the cinema

Have You Seen Heckboy Yet?

Photo: Mark Rogers/Liongsgate

Have you seen the new Heckboy? I have never been particularly into demon-superhero action blockbusters or their widely panned reboots, but for Heckboy, I will make an exception. Even if it means taking an unscheduled trip to Dickson, Tennessee, which appears to be the only place in the country currently screening Heckboy. CNN reports that Belinda Daniel — the owner of the Roxy 8 movie theater in Dickson — likes to edit out any offensive language in movie titles, so as not to corrupt the minds of students at the neighboring elementary school. The Roxy also sits across the street from a church, and Daniel does not want to invoke God’s wrath by advertising films like Hellboy, so she made a highly memeable tweak to the signage. And thus Heckboy was born:

“To my knowledge, we have never put any words on our sign that may be seen as profanity,” Daniel told the Tennessean. “This is the way l believe, thus this is way we conduct business … Hundreds of children pass by our sign daily and we want to be respectful to them, our employees, and everyone.” Nodding to the surprise celebrity her “Heckboy” has achieved, Daniel added “As it turned out, our play on words became a little more exciting than we expected. We are glad that we could share a small bit of our great community while also sharing a laugh with the rest of the world.”

I find this wordplay very exciting, and am delighted to share in the laughs.

Have You Seen Heckboy Yet?