The films 'Hellraiser' and 'Hellbound: Hellraiser II,' weren't like anything ever seen before. They were doors into new worlds. The end of II was an open ending, so it seemed only natural that more sequels come, and 4 years later we got one. But something had changed, and not necessarily for the better. It was decided
that Pinhead, otherwise known as the Lead Cenobite, would be the villain and given more to do this time around. On top of that a big studio, in this case Paramount, would be the new distributor and we all know what can happen sometimes when a big studio gets involved. If I'm making it sound like I hate 'Hellraiser III,' I don't, but like other fans I feel this is where the series began to lose it.
I will as far as pace the movie moves right along. Good performances, the standout being Paula Marshall. The urban setting is a nice change of scenery. An OK score that mixes some classic 'Hellraiser' themes with some new stuff. Some really good special and visual effects. The war scenes are well done. Some excellent set pieces, my personal fave being the one in the club. Some pretty neat new Cenobites.
I have a number of issues with the film that would take forever to go over but to just name a few of them, we have no real surprises or much we haven't already seen. Though Doug Bradley does a good job as both Pinhead and Captain Elliot Spencer, the fact that Pinhead is made the villain and given more screen time does make him a bit less scary and mysterious. The final confrontation is kind of disappointing.
Though not at all a bad film, this second sequel to Clive Barker's ground breaking film is a step down from it's predecessors. As I said there's not much here fans haven't already seen and both Pinhead and the film are pretty much on the same level as other movie monsters of the time, which was never the idea. But still it's fun, has some style, and is far more interesting than some of the other sequels which became very hit and miss as the series went along.
July 1, 2007
