Whether it’s because of the character’s bat-inspired get-up or his eerie rogue’s gallery comprised of killer clowns and mutant madmen, it’s only natural that horror fans tend to gravitate towards the Caped Crusader when it comes to choosing a favorite super-hero.
This genre influence extends to big-screen adaptations as well, with even Christopher Nolan’s hyper-realistic re-imagining of Batman featuring its fair share of horrific moments (especially in the first entry of the Dark Knight trilogy). However, I’d argue that one of the darkest and most entertaining Batman adaptations isn’t even in live action. Naturally, I’m referring to 2021’s two-part animated epic, Batman: The Long Halloween – a surprisingly gloomy super-hero story that I think will especially appeal to horror fans.
Despite their polarizing big screen adaptations, DC has quite the impressive track record when it comes to animated films based on their characters. In fact, there have been multiple iterations of the DCAU, with The Long Halloween taking place in the very same Tomorrowverse that just recently concluded with the Crisis on Infinite Earths crossover.
The first (and only) solo Batman project of the Tomorrowverse, The Long Halloween is a direct adaptation of the 1997 comic-book of the same name – a legendary mini-series by Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale that not only revitalized Batman’s extended family of villains but also inspired nearly every single live-action adaptation to come (with the story even serving as the basis for what is widely considered one of the best superhero movies of all time, 2008’s The Dark Knight).
Directed by Chris Palmer, the animated version of Batman: The Long Halloween is an extremely faithful recreation of the comic, with the story following Batman/Bruce Wayne (lovingly played by Supernatural’s Jensen Ackles) as he joins forces with Commissioner Gordon (Billy Burke) and District Attorney Harvey Dent (Josh Duhamel) in an attempt to track down a serial killer hell-bent on murdering high-ranking members of the Gotham City underworld.
And as the bodies begin to pile in Holiday-themed executions, a monstrous new class of criminal emerges from the shadows.
SO WHY IS IT WORTH WATCHING?
It’s hard to make a bad meal out of good ingredients, and since we’ve established that The Long Halloween is one hell of a good comic-book story, it stands to reason that a faithful adaptation would be a decent watch. Thankfully, Palmer’s film doesn’t settle for “decent,” with the flick going all-out on atmosphere and presentation as it dives into an iconic whodunnit.
The Warner Bros. Animation team made sure to drench the entire production in an appropriately gloomy atmosphere, and the villainous redesigns are excellently done. The film’s visuals may not be quite as striking as Sale’s highly detailed artwork (with the simplified Tomorrowverse art style taking some getting used to) but the art direction and excellent voice acting soon make it clear that this isn’t exactly a Saturday morning cartoon.
From rain-slicked streets to grimy back alleys, Gotham is as alive and dreary as ever here, with this year’s worth of serial killer investigating allowing audiences to explore the cursed city alongside the Dark Knight himself. I know it’s a cliché to claim that “the setting is a character in and of itself,” but it’s hard to argue against that notion when this story is technically about crimefighters and madmen fighting over the city’s soul.
And with heavy hitters like Troy Baker and even David Dastmalchian making up the villainous ensemble scrambling after pieces of the Gotham pie, you get the feeling that maybe Warner Bros. should have invested in a wide release. And on a personal note, it was incredibly satisfying to see Ackles fulfill his life-long dream of playing Batman even if it wasn’t in live-action.
AND WHAT MAKES IT HORROR ADJACENT?
It should come as no surprise that a film called The Long Halloween features plenty of eerie visuals and blink-and-you’ll-miss-it genre references, but the real seasonal treat here is watching a Godfather-inspired mob flick gradually give way to an all-out monster movie.
That’s why The Long Halloween makes the most of the genre inspirations behind spooky characters like Scarecrow, Poison Ivy and even the undead Solomon Grundy, with these iconic freaks slowly taking over the power vacuum created by the Holiday killer and suggesting that the city itself has lost its mind.
Sure, the majority of the experience is still a neo-noir investigation concerning dead mobsters and their internal family drama, but the grounded approach to fantastical horrors and the surprisingly realistic antagonist puts the film closer to horrific classics like Se7en and Silence of the Lambs rather than your average police procedural. Hell, Calendar Man even gets to shine as this story’s version of Hannibal Lecter, aiding Batman from behind bars with insights about the killer’s motivations.
I’ll concede that this ambitious adaptation doesn’t quite capture the same grungy atmosphere and exceptionally developed characters of the original comic-book (with even a three-hour run-time feeling a bit rushed when the script has to cover a year’s worth of story), but I still think that this is one of the best Batman adaptations so far. And it works even better if you consider it a middle chapter in between DC’s previous animated adaptations of Batman: Year One and The Dark Knight Returns.
So if you’re up for some investigative thrills this spooky season, I’d highly recommend checking out Batman: The Long Halloween – especially if you can get your hands on the R-rated Deluxe Edition which combines both halves of the story into a single thrilling experience.
There’s no understating the importance of a balanced media diet, and since bloody and disgusting entertainment isn’t exclusive to the horror genre, we’ve come up with Horror Adjacent – a recurring column where we recommend non-horror movies that horror fans might enjoy.
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