| Dylan Dog: Dead of Night | |
|---|---|
Theatrical release poster |
|
| Directed by | Kevin Munroe |
| Produced by | Gilbert Adler Scott Mitchell Rosenberg |
| Written by | Thomas Dean Donnelly Joshua Oppenheimer |
| Based on | Dylan Dog by Tiziano Sclavi |
| Starring | Brandon Routh Sam Huntington Anita Briem Peter Stormare Taye Diggs |
| Music by | Klaus Badelt |
| Cinematography | Geoffrey Hall |
| Editing by | Paul Hirsch |
| Studio | Hyde Park Entertainment Platinum Studios Omnilab Media |
| Distributed by | Freestyle Releasing |
| Release date(s) | March 16, 2011 (Italy) April 29, 2011 (United States) |
| Running time | 108 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English Italian |
| Budget | $20 million[1] |
| Box office | $4,634,062[1] |
Dylan Dog: Dead of Night is a 2011 comedy horror film based on Tiziano Sclavi's Italian comic book Dylan Dog, starring Brandon Routh as the eponymous detective. The film was released on March 16, 2011 in Italy,[2] and April 29, 2011 in the United States.
Contents |
In New Orleans, Dylan Dog (Brandon Routh) is an ace detective whose specialty is paranormal cases. Now, he must deal with vampires, werewolves, zombies, and a guardian all due to a client's (Anita Briem) case. With the help of Marcus Deckler (Sam Huntington), his undead assistant, he will have to persevere for the sake of the Earth.
The film was produced by independent film companies Platinum Studios and Hyde Park Films, distributed by Freestyle Releasing, and directed by Kevin Munroe. It starred Brandon Routh, Sam Huntington, Anita Briem, Peter Stormare, Kurt Angle, and Taye Diggs. This was the second time Routh and Huntington will co-star in a film together, the previous film being Superman Returns.
The film was released in the United States and Canada on April 29, 2011.[3]
The film was released in Italy on March 16, 2011. The world premiere took place on March 15.[4]
The film grossed $4 million worldwide ($1.2 million domestically) on a $20 million production budget. The film currently holds a 6% "rotten" rating on review aggregate website Rotten Tomatoes with a consensus stating: "An uninspired, feebly-acted horror/comedy that produces little scares and laughs."[5]
Luca Raffaelli of la Repubblica, after watching the film said "it's a good B-movie inspired to a great top-league European comic", and points out that the character of Brandon Routh "is void" while the original comic character "uses the horror to talk about modern society problems".[6]
Roberto Castrogiovanni (www.Movieplayer.it) tries not to compare the movie and the original comic, but still "not everything is perfect", and the biggest problem is "the starting plot and the development of the screenplay": the plot is predictable, dialogues are the usual stereotypes, and the main character is just the usual American action-man.[7]
Federica Aliano (www.Film.it) heavily criticized the movie, saying "it's far worse than any bad expectation" and highlighted the big difference with the original comic: "the mature feeling of Tiziano Sclavi's masterpiece is never achieved by using splatter and beautiful images, but by using psychological introspection and by projecting into reality the nightmares and fears of characters and readers".[8]
Federico Gironi (Coming Soon Television) refers to the film without comparing it to the original comic, and notices many similarities with Underworld, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and True Blood, that make the film "like baby food, good for an extremely young target without a deep sense of criticism", although the director "avoids to disappoint the audience and gets a couple of good gags".[9]
Negative reception also comes from Marco Lucio Papaleo (www.Everyeye.it), who gives an overall score of 5 out of 10. "Technically Dylan Dog: Dead of Night is not bad, and sometimes even interesting. But it is not Dylan Dog. And even if all the names were changed, it would just be a nice movie, but actually already seen and useless".[10]