[AlienPubicHair]

Bahh. I don’t really remember them much – just 3rd one cuz it’s the only one of the m that I have so I watched it more often. But that doesn’t mean it’s my favorite one 😛

[Jenny]

Oh wow! I feel out of the loop cos I didnt even know they went up to number 8!

[SLASHerMan]

Just for Jen’s sake, the films are:

Hellraiser
Hellbound: Hellraiser II
Hellraiser III: Hell On Earth
Hellraiser: Bloodline
Hellraiser: Inferno
Hellraiser: Hellseeker
Hellraiser: Deader
Hellraiser: Hellworld

[Jenny]

Thanks Rob. I must check them all out. I have seen up to number 3 and from what I remember (as it was years ago that I saw them!) number 2 was my fave. As it explained more about where they came from. Or am I thinking of 3? Not sure now! Will definatly try to watch them all.

[Tyler Durden]

HAve not watched Hellraiser…..something about the name sounds corny…

[Justin]

I really need to find a box set of these. Havn’t seem them for YEARS, but I remember liking them.

[rockchick466]

There is a really cool box-set. It looks like the puzzle box from The Hellraiser movies and includes the first 3 Hellraiser movies with lots of extra material + a bonus disc with Clive Barkers first 2 short movies, The Forbidden (1978) and Salome (1973)..

[SLASHerMan]

Favourite out of the Hellraiser films?
(Hope I’m not creating too many topics here – last one, promise :P)

I have re-evaluated Part 5: Inferno.
I saw it first when I was young, and didn’t understand any of it. Now I think of it as one of the better films.
My favourites might still be the first two though.

The worst is definitely Hellworld (Part VIII). That was just an excuse to do anything they wanted, and they didn’t even do it well.

[kokumo]

Have a fond spot in my heart for the “Hellraiser” series from the intital good one straight on thru those odd sequels after #4 that were derived from unrelated material & reworked to include “Hellraiser ” mythology. Similarly, I’m fond of the appauling “Howling” sequels.

[Father Merrin]

I’ve been watching a lot of movies recently, including all 8 Hellraiser films.

I had only seen the first 2 previously so was interested to see how they have aged & whether the sequals are any good as everything I’ve read about them was negative.

So here’s my summary of the franchise.

Hellraiser
The first film starts of slowly but very sublty builds the tension up to the climax of the film. The story is very good & there’s a creepy atmosphere of otherness throughout the film. I think it all works very well & the use of Pin Head & friends is excellent, neither over or under used. The only weak link is the protagonist Ashley Laurence as her acting is weak & up agaisn’t strong performances from the rest of the cast it’s even more obvious.

But I would consider this a horror classic so 9/10

Hellbound
A direct sequal to the first film. This follows the familiar route of most sequals of upping the ante, which considering the slow pace of the first makes a nice change. There are some minor weakness’s in the plot but nothing to bring the movie down. Overall it works well & I also enjoyed expansion of the Hellraiser world.

Weaker than the first but still enjoyable & has the most shocking scene of the 8 films (or any other film for that matter) so 8/10

Hell on Earth
O dear. The thing about characters like Pin Head, Freddy & Hannibal Lecter is the less you see of them the scarier they are. Sadly no-one told the writer for this film as Pin Head is in it a hell of a lot. Where he was restricted to a few brief scenes in the first film so he could say cool things like “I will tear your soul apart” in the 3rd film the extra screen time results in him doing pretentious gibberish nonsense monologues & as a result you end up thinkin Pin Head is a bit of a prat. Which ruins the rest of film.

The weakest film of the 8. Even though the story isn’t too bad Pin Head’s over exposure undermines everything so 3/10

Bloodline
or “Hellraiser in Space” 😆 . This film isn’t half as bad as it should be & the fact it starts in a space ship is misleading. The story starts in space but then goes back a few hundred years showing you the beginnings of the puzzle box & then the story travels forwards showing you the individual stories of the decedants of the man of originally made the box. The film isn’t is great but it’s acceptable & you can see they’ve made an effort with the plot unlike the 3rd film.

Better than it should be but pretty forgettable to be honest so 4/10

Inferno
This is the film where the franchise went into “Straight to video” territory. As well as moving from cinema to straight to video this is where the series goes from horror to psychological thriller. Gone are the back stories about the Puzzle Box & Pin Head, in now are stand alone David Lynch type stories. The problem with that is even though I don’t think this film is bad it satify either the horror fan or thriller fan as it’s not attempting to be scary & the thriller aspects has been done so much better in much better films.

An interesting new direction but not a satisfying film 5/10

Hellseeker
This film could be considered to be the true 3rd sequal to the first Hellraiser film as it involves Ashley Laurence again. Fortunately even though it’s about her she’s barely in it lol. Even though the set up is different it’s basically the same thing as Inferno. An average psychological thriller with a twist you can see a mile off, but again it’s not what I would consider a bad film.

Again an average film that wouldn’t satify either the horror or thriller fan so 5/10

Deader
Yet again another psychological thriller but this time the story is a little bit more intriguing. The same themes from the previous 2 films are once again explored but with the main protagonist being a journalist investigating a group of people who seem to beable to bring themselves back to life it does at least have an extra element that Inferno & Hellseeker lacked.

The strongest of the 3 psychological thrillers so 6/10

Hellworld
This film gets absolutely slated on the net & I’m not sure why. This film takes a welcome move away from the psychological thrillers & moves in to the self referential genre of the Scream movies. The story is also completely different from the early cinematic films which is no bad thing either & the plot actually stands up pretty well. So I don’t think this film deserves to be treated as harsly as it has been. From start to finish it’s probably no better or worse than Scream 2 or 3 just on a smaller budget.

The most accessible of the sequals since Hellbound so 6/10

So that’s my short summary of the Hellraiser Franchise.

If you wanted to do a sit in one night & watch the films that are directly connected to each other then watch Hellraiser, Hellbound & Hellseeker.

I was trying to figure out why the Hellraiser Franchise has done so poorly. I think it’s because the franchise’s strength is also it’s weakness. The great thing about The Hellraiser Franchise is that every single film works as a stand alone film, hell each film about from part 2 feels & looks different from the last. Which is great if you just want to throw on a film without having to know the back story.

The problem is when you’re dealing with a franchise the films need to be connected. Saw, Elm Street, Friday 13th & Scream are examples where each sequals pretty much takes off where the previous film ended. The Hellraiser films don’t do that & as a result it’s kinda hard to get people to keep coming back to them because they’re not revisiting the same world each time but having to get to know a new world with each film.

I think it’s a great shame because there is so much potential with the Hellraiser films. I mean the Saw films showed there was a market for voilent horror films which is a genre the Hellraiser films could of easily have entered into & done very well in.

I think there’s talk of Clive Barker remaking the original. I’m usually agaisn’t remaking classics but as this franchise has been wasted I think a reboot in the right hands could produce some very interesting films.

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