Movie Night! 'Catching Up With Hellraiser' Edition...

I'll be honest, there's a large gap in my 'Hellraiser' movie experience, namely almost every movie between 'Bloodline' and 'Judgement' (which I reviewed not so long ago). I've just never come across them to watch, especially now I'm getting all middle-aged and have discovered that there's only so much I'll pay for a DVD... ;o) What is happening to me? Anyway...

All those slightly harder to get hold of 'Hellraiser' movies look like they've been reissued so I thought I'd grab a couple and see how I went with them. That couple ended up being 'Hellworld' (which I've never seen) and 'Hellseeker' (which I had seen but that was years ago and I didn't have a copy so...) Yesterday was a bit hectic (one day back at work and loads to catch up on) and I couldn't settle on a book so after watching yesterday's 'What If...?', I thought I'd have me a little movie night...


'Hellworld' (2005)

Gamers playing a MMORPG based on the "Hellraiser" films find their lives endangered after being invited to a rave, the host of which intends to show them the truth behind the Cenobite mythos.

Well bloody hell that was dreadful...

The thing about Pinhead is that he is not a 'stalk partying teenagers and kill them all' kind of killer. I'd say that he's not really a killer at all, he'd far rather keep you alive while he works... So having him stalk a bunch of partying teenagers and kill them all really didn't work, especially when you get to the end of the movie and it becomes clear what is happening. In fact, the only kill that makes any kind of sense, according to Pinhead's modus operandi, is the one that he makes right at the end. The movie feels like a real wasted opportunity because if it hadn't had Pinhead in it, the whole thing would have made a lot more sense and actually been quite a tense affair. It did have Pinhead in it though and I was left wondering just what the point of it all was. The only good thing about 'Hellworld' is that having a copy means there won't be a gaping hole in my collection when it is done ;o) Not a movie that Henry Cavill would want to draw attention to on his CV...



'Hellseeker' (2002)

A shady businessman attempts to piece together the details of the car crash that killed his wife, rendered him an amnesiac, and left him in possession of a sinister puzzle box that summons monsters.

Now this was more like it. 'Hellseeker' ties up Kirsty's story, as well as hearkening back to Pinhead's comment about everyone having to endure their own hell, so it's already in my good books for sticking with established continuity and not doing a 'Hellworld'. The 'mystery' isn't too hard to puzzle out but the fun lies in watching Trevor reach that conclusion himself with a decent mix of regular mystery and little 'otherworldly' moments that totally unsettle. Pinhead seems to have been relegated from an 'explorer, in the further regions of experience' to a bog standard 'come to usher your soul to hell' kind of monster though and I'm not entirely sure how I feel about that. 'Hellseeker' isn't a bad film though, even if it clearly isn't on the same level as the first two movies, and sneakily benefitted from being watched after 'Hellworld'... ;o)



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