Hellbound: Hellraiser II

After the strange events of the first movie,Kirsty is sent to a Institution for the Mentally Sick, commanded by the mysterious Dr. Channard,a crazed psychologist who is willing to open the doors of hell by manipulating the Puzzle Box.In doing so,Channard brings Kirsty's perverse stepmother Julia back to life,and consequently he provokes the rage of the dreadful cenobites,the cruel and evil creatures that give pleasure and pain in the same measure.Hellbound Hellraiser 2 is an extremely well-done film,thanks to the generous budget given to newcomer filmmaker Tony Randel and a first-rate production.The special effects are simply terrific (specially considering the time in which the movie was done,1988) and they create a bombastic,scary visual.I never saw a movie with such an incredible scenery and imagery,except maybe for Dark City.Clive Barker's vision of hell is brought to life with mastery through the work of Randel and Director of Photography Robin Vidgeon. The plot sustains the tension and keeps you on the edge of your seat from start to finish,though the first half hour of Hellbound: Hellraiser II is a little bit slow and descriptive (but never boring); a great portion of the action and the terror is concentrated in the last minutes. The last thirty ones are a realistic and gutsy "tour de force" through fear,violence and suffering.This is definitively a masterpiece, but not for the squeamish.Hellbound: Hellraiser II is rated R for extreme violence and sex scenes,it runs 99 minutes(uncut version released by Anchor Bay).It stars Clare Higgins as Julia, Ashley Laurence as Kirsty, Imogen Boorman as Tiffany,William Hope as Kyle McRae and Kenneth Cranham as Dr. Channard.If you like this movie, you might also enjoy Phenomena and Suspiria.

Hellraiser was always going to be a hard act to follow (especially with Clive Barker handing over so much control to others). This first sequel starts promisingly enough though, beginning on the same night as the original ended. It features the return of Ashley Laurence's heroine Kirsty and the resurrection of wicked stepmom (no, really) Julia (Clare Higgins). However about two thirds into the movie any attempt at story progression, character development or coherency goes out the window and instead the film throws up albeit interesting imagery and ideas seemingly at random. That's not to say that Hellbound : Hellraiser 2 is a totally bad movie, it just seems like such a wasted opportunity. If the next sequel would have followed on more directly (instead of going stateside and bringing in different characters) maybe the ideas about Hell and Leviathan could have been explored and developed more fully. However without this safety blanket, much of Hellbound seems confused and half baked. Kenneth Cranham lends weight to the role of sinister Dr Channard but as soon as he's made into a cenobite the film goes into high camp and I wonder what happened to the sombre tone of the original. Clare Higgins seems t be enjoying playing her return as Julia like a Hollywood bitch on drugs and it's interesting to find out something about the origin of the cenobites albeit briefly(and at least Pinhead's human origin is something that does get explored further in Hellraiser III). If you like the first film, it's probably worth checking this one out and you may want t view it more than once to catch everything in it but just don't expect another Hellraiser like the original.

This is just as good as the first one. The movie went in a fast pace. In a way I liked that. The scenes of hell were really neat looking. One of the best I've seen yet. I'm not going to say who, but a new Cenobites is in the movie, but he's not in there too long. You find out a little more about Pinhead in this one, but if you really want to know his history watch the third one. Anyway I liked this one. It is different than the first one.

I recommend this movie to anyone who liked the first one and likes a really good horror movie.

Despite appreciating horror very much (with a lot of classic ones out there, such as 'Halloween', 'Nightmare on Elm Street', 'The Texas Chainsaw Massacre', 'Night of the Living Dead' and 'The Exorcist', plus the best of Hammer House of Horror), even if not my favourite genre, it took me a while to get round to watching the 'Hellraiser' franchise. Due to having so much to watch and review, and the list keeps getting longer and longer.

The film that started the franchise off is not only for me by far the best of the 'Hellraiser' films it also for me, and quite a few others it seems, is one of the stronger horror films of the 80s, though not quite of all time. What is meant by being by far the best of the 'Hellraiser' films is that it is the only one to be above very good, the nine sequels were very variable (leaning towards the disappointing) and the latter films particularly are suggestive of the franchise having run its course.

While the original 'Hellraiser' will always be the best of the series, its first sequel 'Hellbound: Hellraiser II' is one of its better sequels. Would go as far to say from personal opinion it's the best. Not as good as the original and understandably polarising, but it doesn't disgrace it. In some ways it is somewhat of a retread in terms of story except with more gore and less clarity of storytelling, though the imagination and ambition remains.

'Hellbound: Hellraiser II' has its problems. The script is not as vivid and thought-provoking this time round, numerous times being cheesy and muddled. Will Hope is very bland in an underwritten role.

Coming off worst for me was the ending, the Cenobites did deserve a much better defeat than the slapdash and silly one that is here while the staging of the ending itself is more like an incomprehensible parody complete with a terrible, unintentionally silly looking Channard.

On the other hand, the production values mostly were fine. It's very atmospherically shot and the hellish imagery is disturbingly vivid. Apart from Channard, the effects are hardly schlocky and while prominent they are not overused or abused. The music score is an improvement here, more fitting with the atmosphere and very haunting music on its own. Tony Randel does more than competently when it comes to the direction, staying loyal to the spirit of the original. The script is patchy but still intrigues.

Same goes for the story, regardless of whether sense is a strong suit or not (it isn't), which is most notable for Pinhead's very intriguing back-story and more of the Cenobites. Do prefer the mysteriousness they had in the original from being catalysts rather than being heavily focused on, but they are genuinely frightening, still look good and seeing more of and to them made them more interesting. While the ending disappoints, the twist is a clever one. Like the original, 'Hellbound: Hellraiser II' is genuinely disturbing while having tension, suspense and dread, the creativity of the set-pieces and deaths still remaining. The inmate skin flaying especially will be embedded in my mind forever. The gore is more in quantity and more graphic, but it didn't feel that pointless to me even if some parts serve more purpose to the story than others.

Characters have personality and don't do anything that makes one infuriated by them, the detail to characterisation that was present in the original is here too. Cannot say anything bad about the performances, apart from Hope. Imogen Boorman brings nuance to a role not easy to pull off, while Clare Higgins and especially Kenneth Cranham are deliciously evil. Ashley Laurence is appealing and Doug Bradley shows why Pinhead is justifiably a horror icon.

To conclude, worthy sequel. 7/10 Bethany Cox

Maybe it wasn't the best time for me to watch this, as I had a boil near my elbow and an expanding infection around it. That probably enhanced this movie's ability to make you feel queasy and light-headed.

I remember being fascinated by VHS covers as a kid at video stores. Horror especially got my attention. Hellbound seems to satisfy some of those morbid curiosities I'm sure we all carry to some degree. It doesn't have a rich or interesting story or characters, but it's imaginative in other ways.

There are all kinds of messed up images and concepts. It's weird that we watch horror movies in the first place. Why do we want to be scared, disgusted or horrified? I guess there has to be some sense of humour, morality or commentary on human nature for it to be properly enjoyable. But Hellbound seems to be more of a pure horror movie. I think that's why Ebert hated it and its predecessor. They're too depressing and pointless, even if the special effects are good and it establishes an effective mood.

It would be better if it explored the parallels between pleasure and pain more, which are only slightly alluded to. That seems to be a common theme in horror movies in general. It also could have showed us more about the origin and motivation of the Cenobites. And the doctor and girl's past could have been fleshed out more.

Apparently, it shares the record (with Titanic) for the most times two characters call out to each-other. I didn't notice so maybe that's a good thing. I was probably distracted by the disturbing and other-worldly visuals, wondering where it was going.

I think the original is probably better, but as horror sequels go, Hellbound is decent. I enjoyed the creative imagery. But it's not exactly upbeat or deep.