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"HELLRAISER" [1987
- New World Pictures] - 10 out of 10 |
by Daryl
Hobson
I love Clive Barkers work, it is eerie, imaginative, gory and twisted.
There is no beating some of his best works, one of which is HELLRAISER.
Set in a gothic-looking house, full of insects, dirty squalid conditions
and a really run-down look, this is THE perfect setting for such a degrading
film. The film starts slowly, it has its jolts, but nothing spectacular
. . . that all changes though. We soon meet one of the most evil
and sadistic bad guys since Freddy. Pinhead. Grotesque in every
sense, this diabolical madman has a perverted twist on the world, he looks
upon us as cattle, as lesser beings, and he represents our inner selves,
passion, lust, envy, greed, sadism, and pain. He lights up the screen,
when he is on, it is uneasy to watch, it bites deep, you realise that there
IS a side of us like him, lying beneath the surface of our souls. You cannot
actually like Pinhead. The story centers around the Lament Configuration
puzzle box, or 'The Box', as it is referred to by Pinhead. It is
a gateway to another dimension, I assume it is Hell. The box is not
just a doorway though, it is a torture device, it shoots out lengths of
chain topped with cruel barbs and vicious hooks, the scenes of death via
these chains are very nasty, and seem almost clinical in their approach.
Pinhead is after flesh, he is an explorer, he has his followers, a woman,
sliced up and mutilated with all manner of wire, a fat man with his eyes
sewn up, and a final person, with all the skin on the head pulled back,
bearing the teeth. These intrepid explorers are expanding the realms
of pain, experimenting, enslaving and torturing. The box allows them
into our world. Nobody escapes them, except for one . . . I will
not go further because i feel you must ALL see this film. I loved
it. It hit hard, it had gore (lots of gore), and above all else it
set a trend for torture and sadism in films. See it! |
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"HELLBOUND: HELLRAISER II"
[1988 - New World Pictures] - 10 out of a gory 10 |
by Daryl
Hobson
This film HAD to suceed the origional, NOT an easy task, seen as the
original IS a milestone in horror history, a fan favourite, pure horror
and universally feared. It tries SO hard to do this . . . it does
well, as well, it cannot top the first, because the first one is a pure
horror fest, all the ideas in this seem slightly dated or stale.
It has shocks, and terror, but never AS much as the original. This
is a review of the second though, not an ode to the first. The second
has ONE redeeming factor that stands above its predecessor. GORE.
You will not easily find a film to rival this one's vicious and grotesque
mockery of the human body. The cenobites ARE back, Pinhead looks fantastic,
his fellows are also there in spirit, a new cenobite follows . . . a doctor.
Cue evil laughs and gross-out deaths by the dozen. Even I was freaked out
once or twice, and I watch the hardest stuff for fun! This is a really
good film, but if you do not see the first, then it will have huge plot
holes, do yourself a huge favour, go to HMV, and buy the set. ENJOY!
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