The original classic from macabre horror master, Clive Barker.  Written & directed by Barker, based on his short story, "The Hellbound Heart".  Possibly, the most gritty horror film since "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre", but far gorier.  The gore quality is damn near off-the-chart, and well, this film is truly an original piece of classic horror cinema.  As stated by Stephen King himself..."I have seen the future of horror fiction, and his name is Clive Barker."

This film's premise is certainly original in all aspects.  It starts out with a small puzzle box, seemingly harmless, but is said to unlock an experience where pain & pleasure are indivisible.  The man who seeks it is named Frank Cotton (Sean Chapman).  He thought he'd been to the limits of human pleasures, but his fate is unimaginable.  He solves the puzzle box, but what it invites is hell itself, in the form of the Cenboites.  He dies in the third floor room of this house that is soon inhabited by his brother Larry (Andrew Robinson), his wife Julia (Clare Higgins), and his daughter Kirsty (Ashley Laurence).  After cutting himself trying to haul the mattress upstairs, Larry's blood spills upon the floor that Frank died on.  Unknowingly to them all, that small amount of blood is enough to regenerate some amount of Frank's living body.  He has escaped from hell, and hell doesn't like that.  We learn of a past sexual relationship between Julia & Frank, and well, he uses her devotion to him to regain his full form through unsuspecting men.  Kirsty gets caught in the middle, and things rise to another level when the Cenobites come looking for more victims.

This is a dark, gory, and unbound vision of horror by Clive Barker.  Even the way its filmed makes it even more gritty and grimy.  The Cenobites are more of a simple plot element, an embodiment of hell.  Tortured, twisted, and mutilated to hellish perfection, the Cenobites are background characters here, but powerful ones.  Doug Bradley begins his legendary role of Pinhead here (referred to, simply, as "Lead Cenobite" in the credits to this film).  In a time where B-level, slasher horror films were the dominant sub-genre in horror, this film came out and changed the standard for horror films.  Although, nothing has yet to compare to Hellraiser, except for its first sequel, Hellbound: Hellraiser II.  As you can say with most every installment of this franchise, the cast is solid, very solid.  Andrew Robinson has been a favorite of mine for a long time as he has such a dynamic range (which is displayed here).  Ashley Laurence was a fresh-faced young girl with a lot of sympathy that will eventually show her strength.  Claire Higgins really does a wonderfully villianous role here.  Sean Chapman does a great, compelling performance as Frank, and Oliver Smith compliments is well as Frank The Monster.

The score by Christopher Young is wonderful and powerful.  Its gothic stylings really would spark off many similar scores such as Danny Elfman's Batman scores, and Graeme Revell's The Crow compositions.  Also, despite Barker's belief that this is an uneven film, and excuse the unintentional pun, I believe he did one HELL of a job!  The storytelling is tight and taut.  There's a lot of tension of varying kinds throughout the film, and Barker delivers it all quite well.  Definitely something for him to be proud of for his first feature length directorial work.  The cast couldn't be better, and the makeup effects rival the best in the industry - even today!  A definite classic, and one that can't be passed up!

This film takes what was done in the first, and takes it to a whole 'nother level!  Instead of just being teased at the horrors of hell, we actually enter into the domain of hell itself!  The horrors, the fears, the torture, and more.  It begins almost where the first left off.  Larry, Frank, & Julia are all dead, and Kirsty is being held within the Channard Institute of Mental Health.  She speaks of the Cenobites, the dead returning to life, the opening of a gateway to hell, and well, who wouldn't think she's a little south of sanity.  Although, one thing gains the attention of Dr. Channard; Kirsty mentions that they must destroy the mattress that Julia died on for she can return just as Frank did.  Channard has the mattress sent to his home, and after allowing one of rather hopeless hallucinatory mental cases (which are held in the basement holding cells) to slash himself with a blade attempting to dispose of the imaginary spiders & maggots upon his body, Julia is regenerated.  Her regeneration moves along faster than Frank's, but this is only one part of the whole picture.

Channard is shown to have much research into our famous puzzle box, properly called the Lament Configuration, and via the puzzle-solving talents of one of his patients, Tina, a speechless young girl, the Lament Configuration is once again solved, and the Cenobites appear.  Pinhead realizes that the girl is not the one who has summoned them, but instead, it's Dr. Channard & Julia.  Soon, all of our main characters venture into hell, Channard & Julia to explore it, Kirsty & Tina to stop the aforementioned duo.  Things are learned about the origins of the Cenobites, especially Pinhead, that they have forgotten.  A pair of great, climatic confrontations makes this a great sequel that's generally accepted as being BETTER than the original.  Some prefer the original over this one, but in any case, this is a suitable sequel that builds on what is only touched upon in the first.  This film is equally as horrifying & original as the first, and it truly shows Clive Barker's vision of hell in all of its twisted, tormented, and horrific glory.

Tony Randel did a superb job as director here, bridging a seemless gap between Barker's Hellraiser and this first sequel.  Christopher Young's score is even more powerful this time out, the cast is just as solid with most everyone returning from the first, the script is quite well-written, and the Channard Cenobite is a chilling foe for all who stand against him.  Barker is only on board as an executive producer, but his influence is still here and respected.  This is a faithful and top notch sequel that's worthy of classic status - a must-see as well.

Something went wrong here.  Clive Barker might be credited as an executive producer, but it essentially means nothing. I can't view any of his influence here, but that's not what's really wrong here.  This film has the elements, the story is good for about half of the film, then, the third quarter is kind of bad, but the last quarter revives.  Everything seemed like it should work, but something went astray. It's obviously the execution, and the divergence from the syle of the previous two films. The script needs an overhaul, and the quality of acting is pretty on-par for a slasher flick (which is what this film descends into). 

Anyway, let's try to make this quick.  Terry Farrell ("Star Trek: DS9") plays failing T.V. news reporter Joey Summerskill in search of that story that will break her out of this obscurity.  While finishing a report on some go-nowhere story at the hospital one night, a young man is carted into the emergency room with chains ripped into his flesh and dangling from his body.  Then, before the eyes of many in the emergency operating room, the man's body is torn apart, and of course, Joey believes this is the caliber of story she's been seeking.  She tracks the young woman, Terri (Paula Marshall), that accompanied the man to the hospital and finds that her boyfriend is night club owner J.P. Munroe (Kevin Bernhardt), who owns a familiar pillar - the pillar of souls which now contains an imprisoned Pinhead who became trapped there after the confrontation with the Channard Cenobite in the previous film.  After the spilling of blood on the pillar, Pinhead begins to reawaken, and with more blood, he can be fully regenerated.  Meanwhile, Joey comes into possession of the Lament Configuration through Terri (who got it from the guy wheeled into the hospital, who took it from the pillar).  Meanwhile, we begin to learn a bit about Pinhead's mortal, human life as British Captain Elliott Spenser.  Elliott exists apart from Pinhead now. Pinhead is now a free being, separeted from Leviathan and Spenser, and thus, has become a far more lively and sadistic being. There is no more reasoning, no more hesitation, and no more bargains. Elliott believes he can defeat Pinhead, but Joey must bring the two together within Elliott's realm to do so.  And so Joey is sent out on her mission to lure Pinhead into a trap, but of course, Pinhead is smarter than that (at least for the most part). 

This could've been a great origin story about Pinhead, and a fine follow-up to the first two films. Unfortunately, so much of the Hellraiser mythology and atmosphere is abandoned here that it becomes hopeless.  For one, aside from Pinhead, all of the other Cenobites we've seen are gone, and new ones are just created for Pinhead's own convenience. That alone contradicts the mythology. Leviathan creates Cenobites, and only those that solve the Lament Configuration have the potential to become one. Pinhead and other Cenobites do not have the power to create other Cenobites at will. Where this new power comes from for Pinhead is a complete mystery, and it only gets worse in the following film. 

Next up , the characters are no more developed than those of any common slasher flick, and that's what this seems to span out to in the third act.  Bloodbaths, senseless killings, and a high body count (none of which is really in the Hellraiser style).  The studio took Hellraiser, turned it into a slasher franchise, eliminating anything innovative or chilling about the Hellraiser mythos.  They turn Pinhead into the new Freddy Kreuger with one-liners and a group of seriously lame Cenobites.  Pinhead loses his coldness and his seemingly heartless passion for hell.  The film isn't really dark at all, let alone macabre, and even has a self-parodying style. It conforms to the trends of the time, and thus, loses a lot of crediblity for the future of the franchise. An unrated cut was released on VHS including extra gore and some more character moments, but apparently, Paramount will not release unrated horror films anymore. So, the DVD they released is an R-rated cut with a few obvious MPAA cuts, and no deleted footage as even a separate bonus feature. 

Honestly, this film doesn't warrant a lot of analysis, and so, I'll sum it up with saying that this is probably the most lacking of any film in the series (despite it's possible potential).  It's more like another A Nightmare On Elm Street sequel instead of another Hellraiser film.  Barker's involvement seems non-existent here as Pinhead is forced into too much of a foreground, dominant character instead of the ominous, looming figure in the background where he seems to work best.  His limited screen time in the first two make his presence and character seem more powerful.  He does more in a limited time capacity than he achieves in a lengthy role here (although, that's not consistently true). 

A little less self-parody, a little more Hellraiser-like, but studio interference once again ruins what could've been another fantastic film with a frightening story.  If you ask Clive Barker, this turned into a real mess.  Though as it is, this isn't really mess, just a bit confused in its organization of things.  Here's the reason. Special makeup effects artist Kevin Yagher was the original director of the film, but after Dimension Films decided to cutdown the film for time constraints and creative differences, he disowned the film.  They brought in another director, Joe Chapelle (Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers), to reshoot several sequences.  Only the "modern day" section of the film stays untouched The only cut footage is that of the murder of the Merchant's neighbor by Pinhead (who vows a reincarnated revenge against Pinhead, which becomes part of Pinhead's undoing).

In the end, the film is left with the alias director of Alan Smithee (the name attached to films that directors have disowned).  Kevin Yagher never directed anything else after this film. As far as Barker's involvement goes, he came on as a consultant, but all his ideas and mythology were tossed out.  Barker filed a lawsuit to have his name removed from the film, among other things.  All else I'll say is that his story of Phillip L'Merchant and the creation of the Lament Configuration was so drastically different from what ended up on the screen that it's down right shocking!  Anyway, let's get to the damn film. 

We start out in the year 2127 on the space station Minos with Dr. Paul Merchant (Bruce Ramsay) using a remote controlled droid to open the Lament Configuration in a sealed chamber.  The droid succeeds only to be blown to pieces as "a most unsatisfying victim," as Pinhead puts it.  Meanwhile, the station is stormed by a small group of Marines sent to capture Dr. Merchant for hijacking the very station he designed.  He's captured before he can put his potential plan into action, and thus, pleads with them to allow him to finish his work.  After enough pleading, he convinces the female marine to hear his story.  Merchant tells of how his ancestor, Phillip L'Marchant (also played by Bruce Ramsay), created the puzzle box in the eighteenth century based on the specific instructions of the most famous magician in France, Duc De L'Isle (Mickey Cottrel).  Phillip never could've imagined what it would unlock.  De L'Isle used the box to bring forth a demon in a woman's skin, and named her Angelique (Valentina Vargas).  Paul says that Phillip witnessed this devilry and attempted to undo it by designing the Elysium Configuration - something he would be incapable of implementing as it had to do with the reflecting of light beams to be a counteracting prison for these demons...the Cenobites.  The design was passed down through the family's bloodline (hence, the subtitle), and eventually, the twentieith century decendant, John Merchant (Ramsay, again), a achitect / computer designer, had potentially built what could become the Elysium Configuration, but Pinhead states that it could be a very large doorway (the office bulding featured at the conclusion of the previous film).  Angelique attempts to seduce its secrets from John, but Pinhead states that seduction is useless as pain and suffering are the way of hell now.  Pinhead attempts to trap John by holding his family prisoner, but in the end, both sides lose.  In the twenty-second century, Dr. Paul Merchant believes that he can destroy the Cenobites once and for all, but the marines' untimely arrival have prevented that.  Naturally, no one believes his elaborate story, but he must find a way to destroy the Cenobites or else the bloodline will end with him. 

This one had the potential to be an amazing mythology story, and possibly the best Hellraiser film ever , but it faultered.  When Dimension Films pulled rank, and forced the film to be dramatically and drastically altered, that's when all the problems began. Barker's original vision was something far more grizzly and seedy than what was shot. Still, the film holds together with a decent story.  The scenes in eighteenth century France are probably the best in the film as they are the most Hellraiser-like. But as the film goes on, we see the further divergence from the original, established mythology. Pinhead once again creates his own Cenobite despite not having the power to do so. As stated in my review of Hellraiser III: Hell On Earth, Leviathan is the only one with that kind of power.  Bruce Ramsay shows a great flexiblity as he portrays Phillip, John, and Paul.  Each one is a different type of character.  Phillip being the niave "little man," John being the protective father, and Paul being the intelligent and cunning one of the lot.  I hand it to him for showing the diversity of his acting abilities.  Doug Bradley again gives us all the Pinhead he has to offer. 

This had the basis for a great installment, but the execution was flawed in post production.  There are several cut scenes including "Angelique's Party" in the first time period, and in fact, the story was to be totally chronological instead of starting with Paul's narration from the future.  More things were undoubtedly cut, and it would be wonderful to see a Director's Cut someday, but it seems highly unlikely.  Also, these marines are idiots, and it would've been better if they were more like the Marines out of Aliens or the team from Predator.  Capable, intelligent, believable, and highly aware.  These marines are just meat ready to be ripped apart by Pinhead's chains.  Even the grunts from Jason X would've been greatly better than these slaughtered lambs.  Anyway, it had potential, and probably still does in that aforementioned, yet unseen director's cut.  All that I will mention about Clive Barker's vision, if it had been adhered to, is it woulve' been a far more visceral and nasty film with Phillip L'Merchant being a highly disturbed serial killer obsessed with creating dozens of puzzle boxes, and a deeper, more textured backstory overall being explored.  As it stands now, Hellraiser: Bloodline fails in some places, has some shining moments, but all in all, still delivers some chilling scenes with a good story, great makeup work, and good visual effects.  I say check it out, but don't expect all around greatness from this one.  Could've been exponentially more powerful had Dimension not interfered so terribly much. 

No, it's not a typo, it IS 8.5 out of 10.  Granted this one doesn't have a lot of Hellraiser-style gore, but gore alone does not make a Hellraiser film (although, one early scene might spurr thoughts from Hellbound).  This is the BEST since Hellbound!  Yes, this shares some elements with Inferno, but this blends everything together nicely.  A whole twisting story that wraps itself with past mythology & storylines.  Not to mention that Ashley Laurence is STILL HOT!!!  Although, Doug Bradley is getting a bit chubby, but he's still as cold and as evil as ever in the guise of Pinhead.  So, where do we start?  At the beginning?  No, been there already, but let us continue the story here.

We open to Kirsty Cotton (Ashley Laurence) and her now husband, Trevor (Dean Winters, TV's Oz & Law & Order: SVU), driving down the road speaking vaguely of things we are yet to understand.  They start playfully fooling around, start kissing, but Trevor narrowly misses a head-on collision with an SUV which swerves the car off the bridge into the river.  To make a long story short, the car sinks, Trevor escapes, but is unable to free Kirsty.  Naturally, Trevor believes she drowned to death, but her body cannot be found.  Trevor wakes up to some amnesia along with several disturbing experiences, and just takes them as nightmares due to his headaches.  As the story progresses we learn of Trevor's sexually aggressive boss, Gwen, his sexy young neighbor in his apartment complex, and his somewhat oddly-behaving co-worker/friend.  Trevor is plagued by bizarre images and nightmarish experiences all the while more and more of his memory returns.  He can't explain why someone dies in his apartment, but only moments later, they're alive with no memory of being there.  Why he sees an image in the video camera happening right before him, but yet, it isn't.  Why he feels he's being watched or followed by a faceless, dark figure.  None of it makes sense to him.  One cop believes he's done nothing wrong, but another believes he killed his wife.  The further it all progresses, the more it comes together like any sort of puzzle.  It's all cleverly woven into a worthy sequel to the first two films.  Hell, not to mention that Doug Bradley plays two significant characters that are strangely similar.

To put it simply, this redeems the franchise for the screw-up that was Inferno.  This time we get a main character that we care about instead of some crooked cop who cares about nothing for no one.  Even in the end, I didn't really despise him despite what he tried to do to Kirsty, and the confrontation between Pinhead & Kirsty takes you back to the first two films.  The best thing is to get the DVD because it has the full-length versions of the cut-down flashback scenes (including the just mentioned scene).  Although, those hoping that the Chatterer has some good scenes here, don't because he's in like one shot for about three seconds (with no chattering sound effect either).  In any case, this has a good host of Cenobites, and this is a well-made film by competent people.  This truly gives me HIGH hopes for Hellraiser: Deader(which is filming NOW in Romania).  Also, this installment does feature MUCH more Pinhead than Inferno did (how could it have much less?), and I have to say that Pinhead's entrance into the film is both inventive and dramatic.  Yes, CGI is once again involved, but it is done pretty good for a direct-to-video budget.  Also, the music is nothing of the style of Christopher Young's score for the original, but it is effective nonetheless as it contains some good electric guitar combined with your standard orchestral score.

All in all, this is a damn good sequel.  Now, don't go thinking that this is a comparison to the first two films because it's not.  Those are different styles of stories than this.  Here you're not swarmed with the chambers of hell like in Hellbound, but it is more in the vein of the original's kind of story.  Not so dependent on the Cenobites, but yet, it adds in those elements from Inferno.  This is what Inferno SHOULD have been, but failed greatly by deteching itself from any backstory or mythology that the series has been built on.  That's what Hellraiser is, it's a story built on mythology as well as inner and outer conflicts.  To lose the mythology and the backstory really doesn't make it feel like Hellraiser.  From the very beginning of the original Hellraiser, we've got mythology and backstory.  That's what gives this series its strength, and that's why Jason, Myers, and Freddy have grown less impactful because there's no mythology in their stories anymore.  There's no mythology there for these characters to have a given strength or edge to them.  They're too familiar, but Pinhead and the rest of the Hellraiser myhtos have so much that is yet to be known.  There's so much that can still be learned from further stories.  With something as vast and as dark as hell, there's got to be much that can be told about it.

This film really stands up, and it's good that you learn things along with Trevor.  You're about as confused as he is.  What's this image mean, or what the hell just happened here?  It's all a puzzle that both you and Trevor discover together.  I'm liking this film, and I will definitely choose this over Hell On Earth or Inferno any day.  I still like Bloodline for its potential, but it got screwed-up behind-the-scenes.  Anyway, Hellraiser: Hellseeker is one to see for any Hellraiser fan!