Movies I'd Like to See Vol. 4

Dylan Dog

To begin with, it must be said that there already is a movie in development, called Dead of Night, based on this best-selling Italian comic book, and supposedly Brandon Routh (who played Superman in Superman Returns, go figure) has been cast as the eponymous nightmare investigator. Now, the fact that there is a movie in pre-production doesn't mean that is the movie I want to see made.


My biggest worry is that Dead of Night will not be able to make the Dylan Dog character. I'm not sure that Routh has the acting ability to portray this rather layered character (even if I think that Rough looks more like Dylan Dog should than what Superman should). Dylan Dog is a young-ish former cop, that after a series of traumatizing events decides to call it quits and instead work as a private detective, one that specializes in investigating nightmares and the unexplained. In a way, he is a British Fox Mulder... yes, British, because even if the comic is italian, the comic is set in London. Dylan Dog is not the classical tough guy, on the contrary, he is quite vulnerable. He has a number of phobias despite having to deal with horrific situations all the time, he carries a 19th century Bodeo revolver, and his sidekick/butler is Groucho Marx... no, not that Groucho Marx, but the real Groucho Marx.


A lot of the best Dylan Dog stories are pretty much movie scripts done in a comic format. Truth is that many of the writers of the series don't approach Dylan Dog in a conventional comic book way, maybe because many of them are novelists in their day jobs. Always firmly rooted in horror, a Dylan Dog comic can range from a "splatter horror" to a "slasher horror", from a "whodunit mystery" to a more oneiric/surreal, almost poetic, type of horror story. From Zombies, to serial killers, from witches to ghosts, from science gone wrong to demonic possessions, anything and everything related with the horror genre has been explored in Dylan Dog since it's 1986 debut.

There is a movie based on another character by Tiziano Sclavi, Dylan Dog's creator, called Dellamore Dellamorte (a.k.a. Cemetery Man), that some have mistakely dubbed as an unofficial Dylan Dog movie, mainly because Rupert Everett stars in it, and Dylan Dog's look was originally inspired in the actor's likeness. While some elements of the movie are indeed Dylandogesque (I believe it has more to do with Sclavi's signature style than anything else) the tone of the movie, despite all the gore, is too farcical. A Dylan Dog movie can and should be better than that! The comics do have their comedy relief, mostly coming from Groucho's jokes and Dylan's self-deprecating humor, and in counted occasions it delves into the absurd. The movie should try to play it as straight as possible, so that it feels real, cause it only is scary as it is real.

Of all things, I believe that the hardest things to adapt from the comic are: having Groucho Marx as the assistant, for several obvious reasons, and Dylan's last name. Dark Horse had to edit him in the American reprints of the comics, I'm guessing to avoid legal actions from the Groucho Marx estate and family. It'll be a shame to lose Groucho in the film though.

If done right, and I should know better than keeping my hopes high for a movie based on a comic, Dylan Dog could become a male horror movie icon to rival Evil Dead's Ash Williams, while being an almost total polar opposite.