Hellbound - Hellraiser 2 [1988] [DVD]

Hellraiser: Hellbound is every bit as good as its predecessor if not slightly better. Clive Barker's talent as a film maker is very evident in this amazing and thrilling story in which we follow Kirsty Cotton from her experiences in the previous film into this new nightmare. Once again Kirsty is brought before the Cenobites and comes face to face with her hated stepmother Julia. Only this time Kirsty doesn't just have to escape from the cenobites but from Hell itself.
We are introduced to new Characters most notably Dr Channard, Kirsty's doctor, who he himself desires to unlock the secrets of the Lament configuration himself. He later becomes a Cenobite himself and under the control of Leviathan gets rid of the original Cenobites. Tiffany a young mute girl is also a new addiction to the story who has a talent for puzzles. It is this gift that Dr Channard takes advantage of and gets Tiffany to solve the Lament configuration. Tiffany and Kirsty together search for a way to escape Hell and the Cenobites but of course come across many obstictles in their way.
The Cenobites return again to terrorise and spread fear to their victims but unlike the first movie they are very much in their element. This time Kirsty is in Hell with them and they do not hid their desire to expose her to the pleasures and pain of Hell. Once again the Cenobites carry a menacing atmosphere and have the best dialogue of the film. Doug Bradley reprises his role as Pinhead and is once more one of the Cenobites that demand the most attention. Barbie Wilde takes over the role of The Female Cenobite from Grace Kirby but is just as good in the role.She is equally as attention grabbing as her male companion although she gets less dialogue.
One of the best scenes of the movie is Kirsty's final confrontation with the Original 4 Cenobites. Here she produces a picture of Pinhead as a human were he was a soldier in WW1. The impact that this revelation has on the Cenobites especially on Pinhead and Female is clearly displayed on their faces. We know that this is a shock to them because previously Kirsty asked them is this their Hell also in which Female replied "We have always been here" which shows that any memory they had of their human lives was lost when they became Cenobites. A further interesting scene is when we see the cenobites in their human form after they had been defeated by Channard. Female became a pretty brunette women, Butterball a obese middle aged man, Chatterer became a young boy around 10 and Pinhead turned into the man from the photo.
Hellraiser: Hellbound is a very good film with an interesting story to keep fans of the previous movie hooked throughout but again like the previous film there are some parts that can be improved. The story is confusing at times and can be very hard to follow. My main quarrel with the movie is once again the Cenobites. The Cenobites have proved themselves as a formidible force and they carry this role well throughout the film. However they are killed so quickly and they do not put up a fight against Channard which is very hard to believe for their characters. Apart from this Hellraiser:Hellbound is a very good movie and should not disappoint any fan of the previous film.

this is a bad dvd
as simple as that.
i love this film, but there are no extras on this disc.
a trailer does not constitute an 'extra'.

the region 1 version of this movie has a remastered print, THX approved disc. with a featurette and a commentary from the director, writer and ashley laurence.

if you have a multi-region player opt for the region 1 disc instead.

Hellbound should have been excellent. Okay, it should have at least been good, but it falls woefully short of the mark by A) not making any sense and B) not having very good acting. In fact, you could - at a push - forgive A, but B is truly the biggest, suckiest problem with this film. The acting is flat out awful. Some of the blame has to lie with Pete Atkins inept dialogue. The actors are simply talking incredible rubbish and I don't mean the fantasy elements here. Listen to Cranham's attempt to explain where the mattress should be delivered or his fanciful nonsense as he drills a hole in somebody's head. And then there's Claire Higgins, lumped with 'Do I look surreal?' as if trying to make sure we understand how, well, surreal it all is, I suppose.

Character motivation is lacking. We never really understand why Julia becomes 'Queen of Hell' or why Tiffany goes wandering off into the labyrinth or why exactly Channard 'Wants to see'. See what? Learn what?

The only thing this film has going for it is the excellent musical score and a few of the gory special effects. But I'm 34. I don't want to watch a film simply because it has 'cool' gore and slime in or is gross out. Admittedly, Hellbound benefits by being uncut, but I could stick on the soundtrack and squirt tomato ketchup over the wall and have as much fun as watching this.

** for music, SFX and ideas