Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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35 of 35 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Fantastic way to rediscover a true horror classic!, 23 Feb 2005
I recently received this boxset as a present i had debated buying it but had eventually decided against it as id never been a fan of Hellbound: Hellraiser 2 or Hellraiser 3. All i can say is that this is one of the best DVD boxsets in my collection. All three movies are presented in beautiful widescreen with fully remastered picture and sound and in the case of the first two completely uncut for the first time. Each of the disks is jampacked with featurettes, trailers, honest interviews (its clear that series creator Clive Barker has no love for the later sequels!) and extremely entertaining commentaries for each movie. However like all DVDs great features do not make a great package but thankfully 2 out of 3 of these movies are dark, inventive masterpieces. If all you know about these movies are that it has some guy with nails in his head then you are in for a shock. Hellraiser plays almost like some weird family drama at times and has a claustrophobic feel with the action never really leaving the inside of a house but i dont want to spoil it for you because the first time i saw it it was not at all what i expected. Pinhead is merely a supporting character in the first two and it is these few breathtaking scenes that give him a kind of regal nobility. The original is still the best but having re-evaluated Hellbound, i found it almost as amazing as the classic original and it certainly does a brilliant job of following up plot strands left from the first movie. It is extremely stylish looking and has some fantastically surreal imagery contained within. Although the gore factor does take things a little too far in places and i aint squeamish so thats really saying something! Unfortunately by Hellraiser 3 Hollywood had come calling and had clearly decided it was time to turn Pinhead into a wisecracking Freddy Krueger style franchise spewer. Dont get me wrong its ok but too much money and a lack of originality give this movie no identity of its own, still its a lot better than the later movies! So two classic movies, one so-so and a more extras than you could shake a meat hook at and at the current price you should snap this baby up, believe me if youre a fan of horror movies this is darn near essential.
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49 of 53 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The ultimate Hellraiser set from Clive Barker., 1 Oct 2004
In this box are enclosed 4 disks, containing the first three Hellraiser movies, (the only three that Clive Barker really had any part in the making of), and these are in my opinion all excellent films, and at least the first two are classics, (the third isn't really stylised in the right way to make it a classic like the first two, but it is still a great movie). The reason I bought this box was to have the audio commentary on all three movies, and having had these movies on video for years I recognize that the movies in this DVD set are totally uncut, (and in the commentary this is confirmed), with some particularly gory parts of scenes which were edited out in the [American I think] version of the movies that I have on VHS. I was very pleasantly surprised to find that there are two different commentaries for the first movie, (one with Barker, Ashley Lawrence, and the screenplay writer of the next two movies who adds eruditely to the discussion), and one solo one by Barker that I have yet to watch but that I'm looking forward to. There are two commentaries for Hellbound, and one entertaining commentary for hellraiser three with Doug Bradley and the director, (who seems like a really nice guy). I would have jumped at the chance of buying this box if each movie just had one commentary and no other extras. Not only do you get two commentaries for two movies and one for the other, but each of the three disks that I am discussing have an extras section which contains at least two documentaries, and one with Doug Bradley on all three disks, (as well as on-set interviews with the directors of the first two movies and an up to date interview with Clive Barker on the Hellraiser disk). So there are loads of commentaries and documentaries. Could this be augmented? Well yes, because there is yet another disk which contains the arty short movies made by Barker and his long term friends who were involved in the Hellraiser movies in some way (one of them wrote the scripts to the second and third Hellraiser movies). Both of these short films are introduced with interviews with Clive and the script writer, Pete Atkins, and also on the disk is another version of Hellraiser 3, (though I don't know what is different from the version on the third disk, but I haven't watched it yet and assume the difference must be substantial or it wouldn't be there). This box set, (quite literally a box), gives Hellraiser fans like me everything they could ask for from the first three movies, including the totally uncut version if ever they were censored in any ways, (the amusing director to the third movie showed appreciation when a head exploded, as this was previous cut out of the video version; I must note that the goriest parts of the films are quite a bit more disturbing now that they are uncut.. particularly in the second movie, with at least two obviously uncut versions of scenes). Anything you could ever need to know about the first three movies, (let's face it, the only three that most Hellraiser fans could care less about), is all here, with ample commentary and interviews, and uncut movies. The box is also extremely good value for money, given that the first three disks at least are more/much more feature-packed than most other standalone dvd's are, and even for three great dvd's this would be excellent value for money, but then there is the fourth disk with even more stuff on it).
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Puzzle Box specs., 11 Jan 2008
This Puzzle Box Limited Edition is a real treasure for Hellraiser fan ! Just BUY IT ! here's the specs :
HELLRAISER (1987)
Version: Uncut 93 min. - Widescreen (1.78:1) Enhanced for 16:9 TV
Audio: English 2.0 Stereo / 5.1 Dolby Digital / 5.1 DTS
Subtitles: English
Hearing Impaired: English
Audio Commentary with Director Clive Barker and Star Ashley Laurence
Audio Commentary with Director Clive Barker
Special Features: -Hellraiser: Resurrection Featurette
-Under The Skin: Doug Bradley on Hellraiser
-On-Set Interview with Clive Barker
-Hellraiser Merchandising Promo - Easter Egg
-4 Theatrical Trailers
-5 TV Spots
-Storyboards
-Script
-Poster and Stills Gallery
HELLBOUND : HELLRAISER II (1988)
Version: Uncut 99 min. - Widescreen (1.78:1) Enhanced for 16:9 TV
Audio: English 2.0 Stereo / 5.1 Dolby Digital / 5.1 DTS
Subtitles: English
Hearing Impaired: English
Audio Commentary with Director Tony Randel, Star Ashley Laurence and Writer Peter Atkins
Audio Commentary with Pete Atkins and Tony Randel
Special Features: -Under the Skin: Doug Bradley on Hellraiser II
-Lost In The Labyrinth Featurette
-On-Set Interview with Clive Barker, Tony Randel,
Claire Higgins, Ashley Laurence, Imogen Boorman
and Kenneth Crantham
-On-Set Interview with Clive Barker
-Behind the Scenes Montage
-4 Theatrical Trailers
-2 TV Spots
-Script
-Poster and Stills Gallery
HELLRAISER III : HELL ON EARTH (1992)
Version: Uncut 93 min. - Widescreen (1.78:1) Enhanced for 16:9 TV
Audio: English 2.0 Stereo / 5.1 Dolby Digital / 5.1 DTS
Subtitles: English
Hearing Impaired: English
Audio Commentary with Director Anthony Hickox and Star Doug Bradley
Special Features: -Under the Skin: Doug Bradley on Hellraiser III
-Raising Hell On Earth: Interview with Director
Anthony Hickox
-On-Set Interview with Clive Barker and Doug Bradley
-Theatrical Trailer
-Poster and Stills Gallery
BONUS DISC
Full Screen Presentation of Hellraiser III : Hell On Earth
Early Short - Clive Barker's Salome (1973)
Early Short - Clive Barker's The Forbidden (1978)
Interviews with Clive Barker, Pete Atkins and Doug Bradley, discussing the early short films
Also included: A full-color booklet written by Clive Barker's Revelations website team, plus a personal foreword by Clive Barker himself
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