I am (was) a huge fan of the Hellraiser series. I caught the first as soon
as it was on VHS and it became one of my favorites to rent over and over. I
liked Hellbound even more and even enjoyed Hell On Earth’s goofy charm.
Oblivion, not so much, but before the studio interference I’m sure it was an
interesting idea. Finally, When the straight to video years of the franchise
hit, I kinda just lost interest. However I did find a used copy of Inferno
and really liked the direction they took. A lot of people rag on it, but it
was well acted and the story ended up being quite interesting.
And that brings us to our focus for today. Forced upon me by one of my
fellow reviewers, I had to spend hours upon hours with part 8 (!): Hellworld.
Now, according to IMDB.com, this movie was released in 2005. However, if
you read the copyright at the end of the credits on the actual film you’ll
see the date 2003. Hmmm….That’s promising.
OH! This film is brought to us by the same idiot that brought us Hellseeker
and Deader. We, my friends, are truly in for a treat.
Here’s more proof that the studio knew that millions of people would flock
to their video shoppes to pick this baby up: The two trailers before the
film are Mindhunters and Scary Movie 3.5. Impressive.
The movie begins with some half naked dude digging a hole in a basement.
That makes sense, I guess. I mean Cenobites live underground and shit, don’t
they? Wait. That’s Tremors. My bad.
With no explanation, we are now voyeurs at the smallest attended funeral
I’ve ever seen. There’s, like, 10 people spread throughout the pews. And I
think 4 of them are actually nuns with nothing better to do. But it does
serve the purpose of introducing us to our 5 leads. There’s Chelsea (bitch),
Alison (bigger bitch), Derrick (token black guy, who is a dick), Mike (total
dick) and Jake (this guy can actually act, so he’s probably not a dick).
They’re all present and comprising half of the attendees to say farewell to
their friend Adam (could possibly have been a dick, but he’s already dead).
I suppose Adam was the half naked dude at the beginning, but the movie really
doesn’t care to tell us, or not.
According to their vague conversation, this group of friends was addicted to
“Hellworld”. Is that some form of super-crack, or something? Anyway, this
is what caused Adam to not show the audience whether he was a dick, or not.
And Jake doesn’t appear to think too highly of his former friends.
Finally, the movie gives us what we’ve been waiting for: a fucking dream
sequence. Good god. Hellraiser isn’t about dream sequences. That’s that
other franchise. A Bad Comedian On A Street Named After A Common Type Of
Tree, or whatever. And it’s a lame ass obvious dream sequence, at that.
At some undisclosed later date, bitch and total dick are on a website
advertising a Hellraiser party at Leviathan House? And you solve the puzzle
box by clicking three (3) points on the box? It’s that fucking easy? Token
black dick and bigger bitch are somewhere else on the same site. And bigger
bitch says “Holy Sugar”. What, this is rated R, isn’t it? Is that supposed to
make her character “quirky” or “cute”?
A wonderful driving montage establishes that the sun is in fact going down
as they travel together to said party. So, when they arrive at the Leviathan
House it’s night. Thank you, movie.
At least the song playing before they get into the house is by “Celldweller”.
0.01 points for our movie. But then it’s generic crap when they get inside.
I’ll let that slide.
Oooo, lookee! It’s Lance fucking Henriksen! No points, though, as he’ll sign
on for any direct to video crap nowadays.
Checking out Lances’ collection of Hellraiser knicks and knacks, everyone
starts doing stupid shit. Just helping themselves to pick up, play with, tap
on, smudge, spray without even asking if it‘s ok. I hate these fuckers.
Well, here’s a remix of “Celldweller”. Movie, you’ve earned 0.02 points. Good
one! Keep trying and you could end up with a couple more!
-0.01 point because as I watch them walk around this house, being told the
history behind it, I realized something: for a group of douche-hats who
claim to be such Hellraiser geeks, they have been and are continuing to be
fucking disrespectful shits. Well, except for Jake. He’s the only
sympathetic one.
Everyone is given a mask with a number on it and a cell phone, so you can
call whoever you would like to hook up with. Oh, and that sets us up for a
classic and yet fresh take on “Can you hear me now”? Oh, movie! You’re so
topical and up to date on what the young-uns are into, these days!
And hey! “Celldweller” is back! Back to 0.02 points, movie. “Never give up!”
is this movies’ motto!
All of the other party goers seem to be having SUCH a great time. Vaguely
moving their hands about and sort of bobbing up and down to, what I can only
assume, was music that wasn’t even playing as they shot their scenes, as
no one seems to have any rhythm
And we reach our first kill. Hmm, here’s an old chair with clamps to lock a
person into it. I think I’ll have a seat! What’s that? A clamp just locked
onto my right hand? Whatever shall I do? Perhaps move my left hand and legs
away from the other clamping mechanisms that have not moved? Ehhhh, no. I’ll
just pant and struggle as they take their time to completely trap me in this
chair of doom.
And the “quirky cute” bigger bitch isn’t even killed by Pinhead or any
other random Cenobite. Nice one, movie. I paid (*ahem* was given a copy,
sorta) to see a Hellraiser movie, not Saw IV. Fuck! Oh, but he shows up
towards the end of her death to pop in a “deep” one-liner. GODDAMMIT!
Boobies and simulated sex! For that, movie, you are now up to a score of
0.04!
Oh, no! Dick-ass token black dick has dropped his inhaler amongst the
dancing fools as he has an asthma attack! Surely he will die without it! So
now he must leave the crowd to find it in the what? Yes, the basement.
Simulated blow-job! Yes, movie! That’s now 0.05. You are on a fucking roll!
I am so relieved that TBD got to his inhaler in the nick of time. Was really getting worried. So, he’ll just relax on this gurney for a bit. But wait!
What’s this? An actual kill by Pinhead? Are you serious? Agh! He cut off his
head with a big-ass cleaver. Is that a typical Cenobite kill? Isn’t there
suppose to be, you know, suffering and all that? Chains, at least? Now he’s
from that movie Mongoloid-Boys’ Birthday On An Unlucky Numbered Day? That’s
it, movie. You asked for this. 0.03, bitch. (I didn’t knock you back to
0.02, because I must admit that it was a nicely executed decapitation. But
you’re treading on thin ice, mister.)
Meanwhile, Lance keeps digging graves outside. I’m sure this has nothing to
do with the lack of Cenobite action and he’s just taking precautions in case
of… I dunno… needing storage for some left over cadavers from the previous
owners, or something.
Boobies part 2! But not as impressive, so only up to 0.04, buddy. Well, you
went the extra mile and tacked on some more simulated sex, so you’ve earned
your 0.05, again. Don’t fuck it up.
Ok, half naked guy is back. Digging a hole in a dream sequence. Some
rattling chains and Pinhead and… nothing. *sigh*
Same boobie shot doesn’t count, movie. You’re just padding time. No points
for you!
New, fresh boobies! And very nice! 0.07. Good job!
Alright! Total dick is about to get it! Now, his death is closer to a true
Hellraiser scene. Some new-ish Cenobite (I guess he’d be
Straps-on-my-face-obite) activates a huge hook and chain contraption and
impales him on it. Pinhead shows up again to speak a pointless one-liner.
So, we’ll say 0.10. Very impressive, but a long way to go.
Hehehe, bitch can’t get her truck started, so Lance pops up and says “Like a
bad horror movie, isn’t it?”. Um, well, this IS a bad horror movie, you
fucking retarded writers! You’re just asking for anyone reviewing this to
point that stupid fact out. Whatever.
Finally, the mystery of the half naked dude digging a hole: actually the
dead Adam, and how he died. Actually, we just find out that he doused
himself in gasoline and set himself on fire. Which does abso-fucking-lutely
nothing to explain the digging of the hole. Hell, I could immolate myself in
the bathroom, the backyard, or the bedroom and not require one bit of hole
digging.
Pinhead scores another, but it was a spike through the head, mouth type
thing. Not very Hellraiser-ish. But no points lost or gained.
So, now the “real” Chatterer shows up, but Chelsea is only pursued by her
re-animated friends. And they haven’t been turned into cool Cenobites like
Camera-head or CD-head from H3. They’re just sorta zombies with basic
alterations like staples and shit. Fuck you, movie.
I’m already tired of these shenanigans. I pretty much figured out what was
going on a little before an hour was up. The rest of this crap-fest is to
explain everything that’s been going on. Unfortunately, it doesn’t explain
why Dimension thought that this was the proper way to continue the
Hellraiser mythology.
Ok, I’ll say this about what I just witnessed. It was shot very well. Bota
obviously took notes when he was cinematographer on House on Haunted Hill (a
movie I really liked), as he lights, shoots and edits everything almost
exactly the same.
Other than that, everything else is the absolute shitters. And it all
starts with a poorly written script that has almost nothing to do with, you
know, Hellraiser. Sure the party and game are based on the idea that it
existed as a story/movie/game, but if you change that out with some original
horror theme, you’d have a standalone film. It’s fucking pointless. The
movie even goes to lengths to state that none of the kills featuring
Cenobites actually happened, because “Hellworld” or whatever isn’t real. Then
the movie negates every goddamn thing it just spent setting up with an
actual real Cenobite kill. With the worst Pinhead one-liner yet (How’s that
for a wake up call?) and then throws out one more stupid dream sequence type
scares. Fuck fuckity fucking FUCK!!!! (For the record all his other lines are
pretty much "Adam was right." "Do you believe Adam, yet Jake?" "This is just
the beginning.")
And the homage/rip-off of the coffin scene in The Gates of Hell was pitifully
shot and cut. No suspense at all.
Nix Says: You have the rights to some of the most menacing and frightening
horror images in history and you abandon them for a stupid revenge tale.
Fuck you, movie.
H.O.P.E.L.E.S.S. Rating: 
- Not enough blood or interesting action to keep it interesting and no one will
care what is going on, but nice for a background distraction.
Sequel To: Hellraiser ;
Hellbound: Hellraiser II ;
Hellraiser III: Hell on Earth ;
Hellraiser: Bloodline ;
Hellraiser: Inferno ;
Hellraiser: Hellseeker ;
Hellraiser: Deader
FEEDBACK
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