Hellraiser III: Hell On Earth (1992)

In the continuation of our series review, Hellraiser: Hell on Earth is the third entry in the series and the first to take everyone's favorite cenobite leader on a walk through the city streets for a large dose of destructive action.

After the events in Hellbound, Elliot Spencer has been free'd from the grips of hell and is no longer forced to be the leader of the cenobites. Unfortunately, the force of life surrounding Pinhead is much too strong to just die and starts to take on a life of it's own, on earth.

Now, with the help of her dreams, news reporter Joey Summerskill must try to stop Pinhead and send him back to hell.

Directed by Anthony Hickox and starring Terry Farrell, Paula Marshall, Kevin Bernhardt and Doug Bradley reprising his roles as Pinhead and his human counterpart Elliot Spencer.

Being that the storyline is a little different than the other two entry's I was kind of skeptical about this film when I had first watched it. After about the halfway point of the movie I realised it was probably the smartest thing they could have done with this series and it made the remainder of the film a real treat to watch giving us a whole world of greatness.

The greatness I am referring too is of course all the new aspects they added into the film. First off, the new cenobites looked awesome and is always a great idea to keep secondary characters of this nature fresh just so people don't get bored of them and of course the scenery change was beautiful!

Having the cenobites in the streets of a city was another genius idea! Not only is it fresh, but they have a ton more they can do with the environment that doesn't just involve the use of chains with hooks on the end.

The storyline itself was a little confusing but like I've said in the past for this series and surely, it will be said again with some of the next films, it's mainly used to show off gore which again, everyone who likes the 80's type of slasher horror films, will enjoy this one for that reason.

Don't get me wrong, I love a great storyline, but most times in this genre you just have to take what you can get.

Better storyline than the first, more confusing that the one from the second but the new baddies and scenery really took the cake for me in this one and so i will give it a 7 out of 10!

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Hellbound: Hellraiser II (1988)

Hellbound is the second entry in the Hellraiser series and continues the story of Kirsty Cotton and her dealings with the aftermath of the cenobite attack on her home which had been provoked by her uncle Frank's insatiable need to escape hell.

Directed by Tony Randel and stars Clare Higgens, Ashley Laurence, Kenneth Cranham and Doug Bradley reprising his role as Pinhead.

After waking up in the hospital, Kirsty is quickly questions by detective about the events that had taken place in her father's home. Although the detectives have a hard time believing her, Dr. Channard decides to take the information and uses it to his advantage thus prompting a series of events leading back to the return of the cenobites.

The gore factor is once again all over this movie just like it was in the first one. The biggest difference in my opinion is the story line. I find that it was much more thought out and kept me more interested and entertained than the story it's predecessor had to offer. There was much more substance to it as they several story's happening at the same time in which they all intertwined to come to the film's conclusion.

As you already know, we here at Horror Shoot are real suckers for great practical effects and Hellbound was not lacking in that department. They were able to once again make the cenobite costumes look great, the "revival" make-up looked even more realistic than they made it seem in the first film and the C.G.I. they did use was not the greatest due to the time period they were in but were still able to make due and use it as best as they could.

The biggest downside to this movie for me is that when you're going to make the scenes brighter, the practical effects can easily be ruined and made to look completely fake. An example of this is the final scene in the film in which you can see how everything looks like pure rubber.

I did enjoy this entry more so than the original. But still found as a stand alone movie it's not overly great. But if you like a lot of gore then you can't go wrong with having a double feature night consisting of part 1 and 2. I will have to give Hellbound a 5 out of 10 and yes I know. I bitched about the first one much more than I have about this one but this is a sequel and does not have that originality to it that the first has which kills it a bit more for me.

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Hellraiser (1987)

Hellraiser is a 1987 film written and directed by horror icon Clive Barker and was based off of his novella "The Hellbound Heart".

Starring Andrew Robinson, Clare Higgins, Sean Chapman, Ashley Laurence and Doug Bradley.

After solving a mysterious puzzle box he purchased, Frank Cotton mistakenly summons a group of Cenobites who take him back to hell with them to torture him for eternity. But after a small household accident causes Franks brother to bleed onto the floor where his brother was killed, he ends up making an escape from hell by rising from the dead.

Seeing this movie yet again after all these years has made the story line very plain and very long for me. The reason I enjoy it so much is because of the amazing special effects. No matter how bored I get with the plot, I know that the effects of the kill scenes, the cenobites and the body rebuild (if you have seen it you know exactly what I mean) will always get me excited to watch this film. There is just so much to appreciate in it.

I will be honest with you, I had a hard time writing the plot for this film in a manner that would not ruin it for anybody as the story line is pretty thin and straight to the point.

Now, I don't want to go out and say that this is a boring movie next to the effects. I only sound like I am speaking this way due to the fact I have seen it a minimum of 60 times now and know it inside and out.

For someone who has not seen it in years or who has never seen it at all, I can guarantee that they will love it all around, plot, dialogue, effects and the iconic characters such as Pinhead. And I say this with the utmost confidence. Eight sequels can't be wrong can they?

Based on my history with this film I would give it a lower rating as the story did not hold up for me and I found myself getting bored very quickly but once again the special effect came in to save the day and locked down a 6 out of 10 for the original flick.

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