‘Hellraiser 3: Hell on Earth’ (1992)


Every time Halloween comes round, I promise myself that I’ll watch more horror films and read more horror fiction; we’re halfway through the month and you can see how that’s going so far… There’s still plenty of October left though so lets see how I do from now until the end of the month ;o) First up is ‘Hellraiser 3’ which I watched last night, mostly because I love it (you can tell how this post is going to go, sorry…) but also because it was cheap on Prime and I’m still just on the wrong side of payday. Here goes…

TV reporter Joey Summerskill’s life is changed forever when she witnesses the horrific death of a teenager, torn apart by bloody chains. Joey’s search for a story leads her to the Lament Configuration Box but it has already been opened, waking an old evil from its slumber…

Now Pinhead walks the earth once more, creating a new army of Cenobites from the transmuted flesh of his victims; his one desire to reclaim the Box. Even with help from an unexpected source, Joey Summerskill is in for the fight of her life.

There was a point in the ‘Hellraiser’ series where the quality of the movies noticeably dropped, leading to a long period of ‘straight to video’ releases. ‘Hellraiser 4: Bloodline’ was the last movie to get a theatrical release (thanks Wikipedia!) but I know that some people would argue that the rot can be seen in ‘Hell on Earth’ with its gimmicky Cenobites pretty much bypassing the point of the first two films. And yep, I can see that; to go from an exploration of sado-masochism being taken to supernatural extremes to a movie where a Cenobite will kill you with flying CDs (and lets not even talk about wisecracking 'camera Cenobite')… Doesn’t sound good does it?

You know what though? I think ‘Hellraiser 3’ is better than that.

I’ll admit that a part of that is down to ‘Hellraiser 3’ being the first movie I saw, in the series, but I also think it has a fair bit going for it. Pinhead’s arc continues, from ‘Hellraiser 2: Hellbound’, and I think it’s handled really well. The Channard Cenobite effectively splits Pinhead’s personality in two and as a result, we get to see the pure evil of Pinhead totally let loose, no longer kept in check by Hell’s adherence to Order. You can tell Doug Bradley is just having the most fun here, as quotable as ever but given free rein to just chew the scenery into little pieces. Bradley is just awesome as Pinhead, no matter what film he is in, but I think he’s at his best here.

It’s not just that though. ‘Hellraiser 3’ may not have the impact of the first two movies but is still bloody good at winding itself up into a killing frenzy and then just letting loose. There’s a lot going on and it’s crammed into 90 mins, you just have to sit there and let it happen to you and sometimes, that’s all I want in a movie, not to have to think too hard. And when a large chunk of ‘Hellraiser 3’ is just that, well… I’m happy :o)

I’ll always have a soft spot for ‘Hellraiser 3: Hell on Earth’, so a little natural bias creeping in, but I still think it stands up to a re-watch at this time of year. What are your favourite films to watch over Halloween?

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

‘Day of Ascension’ – Adrian Tchaikovsky (Black Library)

Image
Page Count – 196 Pages There isn’t a lot that’s good about moving house (especially when it slowly dawns on you just how much the new place is going to cost to run, I need to get another job…) but there are some good bits if you look for them. For me, it was mostly around getting all my books unpacked and back on shelves around me again, not stuffed up in the loft where I couldn’t see them. Old favourites were back within easy reach, along with a whole load of new books that I really should have read ages ago. You can probably guess what my main New Year’s resolution will be… ;o) ‘Day of Ascension’ was one of those new books and I figured it was as good a place as any to start over in making a dent in the ol’ TBR Pile. And I’m really glad I did. On the forge world of Morod, the machines never stop and the work never ends. The population toils in the mines and factoria to protect humanity from the monsters in the void, while the Adeptus Mechanicus enjoy lives of palatial comfort. Gene
Read more

‘Worms of the Earth’ – Robert E. Howard.

Image
Page Count: 27 Pages I have a copy of this on my shelf and the plan was to pick it up for a read on the way into work this morning. Well, that was the plan but I was half asleep, leaving the house, and totally forgot… No matter though, that’s what the Kindle app is for (although if I’d been a little more awake, I’d have read it off Project Gutenberg instead, you can find ‘Worms of the Earth’ Here ). 99p later and my ‘commute reading’ was secured 😉 I always seem to fall into the trap of just reading ‘Conan’ stuff whenever I fancy reading a little Howard. Not that that’s a bad thing, it’s just that there’s a lot of his other stories out there that are more than worth your time when you come across them. ‘Worms of the Earth’ is very much one of those tales but you knew that already, didn’t you? You didn’t? You should do something about that, take it from me… After witnessing one of his subjects die at the hands of Roman governor Titus Sulla, Bran Mak Morn vows vengeance on Sulla but at w
Read more

‘Deathworlder’ – Victoria Hayward (Black Library)

Image
Before I get into the review proper, thank you Black Library for sending me a copy of ‘Deathworlder’ in return for a fair and honest review. Talking of ‘fair and honest’… There will be loads of the latter but I enjoyed the hell out of ‘Deathworlder’ so… We’ll see how being fair goes ;o) That’s your only warning, lets talk ‘Deathworlder’… Lazulai is a world beyond the brink, its battle against the tyranids all but lost. Once-magnificent cities lie in ruin. The seas boil. The skies crack. Horrific alien bioforms devour. In mere days the planet will be consumed. The 903rd Catachan ‘Night Shrikes’ defend one of the last fortresses still standing. Led by Major Wulf Khan, to die fighting is all that is expected of them… until she is given one last mission: to lead a squad through the apocalypse and recover a piece of archeotech that may doom or deliver the entire Lazulai System. Facing insurmountable odds and zero hope for aid, the major must hold her squad together as they pick their way
Read more