Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A DIFFERENT BREED OF HORROR FOR A HELLRAISER FILM, 3 Jul 2007
Det. Joseph Thorne, (Craig Sheffer) a morally corrupt officer, is assigned to a case where a man was found torn apart. At the crime scene, he finds a strange box and takes it. Obsessed with the mystery of the box, he plays around with it and he suddenly finds himself in a strange dream world where nothing is what it appears to be. Convinced he is descending into madness, as everyone around him are being killed by an unknown killer, his partner (Nicholas Turturro) asks him to take time off to preserve his sanity. Going against orders, Thorne decides to solve the case himself, and discovers Pinhead (Doug Bradley) and his minions are the real culprits, and he must find a way to stop the crime spree and his sanity.
The Good News: I was actually surprised to find that, when it wanted to, it had some good moments. As is usual with these films, the ability to distinguish between the dream and real world is nearly impossible, and that gives us a few terrifying moments. The twin Cenobites are pretty freaky, and the moments with them are both tense, thrilling scenes, even if they never play out in the actual scene. The best parts are the dream sequences, which can at times be pretty interesting in a few scenes. This does have a high production value, so it looks a lot more expensive than it probably was. This helped the Cenobites look pretty impressive, and several of them are quite frightening when briefly glanced at.
The Bad News: There is a large amount wrong with this movie. Perhaps there is none bigger than the fact that this isn't the style of movie a Hellraiser film should be. When a film has "Hell" and "Inferno" in it's title, it is expected to be about one of the two elements would be present in the film. The film plays out as a detective drama, which I wouldn't mind if something interesting happen from the course of the investigation, but they spend so much time just wandering around and occasionally running into frightening demonic images. In the midst of all this searching, we get useless scenes just to show that they have a tortured family life, then it's just back to the investigation. It was almost as maddening as the search. To make it even worse, the investigation scenes, which took up the majority of the movie, were just criminally slow and boring, and it can be pretty hard to see this one all the way through. Even more criminal, Pinhead has all of two scenes in the film, and if it weren't for him, no one would know this is a Hellraiser film. For being the title character, he needs to be on screen to flaunt his stuff, and here he is barely visible.
The Final Verdict: This is really more of a drama with horror undertones than a true horror movie. Pinhead gets so few screen-time that it really isn't even worth it just to see him. Hardcore completists should give this one a shot. All others should go into this one expecting anything like the original will be sorely disappointed.
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6 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Does different mean rubbish!?, 9 April 2005
Although this is different than the other hellraiser films, it is pure horror and classic. The difference between this film and the other hellraisers are what makes some people say it's not as good. If you can accept the difference, then this should be at the top of your amazon list! It's a great film, and my favorite of the serise. The lack of cenobite scenes are payed back with great horror of a detectives hellish life! There are three fantastic new cenobites in this, supplied with amazing affects.If you're looking for a horror film that will be different than any other, buy this! And, if you're a hellraiser fan who can accept changes, BUY IT NOW!!!
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3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A pleasant suprise!, 29 Oct 2005
By A Customer
Excellent character development and a really interesting plot provide superb entertainment. The film's like a bad acid trip, keeping you right on the edge of your seat. It's true you don't see pinhead much, but just because he's more of a protagonist in the other movies, it doesn't mean his role should be central or pivotal to any degree.Great aesthetics, nice and surreal, and three awesome new cenobites. A great stand alone film.
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