When the first HELLRAISER film came out I was stunned. Here
we were presented with an all new concept of horror that we’d never been
exposed to. We were given new monsters to fear. That’s rare in most horror
films that rely on the tried and true creatures we’ve grown accustomed to. That
was 30 years ago and for younger viewers this is now the norm. That wasn’t so
when it was released.
Arrow Video has done an amazing job of collecting the first
three of the movies in a series that has seen highs only to drop down to lows.
I mean the odds were pretty good that would happen when you consider there have
been over 10 Hellraiser films made and the characters have even been launched
into outer space. That happens when creative control moves to studios bent on
creating a franchise instead of film makers handling the reins. This collection
contains the first three films, the ones that actually feel a natural flow
running through them.
If you’ve never seen them and love horror films by all means
this is the best way to start. The first film tells the story of Frank (Sean
Chapman), a seeker of the most intense sexual pleasure willing to delve into
the supernatural, who finds a mysterious engraved cube puzzle. Opening it he
releases the Cenobites, creatures from another dimension that deal in extreme
sadomasochism, who then literally rip him to shreds via chains and hooks. Fast
forward to Larry (Andrew Robinson), his wife Julia (Clare Higgins) and teen daughter
Kirsty (Ashley Laurence) moving into his old family home. A small cut and drop
of blood are enough to feed the last vestiges of Frank buried in the
floorboards upstairs. Rebuilding his body on blood he recruits Clare, a woman
who had an affair with him long ago and has more passion for Frank than Larry,
to lure men to the house to use their bodies to regenerate. With the box still
in play, the killer duo still in love, Cenobites seeking an escaped Frank and a
curious daughter on hand nothing good can come of it.
This is by far the best of the films made. Much of that has
to be credited to the fact that the author of the story, Clive Barker, also
directed this film. It is original as I’ve stated and contains so many
nightmare inducing images that the odds of forgetting the film are impossible.
Everything here works to make one of the most effective horror films made in
the last 50 years.
The second film, HELLRAISER II ties directly into the first.
Ashley is taken to an institution following the events of the first film.
Unfortunately for her the man in charge, Dr. Channard (Kenneth Cranham), has
been looking for the Lament Configuration (the box) for years. Items from the
Kirsty’s home are brought in, including the blood soaked mattress where SPOILER
ALERT Clare met her demise in the first film. Like Frank before her, she is
rejuvenated with the help of Channard. The doorway to the world of the
Cenobites is once more opened and Kirsty is the only hope of closing that door.
Sequels are difficult to make, mostly because the newness
and surprise of the first film is no longer possible. But this one holds up
remarkably well. It builds on the foundation of the first film providing us
with a new potential threat in Channard and also giving us more background on
the original main Cenobite, Pinhead (Doug Bradley). Well-made with someone else
at the helm, it is perhaps one of the best horror sequels ever made.
Then we get to the third film, HELLRAISER III: HELL ON
EARTH, is where things begin to stray a bit. Encased in an obelisk purchased by
a playboy nightclub owner, Pinhead and the Lament Configuration are seeking a
way to escape. Luring the playboy into helping them murders once again begin.
An investigative journalists looks into these murders only to put herself in
the path of the Cenobites as well.
It’s not a bad movie and actually is fairly entertaining.
But it also shows the problems that one runs into with sequels. Actors from
previous films begin to leave the series (although Laurence appears here for the
last time in the series), the originality wears off and the surprises stem less
from the story and more from the effects. Still, this one doesn’t stray so far
as to make it unworthy. It remains the best last sequel in the series.
The box set is amazing and Arrow Video has gone to extreme
lengths to make sure that fans are taken care of. Not only are all three films
presented in 2k restorations but the amount of extras on hand here is
phenomenal. To list them all, which I normally try and do, would be to add a
complete extra page to this write up. A short list includes a poster, book,
documentaries on the films, scripts, interviews, trailers and more.
If you are a fan of the series then Arrow has you in mind
with this one. It shows not only the best copies available of all three films
but the fact that they remain one of the best companies around when it comes to
putting together projects like this. And it makes you hope that they continue
to do so in the future.
Click here to order.
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