Director: Anthony Hickox
Writer: Clive Barker, Peter Atkins, Tony Randel
Tagline: What began in Hell, will end on Earth.
Actors: Kevin Bernhardt, Lawrence Mortorff, Terry Farrell, Ken Carpenter, Sharon Hill, Paula Marshall, Robert C. Treveiler, Chris Frederick, Lawrence Kuppin, Sharon Percival, Philip Hyland, David Young, Brent Bolthouse, Peter Atkins, Doug Bradley, Ashley Laurence
Runtime: 1h 37m
Category: Torture
Synopsis: Joanne, or “Joey”, is an up incoming news reporter doing a story at a local hospital E.R. All is quiet until a young man is wheeled in; covered in blood with multiple chains hanging from his flesh. A young woman, Terri, who had brought him to the hospital, begins talking to Joanne about the incident. She learns that Terri’s ex-boyfriend J.P. Monroe, the owner and operator of The Boiler Room, a hard rock night club, bought a pillar of art that contained a strange-looking box. She claims the chains came from within its confines! Soon, the infamous Pinhead, the leader of the Cenobites, returns in a new-wave bloodbath! Unfortunately, the only person that can stop this demon…is himself!
Review: Thus far in the Hellraiser series, I must say that I’m impressed. I was not expecting to like this movie one iota, and I was slightly mistaken. If I am correct, this series stops here; at least the good ones do. But that is yet to be determined. Anyway, I liked this movie as a part of the original story but not as a separate entity.
The continuation of the original story has been very well crafted and well executed. The only problem I found with this portion of the story was that the whole thing with Captain Elliot Spencer and his “alter ego” Pinhead. The whole situation between them just seemed strained; like they were uncomfortable doing it because it was so confusing. I understood the story but I just thought that the end confrontation lacked the proverbial “umf”. Apart from that, I thought the rest of the story was great. Even though the new Cenobites were a little hoaky, they did well for the times. The scene of them chasing Joanne down the street was probably my favorite of the whole movie; right behind the massacre at The Boiler Room. The cinematography was well done and the storyline stayed solid most of the way through.
The acting was not as bad as I had expected. I thought that Terry Farrell as “Joanne” did a very good job. Along with Paula Marshall as “Terri” and Kevin Bernhardt as “J.P.”…but that seemed to be it. I know that they were the main characters and all, and that Doug Bradley doesn’t really even need to act, and I thought they did very well.
The gore was another concern of mine. It seemed to go by the wayside in this installment. Unlike its predecessors, this film seemed to be dumbed down some. There wasn’t nearly as much gore as the first two; a fact that baffles me since the younger the movie the better the effects (supposedly). I was just disappointed with the whole gore department; it was lacking severely. Even the head-explosion in the beginning looked like papier-mâché; was not happy here.
Rating: 13. The lack of gore brought it down significantly. The story and acting carried this movie the whole way through. It was so disappointing to watch a Hellraiser movie and not be grossed out. I think that they could have made it better with a lot more blood and guts. Even the scene in The Boiler Room, although a fav of mine, could have been way better. There was just not enough blood and gore for it to be a good Hellraiser movie. I would say that if you are planning to watch all of the Hellraiser series, you might…might…not be disappointed here. But I was. (13of25).
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