MovieChat Forums > Hellraiser: Bloodline (1996) Discussion > WTF Happened To The Hellraiser Series?

WTF Happened To The Hellraiser Series?

posted 14 years ago by bobbylane
32 replies | jump to latest

Just spent the day watching the entire Hellraiser series (all 8 films). Never got around to watching any of them besides 1 & 2. I must say I was HIGHLY disappointed. HR3(Hell On Earth) was okay, HR4(Bloodline) was just passable as a "Hellraiser" film, but then comes 5,6,7, & 8! None of which have any right to call themselves a "Hellraiser" film. It's like they wrote some horror flicks, couldn't sell them so they threw in Pinhead and some Cenobites & the studios bought it. What a shame. Glad Clive didn't have anything to do with these sorry excuses. Hopefully now that Clive is back at the helm he will start things back off right. Pinhead deserves better than that.

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[–] jmbwithcats 14 years ago

If you can watch them with an open mind, I found parts 5-7 are actually quite good as really creepy, Night Gallery-esque style horror stories.
It helps if you can put yourself in the shoes of the main character.

In Part 5, he's basically already dead in his own personal hell, which Pinhead states to Kirsty, we are all in our own personal hells.

In part 6, the lead character basically has amnesia and doesn't realize what he's brought upon himself.

In part 7, Keri Wuhrer who brings quite possibly the best acting the series has ever seen, escapes both Winter and Pinhead by taking her own life after facing what she's done.

I actually used to hate all the sequels after part 4, but now I actually like them a lot for what they are. Really messed up cautionary tales, like Alfred Hitchcock Presents, or Night Gallery episodes.

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[–] IamBustakap 14 years ago

It's like they wrote some horror flicks, couldn't sell them so they threw in Pinhead and some Cenobites & the studios bought it.

That's pretty much what happened, actually. They all started out as original concepts, and the 'Hellraiser' stuff was shoehorned in.

[–] berts1404 14 years ago

The Hellraiser series/franchise/saga is made up of Hellraiser, Hellbound: Hellriaser II, Hellraiser III: Hell On Earth and Hellriaser: Bloodline. The other so-called sequels are not canon and are nothing more than STV crap with Pinhead pasted in.

"It's not a lake, it's an ocean"

[–] 14 years ago

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[–] HellboundHero 12 years ago

They don't take place before Hellraiser III, just the future portions of Bloodline.

[–] 12 years ago

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[–] wallacesawyer 14 years ago

The series plummeted after 4, but DEADER was okay. But that's not saying much. I never saw HELLWORLD to be honest.

A new sequel is coming by the way.

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[–] White_Thunder 13 years ago

I found Inferno the only good sequel after 3.

[–] MRlambfries 13 years ago

I also like Inferno, and think it's the only film outside of the original 2 I can watch without wincing from cheese overload. 3 and 4 had good moments, but overall just didn't cut it for me. Didn't bother with 7 or 8, though I've always had a thing for Kari.

[–] zachtheman 13 years ago

one and two are the best and the rest aint worth worth watching well i kind of enjoyed 5 and 6 well directed for what they are but ultimately pointless movies that add nothing to the main story and as stand alone story's they are basically Jacobs ladder ripoffs, i would imagine 7 and 8 are the same deal aint seen them yet and im not in a hurry to ether

hellraiser 3 i feel is the weakest it feels so silly and overly Americanized and it reeks of cheesy 90s horror franchises that were dominating horror at the time hellraiser 3 is in the same league and most of the Freddy movies after part 3 new nightmare not included.

4 on the other hand as crap as the concept of pinhead in space was it actually has its moments and felt like it was intended to be an interesting film but was obviously re edited and had re shoots shot by a tv director these re shoots did not help the film and not filming or using most of the original material from the original script sealed its fate as a botched job

really ther was no room for a hellraiser 5 6 7 or 8, 6 was the better of these imo as it at least trys to continue the story from 1 and 2 but in the end it just ends up being squeal bait that never deliverers on its promise so that one is a waste of time

i wish a company that was more respectful to the 1st two movies ownd the rights to hellraiser, the sad thing is with the remake on the way i still don't think this will be rectified as the Winestein's will most likely make it appeal to the lowest common denominator sensibility and these rumors of it being a PG 13 will most likely be true

you will have to forgive the lack of full stops lack of proper spelling im dyslexic but not stupid

[–] 13 years ago

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[–] DanielKing 13 years ago

What happened was that the first film was so successful that it attracted producers who wanted to make sequels simply to make money, with little or no interest in quality.

The first sequel was soon enough after the original to still have some quality names attached (Higgins, Cranham) but after that just look at the directors and actors involved: Z-list talent. And Z-list talent was hired because they're cheaper. It happens with pretty much every horror franchise (and they are franchises - just using the original name as a money-making brand) until enough time has passed that they can simply remake the original with current stars.

[–] KingCobra686 9 years ago

It seems like most horror franchises get stuck in this rut eventually and have a hard time escaping it. Once you've made a couple straight-to-video-quality sequels, thats all that people expect to see from the rest of the series. Its much tougher to push for high budget directors and casting once you get that reputation.

[–] Rick_Monroe 13 years ago

It's an interesting question you raise here. I remember reading Fangoria(America's "premiere" horror magazine), around the time Bloodline came out. It was doing an in-depth special on the background of the production. As it turns out, the studio was interfering with the filming process left, right and centre. Kevin Yagher (the director), was forced to make a lot of concessions to the executives; so much so that the original vision of the movie was lost entirely and Yagher ended up having his name removed from the Directors credit.

A similar thing happened with the markerting for Nightbreed (studios didn't know how to sell it...)

The Studios have always had a problem with Clive Barker's material because the stories are generally never a black and white affair (the monsters are sometimes the good guys; there's also a lot of viscerally violent and sexual imagery, which is often occurs together in the same scene). So they ended up taking great ideas and using them as a vehical to generate profit for the studios...

However, having said this, I've never been a big fan of Barker's literature - I personally find his prose too flowery and the characters, a little wooden, but his ideas are brilliant and revolutionary, and in my opinion highly cinematic.

It's a failure of the studios to find someone, other than Barker himself, that can realise his vision on film. It may well happen in the future, just not the immediate future, given the current economic climate as it stands.

Satan is in deep $h1t!

[–] a_torres23 12 years ago

Simple.....two words: Dimension Films. The minute they took over the franchise, they heavily had this film edited down to the point that you can't understand half the time what the heck is going on and then you have the direct to video films thru 8 with Doug Bradley as Pinhead [and kudos to Doug for still doing this, even though, for all intents and purposes, he didn't have to continue the role] then, to tease the fanbase with a proposed remake or re-imagining or reboot or whatever the hell they want to call it, then churn out a piece of crap like Hellraiser: Revelations that even Clive Barker wouldn't want to be associated with if it were stuck to his backside. Dimensions Films still wants to do this "remake" but in order to not lose the franchise rights [like they even know what a franchise is], throw out Revelations, and now are in some legal battle over the rights to The Crow series because of another proposed remake and they want to stay as distributors even though there hasn't been another Crow film in over 7 years. Remember, this is the same studio that gave us Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers [haven't seen the Producer's Cut but want to] and almost ran Guillermo Del Toro out of town when they gave him crap for how to make "Mimic" work. QT had to step in and tell the Weinsteins to leave him alone and let him do his thing once he got word of this from Mira Sorvino [whom he was dating at the time]. Dimension Films is to blame for all this.

[–] Lightman42 12 years ago

5 is watchable only because you can tell the people making it were fans of the previous films and fought hard to stretch the budget. While it has it's many weaknesses, it successfully captures the creepy atmosphere of the previous films in certain scenes, Craig Sheffer as the lead brings some "Clive Barker" authenticity, and it is the last film to use the brilliant Hellraiser music.

After 5 it's one kick in the balls after another to the fans. Right when we think the punishment is over, we get another gut wrenching sock to the nuts... Clive!!! Help!!!

[–] HellboundHero 12 years ago

Inferno didn't use any of Christopher Young's music. Actually it's probably the furthest away in style the soundtrack has ever been. The last one to use Young music was Bloodline. It didn't use it a lot, though, mainly during Pinhead's emergence from Hell and then being sent back during the present day portion, and then his death at the end.

[–] Lightman42 12 years ago

I remember hearing it on the original release at a particular scene when Pinhead is revealed. Maybe they pulled it after legal claims... or maybe I'm just remembering wrong.

[–] HellboundHero 12 years ago

There are faintly similar bits in the score, such as the end of the title track and when Joseph is being ripped apart. But I saw this movie when it was released back in 2000 and I don't remember hearing any of Young's score.

[–] Lightman42 12 years ago

I watched it again and you're right. No Chris Young music. I was probably high or something when I first saw it. It's hands down the best DTV Hellraiser film. 6-9 are pretty much unwatchable.

[–] Dream_Demon 12 years ago

I've watched every Hellraiser movie except for Inferno (saw the last seven minutes though), Hellworld, and Revelations. I personally think that Hellraiser 5-6 are just side stories that are canon but have no huge significance to the storyline. Hellraiser 1-4 are really all that's needed to get the story of the franchise.

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[–] millenniumgroup 12 years ago

As much as I hated 5 on release, 2000 was it? Compared to the other junk that's 6-what ever it's a passable movie.

The worst one by far is the one called revelations, the pinhead actor is horrible.

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[–] jakob-sichrovsky 12 years ago

They're still not as bad as Hellraiser: Revelations.

[–] northernlad 12 years ago

I've never seen all of the sequels. I've only recently started to try to sit down and watch them. If you ask me, the first two are supreme horror at it's best. There was just a darker tone and "feel" to them that made my skin crawl.

I hated the third one. Tonight I watched the fourth one and it was just okay. But it really makes me question what the hell happened to the original Cenobites?

Seriously, if Pinhead can come back repeatedly then why can't the others of the first two movies? As soon as they got rid of them, then the series started going downhill for me.

Oh and I've watched Hellworld too (skipped 5,6, and 7) and it was complete crap. I love that Henry Cavill is in it (it's why I watched it) but still even he couldn't save that movie for me. Ugh!

Has anyone ever told you you're as boring as you are ugly?

[–] nendaiki 12 years ago

Pinhead classic exited stage left at the end of #2 along with the original Cenobites. When they made 3 they wanted him back and for him to be even more of a generic super villain so they wrote it as him being divorced entirely from his previous human side and instead being the pure evil part alone. In reality the "evil" of Pinhead was based on the rules he played by, so even if that were the case you'd just have a Pinhead without the weakness that brought him down in #2. It was really just a cheap way to bring him back and justify him playing by his own rules, which he started off by creating himself a new team of Cenobites. If you wanna get canonical it is highly unlikely he could or wanted to go the effort of bringing the "evil image" of the original Cenobites back when his existence alone owed itself to a lot of happenstance and extreme convenience.

Classic Pinhead was really just the ringleader of a relatively equal group of Cenobites doing their very dirty work. When the story switched over to Evil Pinhead, Cenobites were no longer his partners in crime but victims he used to do his will. Keep in mind that Pinhead classic's existence started the same as any victim, and he was just a cog in the machine. In 3 he is just an incarnation of Satan taking the form of the artist formerly known as Pinhead, which is similar in theory to Freddy in New Nightmare.