We entered the world of Clive Barker's
Hellraiser. A very dull and confusing world in which nothing made
sense or was even remotely explained, but hey the Cenobites sure
looked cool!
Flash forward to a year later, and a
sequel was given the green light based off the success of the
original's first week box office. Barker didn't return to the
director's chair, instead handing the duties over to his friend Tony
Randel who had helped edit the first movie. Barker wrote the film's
story, with his good friend Peter Atkins turning it into a
screenplay. Fun fact: Barker, Atkins, and Doug “Pinhead” Bradley
were once a theatre group in the 1970s. Bet those were some very
interesting performances.
Before we get underway, I want to
address two messages I got concerning my last review. One was that I
was WAY too hard on the first movie, but I stand by what I said: it's
a fantastic premise with some very poor execution and direction.
Second was what the hell is Hello Mary Lou: Prom Night II,
which I described as a cult classic. Yes, it IS a sequel to the
Jamie Lee Curtis classic slasher film, which would go on to spawn
three weird ass sequels. It's actually a lot like Saw, where the
sequel was a vastly different movie they repurposed into a sequel to
build off the success of the original film. They went a supernatural
direction, introducing ghosts and alternate worlds, but unlike a lot
of horror films it WORKS. It's far from perfect, but I give it a
strong recommendation because it has some amazing visuals.
Speaking of sequels, it's time to see if the Hellraiser sequel can bring some much needed sense to the franchise. Grab your favourite bondage gear, forget your safe word, and get ready for A Ghoul Versus Hellbound: Hellraiser II! Why isn't it called Hellraiser II: Hellbound like it should be?
