Review: Gory "HELLBOUND: Hellraiser II" is More Weird Fantasy Than Horror

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 58 of 2022 (No. 1870) by Leroy Douresseaux

Hellbound: Hellraiser II (1988)
Running time:  97 minutes (1 hour, 37 minutes)
Rated – R
DIRECTOR:  Tony Randel
WRITERS:  Peter Atkins; from a story by Clive Barker
PRODUCER:  Christopher Figg
CINEMATOGRAPHER:  Robin Vidgeon (D.o.P.)
EDITOR:  Richard Marden
COMPOSER:  Christopher Young

HORROR/FANTASY

Starring:  Clare Higgins, Ashley Laurence, Doug Bradley, Kenneth Cranham, Imogen Boorman, William Hope, Barbie Wilde, Nicholas Vince, Simon Bamford, Sean Chapman, and Oliver Smith

Hellbound: Hellraiser II is a 1988 British supernatural horror and dark fantasy film directed by Tony Randel.  The film is a direct sequel to the 1987 film, Hellraiser.  Like the first film, Hellbound is based on characters and concepts taken from the 1986 novella, “The Hellbound Heart,” which was written by Clive Barker, one of the people behind this film.  Hellbound is also the second film in the Hellraiser film franchise.  Hellbound finds the survivor of the first film, Kirsty, in a psychiatric hospital and dealing with a doctor who is obsessed with the sadomasochistic beings known as the “Cenobites” and the occult world from which they originate.

Hellbound: Hellraiser II opens shortly after the events of the first film.  Kirsty Cotton (Ashley Laurence) has been admitted into the Channard Institute, a psychiatric hospital.  She is still dealing with the terrible events surrounding the death of her father, Larry Cotton.  When she is interviewed by Dr. Phillip Channard (Kenneth Cranham) and his assistant, Dr. Kyle MacRae (William Hope), she gives her account of the events at her father's home (as seen in the first film).  Kirsty is shocked to discover that the bloody mattress upon which her murderous and wicked stepmother, Julia Cotton (Clare Higgins), died is in police custody, and she begs Channard and MacRae to destroy it.

What Kirsty doesn't realize is that Dr. Channard is secretly obsessed with the puzzle boxes that bring forth the Cenobites and with their occult, demonic underworld.  Taking possession of the mattress, Channard discovers that Julia is still inside it, waiting for the blood of fresh victims that will revive her.  Channard's plot involves another patient at his institute, a girl named Tiffany (Imogen Boorman).  Seemingly mute, Tiffany demonstrates an aptitude for puzzles, and Channard wants her to solve one of the three puzzle boxes that have come into his possession.

Now, Kirsty must enter the labyrinth-like world of the Cenobites because she believes that is where she can save her father.  However, both she and Tiffany will have to survive the Cenobites, Julia and Channard's schemes, and “Leviathan the Lord of the Labyrinth.”

The original Hellraiser was indeed a supernatural horror film.  Hellbound: Hellraiser II is more dark fantasy than horror.  In fact, it reminds me of a number of weird and unusual 1980s sci-fi and/or fantasy films that took readers on strange journeys, from 1981's Heavy Metal and 1983's Krull to 1985's Legend and 1986's Labyrinth.

Hellbound has good production values – not as good as Hellraiser, however.  Christopher Young, who scored the first film, provides the musical score for Hellbound, but this time, the music is a bit noisier than in the first film.  The costumes are still good, but mostly repeats the aesthetic of Hellraiser.  The make-up seems more tacky, and in some cases, needlessly gory and excessively bloody.

The story is odd, but has some interesting elements.  Unfortunately, the film does not have much of a plot, and there really isn't a beginning, middle, and end.  It is as if Hellbound is a slice of something larger.  Hellbound is more about shocking visuals and gruesome images than it is about plot.  Other than introducing the Cenobites' labyrinth-like dimension and its lord, Leviathan, the film tells us nothing in the way of details about it or its inhabitants.

The characters are intriguing, but the writer and director treat them like nothing more than bodies to be abused, tortured, and killed.  Still, I find myself fascinated by Ashley Laurence's Kirsty and newcomer Imogen Boorman's Tiffany.  In this film, I decided that Clare Higgins' Julia was more fascinating than she was in the original, although she was good in that, also.

Hellbound dimmed my enthusiasm for this franchise, and I had little patience for the next film in the series, Hellraiser III: Hell on Earth (1992).  Hellraiser wanted to tear your soul apart.  Hellbound: Hellraiser II only wants to cut your body to pieces … before the boredom sets in.

4 of 10
C
★★ out of 4 stars

Tuesday, September 27, 2022


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Review: Original "HELLRAISER" Will Still Tear Your Soul Apart

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 57 of 2022 (No. 1869) by Leroy Douresseaux

Hellraiser (1987)
Running time:  93 minutes (1 hour, 33 minutes)
Rated – R
WRITER/DIRECTOR:  Clive Barker
PRODUCER:  Christopher Figg
CINEMATOGRAPHER:  Robin Vidgeon (D.o.P.)
EDITOR:  Richard Marden
COMPOSER:  Christopher Young

HORROR/FANTASY

Starring:  Clare Higgins, Ashley Laurence, Andrew Robinson, Sean Chapman, Robert Hines, Doug Bradley, Nicholas Vince, Simon Bamford, Grace Kirby, Frank Baker, and Oliver Smith

Hellraiser is a 1987 British supernatural horror film written and directed by Clive Barker.  The film is an adaptation of Barker's 1986 novella, “The Hellbound Heart,” which was first published in the third volume in Dark Harvest's Night Visions anthology series.  This movie also launched the Hellraiser film series, which is currently comprised of eleven films, including an upcoming reboot film, entitled Hellraiser, to be streamed on Hulu.  The first Hellraiser movie focuses on a daughter, a father, his second wife, and his brother (who was his wife's lover), and a group of sadomasochistic beings known as the “Cenobites.”

Hellraiser introduces Frank Cotton (Sean Chapman), who searches the world for the greatest pleasures.  His travels take him to Morocco where he buys a strange puzzle box.  In the empty attic of his late parents' home, Frank solves the puzzle and opens the box.  From the box, hooked chains emerge and begin to tear Frank apart because he has fallen into the clutches of a group of extra-dimensional, sadomasochistic beings called the Cenobites.  Demons to some and angels to others, they offer the greatest pleasure … but also the greatest pain.

Some time afterward, Frank's brother, Larry Cotton (Andrew Robinson), moves into the house in a bid to rebuild his strained relationship with his second wife, Julia (Clare Higgins).  Larry's adult daughter, Kirsty (Ashley Laurence), decides to get a place of her own.  Larry is also unaware that shortly before they were married, Julia had a torrid affair with Frank.

While moving furniture into the house, Larry has an accident that leaves blood dripped onto the attic floor.  Beneath that floor are the desiccated remains of Frank, and Larry's blood begins to revive the tissue.  Soon, Frank has returned as a skinless corpse that is soon found by Julia.  In order to revive Frank, Julia begins luring men into the attic.  Julia and Frank's activities have not gone unnoticed and the puzzle box is still around.  And so are the Cenobites.

I first saw Hellraiser when it played at a local theater; my memory says 1988.  For me it was an unforgettable cinematic experience.  I saw it several times over the following years, but I have not watched it in well over two decades.  Seeing it again, I was surprised at how much of it I actually remembered correctly, which is not always the case when I haven't seen a movie in time that can be measured in decades.

Christopher Young's score is as great as I remembered it to be.  Bold and shamelessly intrusive, it is one of the best musical scores for a horror film that I have ever heard.  The make-up and costumes, especially the former, are still amazing and still seem imaginative, although much of it has been copied and replicated countless times since the original release of Hellraiser.  It is a shame that the committee that oversees the “best make-up” category of the Academy Awards isn't a bit more adventurous and imaginative in their choices.  Hellraiser deserved an Oscar nod for its make-up effects.

I like the performances.  When I see American actor Andrew Robinson on some television series, he usually looks as if he just killed someone, but here, he is convincing as Larry Cotton, loving father and determined spouse.  Claire Higgins looks as if she has a stick up her ass, but it serves her imperious ice queen character, Julia, quite well.  Sean Chapman is half-and-half as Frank, but Oliver Smith who plays the “monster version” of Frank, is excellent.  The best actor in this film, however, is Ashley Laurence, who comes across as genuine in the role of loving daughter and “final girl.”  I think the Hellraiser film franchise became low rent over time because she did not stick around past the second film in the series, Hellbound: Hellraiser II.

For me, Hellraiser works.  By the time I first saw it, I had read several of Clive Barker's short fiction via the American release of his Books of Blood short story collections.  I was familiar with his brand of horror and dark horror, which was deeply imaginative in terms of plot, setting, and characters and also in its depictions of violence.  Clive Barker is different, and so is his film, Hellraiser.  It is a viewing and storytelling experience like no other.  And almost four decades later, Hellraiser can still tear your soul apart, dear readers.

8 of 10
A
★★★★ out of 4 stars

Thursday, September 22, 2022


The text is copyright © 2022 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog or site for syndication rights and fees.

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Amazon wants me to inform you that the affiliate link below is a PAID AD, but I technically only get paid (eventually) if you click on the affiliate link below AND buy something(s).