Hellbound: Hellraiser II (R)

Oh, this movie is so bad! What we have here is basically a collection of disjointed images, scenes of despair and torture, or depictions of ‘Hell’ strewn together in such a lapsidasical fashion that no coherent narrative can survive. The original “Hellraiser” at lease provided some unique scares amidst its chaos. “Hellbound: Hellraiser II” does none of this. As with the first film, we see little of Pinhead, little of the netherworld, and lots of unexplained and ill-formed plot mechanisms. 

The movie follows closely the events of part 1. Kirsty (reprised by Ashley Laurence) is in a mental asylum following the events of the first film. She’s interrogated by a policeman in the asylum, which really leads to nothing of consequence save for her to relive some of the more grisly events of the first film. But where the first film had atmosphere and the notion being new – this one has none. Without too much ado Kirsty soon becomes haunted by the evil Julia (Clare HIggins), and, to save a ‘friend’ is drawn into the demon’s Hell only hinted at in the first film.

There are so many problems with this film. First and foremost, there’s simply no story whatsoever. Kirsty is catapulted into the realm of the Cenobites (Pinhead and crew) with no explanation as to why. Further, another girl who she enters Hell to save (Imogen Boorman), who is mute, appears onscreen with no introduction or purpose. Of course, a mad doctor brings her (Kenneth Cranham), who then becomes obsessed with resurrecting the Cenobites, but it’s of little consequence: he has no motive or purpose for his dealings other than the film’s need to bring the Cenobites back.

The film’s trailer, which touted the lunacy of the demon’s Hell, is here truncated to only about 25-30 minutes of the film. Eventually the characters enter, undergo horrible things, but with nothing backed up and with pointless acting and zero plot development. It’s like plunging the characters of “A Nightmare on Elm Street” into Freddy’s dreamworld without explaining or even introducing who Freddy Krueger is. We simply do not care, and are certainly not afraid.

Frank (Sean Chapman) from the first film makes an appearance, is still unbelievably obsessed with Julia, but is quickly ushered off film. And where the first film explored their unhealthy relationship, this one does not. There’s honestly no reason to include him in this film at all.

The creepy atmosphere of the first “Hellraiser” is also completely squandered here. The asylum isn’t explored as any kind of a creepy place, as most of it centers on the crazy doctor. The film’s sole gut-wrenching scene exists as the doctor brings a lunatic patient to his chambers and allows him to cut himself with a straight razor (the patient believes he is covered with maggots; the doctor knows he’s not and just needs his blood to resurrect Julia). But after this the film seeps into such madness it’s hard to piece together anything that resembles rhyme or reason.

The film suffers a similar lack of atmosphere once Kirsty enters Hell. The whole thing looks like a enlarged rendition of The Penrose Stairs, yet muted in grays and blacks. It’s also so bright in Hell that you can see every corridor, every alleyway, and there’s nothing to fear and nothing left up to the imagination. After a while the doctor appears as a now-transformed Cenobite, and begins to wreak havoc on a couple characters the film only introduces for cannon fodder. We care nothing about them and care nothing about their fates. Roger Ebert, in his review, wrote that the film can be viewed in any order, and is just a series of gruesome images. He’s completely right.

And once again, my biggest complaint about the whole film is the lack of screen time devoted to Pinhead (played by Doug Bradley) and the Cenobites. They are onscreen for maybe 10 minutes. If the series had done the right thing, and made Pinhead an actual main villain, this movie might actually be scary. If that’s not bad enough, the film actually takes steps to explain that Pinhead and other Cenobites were once human, completely erasing any horror from the proceedings.

It’s just impossible to recommend this film to anyone. It features a non-existent script, lack of direction, an impossible narrative to follow, and an ending that never earns its place. It’s not scary, just confusing, and, once again, could have been so much more. A complete letdown here.

– by Mark Ziobro