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Playing more like a poor man’s episode of The X-Files, Dylan Dog: Dead of Night doesn’t have much bite in its tale of vampires, zombies, and werewolves. It’s an interesting attempt to revitalize the darker nature of vampires upon the streets of New Orleans, but it cinematically misfires on almost every level making it only equal to an extended pilot for a new network television show.
Based on a beloved series of Italian horror comic books, Brandon Routh (Superman Returns) plays Dylan Dog, a paranormal investigator (think Sam Spade meets Ghostbusters) who protects and investigates the undead clients who hire him. Dylan knows where to find all manner of creature in New Orleans and, due to the loss of his girlfriend, finds himself weary of continuing in that line of work. Enter Elizabeth Ryan (Anita Briem). Her father has been mysteriously killed by something with fur and fangs and hires Dylan and his undead sidekick Marcus Deckler (Sam Huntington) to discover exactly what happens. Poor Dylan. He just can’t say no to a beautiful girl.
You want to like director Kevin Munroe’s adaptation of Dylan Dog. You really do, but there’s not much to it. Never funny as it should be nor dark enough to generate even the lowest of scares, Dylan Dog’s only real thrill comes from the comedic quips and jabs from Huntington who steals the show every chance he can. Routh is lifeless and vapid and has absolutely nothing interesting to do. Even in generating sympathy, Routh can’t muster the strength for a tear.
We should care about Dylan. He wants out. He’s miserable and grieving over the death of his girlfriend, yet the supernatural forces keep pulling him back to the world he wants to leave. He’s a gumshoe detective for the undead; an interesting choice of careers, but Routh still can’t draw you in to Dylan’s reality. For all his sour spots, Routh does have great chemistry with Huntington…he just isn’t all that interesting without him kicking about.
The New Orleans atmosphere is rich and dark and full of undead wonder. The streets are slick with humidity and rain and provide a great backdrop for the supernatural occurrences, but Munroe’s camera can’t generate an honest scare which is surprising considering the dark world Dylan works inside of. The journey through the ‘Dead of Night’ is soiled with hackneyed writing and plodding acting and a story that is just barely average.
Bad, Dylan Dog. Bad.
MPAA Rating: PG-13 for sequences of creature violence and action, language including some sexual references, and some drug material.
