Jiren
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Post by Jiren on Mar 22, 2008 8:38:42 GMT -5
now the Hellraiser series becomes crap
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Welfare Willis
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Post by Welfare Willis on Mar 22, 2008 9:01:04 GMT -5
 HELLRAISER: BLOODLINE 1996 Director: Kevin Yagher Oh man, here we are... This was the last "Hellraiser" movie released theatrically and, let's face it, "Hellraiser" as a franchise deserved it after this film. While I'm not dumb and fanboyish enough to believe that movie executives won't make movies if the last entry gave the series a sense of closure - even if it would cost them millions of dollars - I do expect them to be able to reject script ideas that are ridiculous. Such as this one. This is a movie that has aspirations of being a broad, sweeping, epic tale, and doesn't succeed, period. To its credit, it does have a very big goal - tell a story that takes place over a VERY long period of time. It begins in the 18th century, where a toymaker (Bruce Ramsey, in one of his three roles) constructs the Lament Configuration, the legendary puzzle box that serves as the gateway for the cenobites in this series. Much as he did in the third film, Pinhead (Doug Bradley, who is again superb) plays a very big role - director Kevin Yagher, best known as the creator of Freddy Kruger's makeup in Nightmare 2-4, and screenwriter Peter Atkins certainly know that the character itself is golden. He isn't the problem. The problem is the entire angle with Ramsey's three characters, particularly the middle chapter. Taking place in the present day, Ramsey's present-day character, and the story that it goes through, is an EXTREMELY dull and pointless middle chapter, setting up the ridiculous "Pinhead in Space" finale. If you're looking for some pluses, there are indeed a few - the "Twins" cenobite is one of the coolest creations in the series, Bradley is outstanding and elegant as Pinhead as usual, and Valentina Vargas' Angelique character is nice eye candy. Beyond that, everything else in this film is just an incoherent mess that totally retcon the events of the excellent first three movies in the series. * 1/2 Love the review just thought I'd add this tidbit from the film, courtesy of IMDB: |
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Lick Ness Monster
Dennis Stamp
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Post by Lick Ness Monster on Mar 22, 2008 20:45:35 GMT -5
Love the review just thought I'd add this tidbit from the film, courtesy of IMDB: Oh yeah - I know all about the history of the movie. Yagher wasn't the problem at all - left to his own devices, this could have been another kickass movie - one FOR horror fans, and BY horror fans. But alas, the studio saw that it wasn't to be, and we were left with this suckfest. |
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Jiren
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Post by Jiren on Mar 22, 2008 21:08:01 GMT -5
Love the review just thought I'd add this tidbit from the film, courtesy of IMDB: Oh yeah - I know all about the history of the movie. Yagher wasn't the problem at all - left to his own devices, this could have been another kickass movie - one FOR horror fans, and BY horror fans. But alas, the studio saw that it wasn't to be, and we were left with this suckfest. See "Halloween 6: Producers cut" MAJOR improvement, and that's coming from someone who LOATHES the thorn saga |
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Welfare Willis
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Post by Welfare Willis on Mar 22, 2008 21:29:27 GMT -5
Oh yeah - I know all about the history of the movie. Yagher wasn't the problem at all - left to his own devices, this could have been another kickass movie - one FOR horror fans, and BY horror fans. But alas, the studio saw that it wasn't to be, and we were left with this suckfest. See "Halloween 6: Producers cut" MAJOR improvement, and that's coming from someone who LOATHES the thorn saga Not to threadjack but I always feel weird watching Dr. Wynn in H6 and seeing that same actor as the dad in Dharma and Greg. Anywho like I said earlier I feel like I-IV are the best films in the series. The ones that follow are really hit or miss. |
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Lick Ness Monster
Dennis Stamp
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Post by Lick Ness Monster on Mar 23, 2008 1:31:02 GMT -5
 HELLRAISER: INFERNO 2000 Director: Scott Derrickson I'll just say that after "Bloodline", and hearing that the "Hellraiser" franchise that I held very dear was now headed the direct-to-video route, I had low hopes for this movie. But I've got to say - they could have done a lot worse. Director Scott Derrickson deserves kudos for taking a much more restrained approach than the previous films in the series, particularly as it relates to some of the gore. While previous movies in the series are notorious bloodbaths (in the best possible way), this one bucks the trend - almost all of the murders have cutaways at the last minute, leaving the worst tidbits up to our imagination. After "Bloodline," this is a welcome change of pace, and the psychological approach works very well in this film. The plot, for those who haven't seen it: This movie is a stand-alone - while the first three movies closely follow each other, and the fourth one loosely does, I look at this film as more of a "Twilight Zone" episode. It tells the story of a police detective (Craig Sheffer) investigating a series of murders. The film is actually scripted moderately well, telling a semi-layered tale of the different cogs of corruption in this character's life. He is absolutely morally bankrupt - he takes drugs, he neglects his family, has sex with a prostitute, etc. As this movie goes on, those closest to him die - his mother, his partner. It seems that "The Engineer" - the vicious murderer whom Sheffer is tracking - has taken a personal interest in his pursuer. And then there's the big twist at the end that gave everybody the reason to rent this damn tape in the first place. Many people criticize this for being part of the "Hellraiser" franchise for supposedly how little Pinhead is actually IN the movie. In actuality, Pinhead is in THIS movie more than he was in the first, and his long conversation with Sheffer at the movie's climax contains much more dialogue than he spoke in the first two films combined. For a direct-to-video sequel, this is an interesting stand-alone tale. I compared it earlier to a "Twilight Zone" episode - a dark, somewhat bizarre tale that contains a moral lesson within suspenseful story. I think this movie would have benefited artistically from dropping the "Hellraiser" moniker from it entirely and being released as "Inferno" - it certainly would have given the audience a very nice jolt when Pinhead makes his cameo. *** |
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Post by plushtar on Mar 23, 2008 12:38:41 GMT -5
Not really bad film, but I can't give a full opinion on it since I saw it once a long time ago. Sci-Fi only played the direct-to-video films once and haven't shown them again.
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Post by Maidpool w/ Cleaning Action on Mar 23, 2008 12:44:33 GMT -5
That one is one of the DTD ones that I don't find to be so bad.
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Post by stevierichardsfan on Mar 23, 2008 14:59:13 GMT -5
iv never watched those movies what they about
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Post by Maidpool w/ Cleaning Action on Mar 23, 2008 16:01:34 GMT -5
iv never watched those movies what they about Read up. That's why TR's reviewing them.  |
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Jiren
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Post by Jiren on Mar 23, 2008 17:01:38 GMT -5
The start of "Hellraiser's" decline
Awful movie
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Post by Maidpool w/ Cleaning Action on Mar 23, 2008 17:09:55 GMT -5
The start of "Hellraiser's" decline Awful movie In my opinion, IV was the start of the decline. |
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Lick Ness Monster
Dennis Stamp
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Post by Lick Ness Monster on Mar 23, 2008 19:21:51 GMT -5
The start of "Hellraiser's" decline Awful movie Agree with Deadpool. As a standalone, "Inferno" is fairly interesting, while "Bloodline" is just crap. |
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Post by Baldobomb-22-OH-MAN!!! on Mar 23, 2008 19:23:04 GMT -5
I always thought that after part 4 the series always felt like they had a bunch of shitty movies that they just crammed Pinhead into for no reason to make money.
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Jiren
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Post by Jiren on Mar 23, 2008 19:27:17 GMT -5
While "Bloodlines" is a bad movie i have a soft spot for it.
Maybe i need to give "Inferno" another chance, i last watched it 8 yrs ago
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Lick Ness Monster
Dennis Stamp
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Post by Lick Ness Monster on Mar 23, 2008 19:30:34 GMT -5
I always thought that after part 4 the series always felt like they had a bunch of crapty movies that they just crammed Pinhead into for no reason to make money. Agree on that, as well. From here on out, every movie is a "Twilight Zone" episode and, with five minutes to go, Pinhead appears from behind a door and says "We'll tear your soul apart." Rinse, lather, repeat. |
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erisi236
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Post by erisi236 on Mar 23, 2008 20:07:20 GMT -5
I always thought that after part 4 the series always felt like they had a bunch of crapty movies that they just crammed Pinhead into for no reason to make money. Agree on that, as well. From here on out, every movie is a "Twilight Zone" episode and, with five minutes to go, Pinhead appears from behind a door and says "We'll tear your soul apart." Rinse, lather, repeat. Haha, I feel the same way. I'm pretty certain they took some horror movie scripts they had just lying around the office and thought "How can we fit Pinhead in these". |
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Lick Ness Monster
Dennis Stamp
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Post by Lick Ness Monster on Mar 23, 2008 20:27:35 GMT -5
 HELLRAISER: HELLSEEKER 2002 Director: Rick Bota While other (not a lot, but some) fans of the "Hellraiser" series find this movie fairly entertaining, I absolutely loathe it. Don't ask me what it was - maybe it was just what I ate that day, or the fact that it was snowing bullets out, or a million other inane reasons. But this movie committed the cardinal sin of bringing Ashley Laurence back into the series. Laurence, for those keeping score, was the series' main protagonist in the first two entries. While she wasn't the greatest actress (and still isn't - more on that later), the character itself was pretty beloved. Its misuse here is made even more apparent. Director Rick Bota seems to be a huge fan of the series; indeed, he directed not only this, but the next two entries in the now-exclusive DTD series as well. And it's with this one that the "Hellraiser" series would take on the tone that started with "Inferno" and continues to this day - a glorified "Twilight Zone" episode, moral lesson, appearances by Pinhead sporadically. This one concerns Laurence's Kirsty Cotton character directly, or, more specifically, her husband (Dean Winters). Just like every episode of "The Twilight Zone" involving a character getting his/her just desserts, Winters philanders about on his wife and is generally a dick. The rest of the plot is paint by numbers, with every major plot point being telegraphed a mile away - the twist involving Kirsty's involvement with the cenobites, the true identity of the victim on the hospital bed, the final fate of the Winters character, etc. If you've seen "Inferno," you've seen this one. And, let's face it, you've seen the last two entries in the series as well. While Bota seems to know what he's doing with the series (believe it or not, things would get better with the next film), this is just flat, uninspired, predictable psychological horror that neither scares or intrigues. * 1/2 |
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Post by Maidpool w/ Cleaning Action on Mar 24, 2008 1:05:09 GMT -5
This is the other one that I saw of the DTD ones, and I did not like it. I felt they just said "Hey, how can we tie this in with other Hellraisers besides Pinhead? OH I KNOW! Kristy!"
Then I love just how willing she was to deal with that cube and the cenobites too.
Maybe I remember it wrong since I haven't seen it in a while.
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Brain Of F'n J
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Post by Brain Of F'n J on Mar 24, 2008 8:50:51 GMT -5
I know I'm late in the thread, but I gotta say it:
Hellraiser 3 is an abomination. An abortion. It violates EVERY principle of the Hellraiser universe.
Pinhead, in the first two moves, is all about order and control. Nothing is done without following rules. The Pinhead in Part 3 is all about causing chaos and random destruction. It ruins the entire movie by abandoning the character's core principles and beliefs for the sake of bigger body counts and more carnage.
Jed f'n Shaffer
~Bloodlines was so bad, I blocked it out entirely.
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