rudolph) accidentally land up in a small town led by a local devil controlling a community of witches. Together, they embark on a journey with a young man named Tom Ferrell (Jefferson White), leading to a face-off with the devil Jeremiah Witkins, a supernatural entity popularly known as The Crooked Man (Martin Bassindale).
In the second half of the movie, we see the trio trapped at the Church surrounded by the witches. The Crooked Man arrives and demands Tom to pay his debt. This leads to an intense battle where Tom and Hellboy finally get rid of the devil, but temporarily.
What happens to 'The Crooked Man' in 'Hellboy: The Crooked Man'?
Following an epic battle at the chapel, The Crooked Man transforms into a bird and flies off to his refuge. Hellboy decides to follow him along with Tom. Upon reaching The Crooked Man's mansion, they witness disturbing photos including one of a snake that emerged out of Cora Fisher's body.
When Hellboy hears the cry of a baby echoing through the house, he follows the sound and soon finds himself in the middle of darkness illuminated by the flames surrounding his mother. He reaches out to her and saves her from the devil's flames but at the same time, he makes it clear that he has no affection for her. He also says that if it were up to him, he would let her burn into fire. She whispers that witches like her will burn forever and then disappear in the very flames that torment her.
Hellboy soon realizes that it was a trap set by The Crooked Man to trick him into taking his own life. He later finds The Crooked Man in the house and utilizes the opportunity to shoot him multiple times but he dodges every bullet. Another battle follows and Tom comes to rescue Hellboy and throws a witch's ball into The Crooked Man's mouth causing him to choke.
Hellboy then pushes him down the stairs and hundreds of pennies that carried the souls of his victims fall off. Hellboy takes a final shot at him and more pennies spill out. The Crooked Man is eventually sent back to Hell, right where he belongs.
Hellboy tells Tom that The Crooked Man's obsession with getting Tom's cat bone was nothing more than a mere whim. He makes Tom realize that the true power lies within him and not the bone, which is what The Crooked Man feared.
On their way back, Hellboy and Tom spot Effie Kolb (Leah McNamara) hiding in the woods. Since the leader of the witches is back to hell, Effie has grown older and weak.
Why does Reverend sacrifice himself in 'Hellboy: The Crooked Man'?
Jo, who stays behind at the church on Hellboy's instructions, tells Reverend Nathaniel Armstrong Watts (Joseph Marcell) that Tom once pointed out that the hills in the area surrounding them seemed alive with the ventilation tunnels possibly functioning like veins, forming a kind of circulatory system. She suggests that they should destroy the mines as they appear to be the source of The Crooked Man's power.
As they approach the mines, the cross on the shovel begins to glow, which signals that a threat is approaching. Before they realize it, thousands of crows surround them. At this point, their best option is to flee but Reverend stays behind to give Jo some time to escape. The crows lift him, tear out his eyes, and thus, Reverend makes the supreme sacrifice. The movie ends with Hellboy and Jo finding a phone and bidding goodbye to the town.
'Hellboy: The Crooked Man' arrives in cinemas in the United States on October 7.
