1. “Hellraiser IX: Revelations” movie review

    Posted by
    /
    You know, having reached the final (and most reviled) entry within the Hellraiser franchise, I realize that I am holding my own metaphorical Lament Configuration. Except instead of a puzzle box, it's a DVD copy of “Hellraiser: Revelations”. Instead of opening it, I place it into my DVD player and instead of Pinhead and his cohorts appearing and ripping my flesh into pieces, I had to endure an awful movie. But much like Pinhead's victims, deep down I wanted “Hellraiser: Revelations”. I wanted to satisfy some sadomasochistic urges, or at least the film equivalent of sadomasochism. I knew this would suck, yet it was my discovery that this film existed which inspired me to do “Hellraiser Month”. Clearly, deep down, I enjoy the torments of bad movies.
  2. “Hellraiser VIII: Hellworld” movie review.

    Posted by
    /
    “Hellraiser: Hellworld” is awful. Not awful in an amusing way like “Hellraiser 3”, nor was it a (somewhat respectable) misfire like “Hellraiser 6”. It is just bad. Every idea it produces backfires, either being an awful concept to begin with or it's executed so poorly that they might as well have been lame ideas to begin with. I guess I have to respect that they tried to make it different than the previous films, but by different I mean they decided to make it like every other horror franchise that ever existed. It's like the filmmakers took a good look at the franchise and determined that the Hellraiser films had become too conventionally unconventional, so the only way to remain unconventional was by becoming conventional itself.....
  3. “Hellraiser IV: Bloodline (1996)” review.

    Posted by
    /
    I can only imagine that the studios looked at the (amusing) abomination they created in the form of "Hellraiser 3" and realized they may have lost a potential cash cow with their half baked entry. Like or hate "Hellraiser 4", there is no denying the effort put into it. It's ambitious, sometimes even innovative. However, during production, the studio clashed with the director, who left the project and ended up using the dreaded Alan Smithee pseudonym in place of his own. His film ended up being chopped apart before they even finished the shoot! I'm not sure the movie would've been a classic had the director been around to express his vision, but the pieces that are left of his work are still surprisingly effective.