Editorials
[Discussion] What’s the Best Straight-to-Video ‘Hellraiser’ Sequel?
The news that Hellraiser is getting another big screen treatment is a real thrill for fans of the franchise, because Hellraiser has been languishing in straight-to-video… well, “hell” for nearly 20 years.
What began as a franchise based on the works of Clive Barker – who also directed the first installment – about a dimension of ghoulish and powerful sadomasochists who torture and pleasure their (sometimes willing) victims, became a series of low budget horror flicks that had almost nothing to do with the demonic Cenobites that made the franchise so iconic in the first place.
Seriously, most of the straight-to-video sequels were based on original screenplays that were rewritten to throw in the Cenobites, and it shows. The haphazardness of the Hellraiser straight-to-video sequels is often clear at a glance, and the changes that were made to the franchise’s premise – seemingly willy-nilly – are significant and, arguably, to the detriment of the franchise.
But there sure were a lot of them! Let’s take a look at the greatly-maligned Hellraiser straight-to-video sequels to see which of them (if any) deserves the distinction of “the best!”
Hellraiser: Inferno (2000)
The first straight-to-video Hellraiser sequel has a better pedigree than the rest. Directed by Scott Derrickson and co-written by Paul Harris Boardman, the team that would later give the world The Exorcism of Emily Rose and Deliver Us From Evil, the film stars Craig Sheffer as a corrupt detective investigating a serial killer – he also starts seeing unholy visions of the Cenobites.
Hellraiser: Inferno boasts a respectable star and decent production values, at least compared to most of the other straight-to-video sequels, but it also hammers the same grim notes over and over again, making the film feel a little monotonous. And the shift from Clive Barker’s concept of the Cenobites’ dimension – from an amoral plane where pain and pleasure are indivisible, to a Roman Catholic-inspired afterlife where Cenobites are the agents of divine punishment – was a hard right turn in the direction of the generic.
Is It The Best?: Maybe, because Sheffer is good and the story is more ambitious than you might expect, but it set the whole Hellraiser franchise on a questionable path. And it’s more of a bummer than it is scary.
Hellraiser: Hellseeker (2002)
The sixth Hellraiser marks the return of Ashley Laurence, who co-starred in the first two films in the series as the heroic Kirsty Cotton. Her story comes to an end in Hellraiser: Hellseeker, but it’s hardly an auspicious one. Kirsty and her husband, played by Dean Winters (the guy from those “Mayhem” commercials), get in a car accident. She goes missing while he suffers a head injury that leaves his memory hazy and his vision full of demonic creatures. The story – right up to the “twist” ending – is pretty thin and frustratingly reminiscent of Hellraiser: Inferno, but Winters and Laurence make the most of their roles… even though Kirsty behaves, debatably, out of character.
Is It The Best?: It’s satisfying to see Ashley Laurence and Doug Bradley, the original Pinhead, share a scene together but the forgettable and familiar A-plot sullies their reunion.
Hellraiser: Deader (2005)
As we’ve already discussed, the majority of the straight-to-video Hellraiser sequels started out as spec scripts that had Cenobites surgically grafted on top them. Hellraiser: Deader is one of the more obvious examples, with a story that would probably work a lot better without any connection to the franchise. Kari Wuhrer stars as a reporter investigating a cult that kills and resurrects its members, all in a weird attempt to take over the Cenobites. She carries the film well, and the scene where she struggles to get a knife out of her back – no easy feat, clearly – is arguably the best and creepiest moment any of these STV sequels have to offer.
Is It The Best?: Well, it’s the best on the list so far. Hellraiser: Deader strains to connect itself to the franchise but the resurrection cult is eerie enough to justify its own film, and Wuhrer does a fine job.
Hellraiser: Hellworld (2005)
Okay, so in Hellraiser: Hellworld, Clive Barker’s series is just a multimedia franchise that inspired a (pretty bad-looking) MMORPG. A group of friends solve the video game’s puzzle and find themselves at a sexy private rave for ultra-cool gamers, but they wander off and get killed one-by-one by the Cenobites. The set-up is beyond strained and the first twist ending is laughable (and the second one makes NO sense), but at least Lance Henriksen is in it. That’s gotta count for something.
Is It The Best?: Only in terms of camp value. The contrived script bends over backwards and then snaps in an ill-conceived attempt to accommodate a Hellraiser connection, and even without the Cenobites it just wouldn’t be a very interesting horror movie.
Hellraiser: Revelations (2011)
Cheap and rough, Hellraiser: Revelations was rushed into production so the studio could keep the rights to the franchise, and yet it’s still the only straight-to-video Hellraiser sequel that feels like it kind of belongs in the same world as the theatrical films. It’s not nearly as good, frankly, but the mythology and the tone are closer to what made Hellraiser work in the first place. A couple of young punks go vacationing in Mexico, pick up a Lament Configuration and do unspeakable things and disappear. One of them suddenly returns a year later with suspicious and creepy intentions for his family, while Pinhead waits in the wings.
Is It The Best?: Hellraiser: Revelations captures some of the prurient violence and sensuality that made this franchise so distinctive in the first place, but the shoddy production values bring the whole thing down. Worse, Revelations is the first film in the franchise without Doug Bradley as Pinhead, and his replacement just can’t match his gravitas.
Hellraiser: Judgment (2018)
The most recent Hellraiser allegedly wasn’t based on another, unrelated screenplay, but it plays like it was. Damon Carney stars as a detective tracking down a serial killer inspired by the Ten Commandments, in a storyline that mirrors Hellraiser: Inferno on multiple levels. The investigation leads him to a house where the Cenobites judge the wicked and determine their torment, a development which returns the franchise to the realm of Western religion after briefly going back to the more ineffable horror-fantasy in Revelation. The film adds some new wrinkles and Cenobites to the mythology, which will either intrigue or frustrate fans, and although Bradley didn’t return, Paul T. Taylor is, at least, a respectable Pinhead.
Is It The Best?: Probably not. If you’re a fan of the idea that the Cenobites work for Hell, punishing sinners as opposed to gifting them with beautiful pain, Judgment might intrigue you. If not, it’ll make you think long and hard about Pinhead doing paperwork, and that’s just silly. And the serial killer story is a bland non-starter either way.
So What’s the Best Straight-to-Video Hellraiser Sequel?
Picking the best straight-to-video Hellraiser isn’t easy, or fun. Even the best of these movies is deeply flawed, and the worst can be a chore. Inferno feels more like a complete, feature film than the others, but it’s also dour to a numbing fault. Hellseeker brings back Ashley Laurence, and the film is all the better for it, but she’s not in it much and the rest of the film is derivative. Hellworld is… definitely not the best, let’s leave it at that, while Revelations comes pretty close to the tone of the originals only to be undone by its sloppy cheapness. And finally Judgment has some impressive Cenobite sequences even though its familiar story and questionable additions to the canon are disappointing.
Which leaves us with Hellraiser: Deader, a film that barely feels like a Hellraiser sequel but mostly works on its own merits and has at least one memorably creepy scene. Deader, like the rest of the straight-to-video sequels, pales in comparison to the theatrically-released Hellraiser films but it stands out more than the rest. It is probably the best straight-to-video Hellraiser sequel, which may be a dubious distinction. But a win is a win, right?
Then again, this is all a matter of taste. Which one of these movies is YOUR favorite, and why?
I’m relatively new to the Bloody Disgusting family, but I feel the need to admit something that you might find disturbing, distasteful, and downright disappointing. Basically, and with the utmost respect for your feelings, I’m of the opinion that Fede Alvarez’s Evil Dead is the best entry in the entire franchise.
To be clear, I like Sam Raimi’s original trilogy well enough, especially 1987’s Evil Dead II, but the zaniness can’t help but neuter the horror for me. They’re fun movies! I’m entertained by them, but I’m just drawn to Alvarez’s meaner, gorier, and more tonally unrelenting take on the same material.
A new Evil Dead film is now in theaters, and just as 2023’s Evil Dead Rise followed this same brutal vibe, Evil Dead Burn is continuing that wet slide into utter carnage.
Now keep reading to see what I heard on the commentary for…
Evil Dead (2013)
Commentators: Fede Alvarez (director/co-writer), Rodo Sayagues (co-writer), Jane Levy (actor), Lou Taylor Pucci (actor), Jessica Lucas (actor)
1. The family watching in the basement at 3:11 includes producer Rob Tapert’s son and a local actor from New Zealand, the one with the disfigured face, who has survived two separate plane crashes.
2. The decision to flip the opening shot (post title) upside down came in editing as Alvarez recalled being unsettled by a shot from Raimi’s original Evil Dead. “Something that really impressed me about the original was all the camera work, and there’s a moment… where Bruce [Campbell] runs from one side of the room to the other, and the camera looks back and upside down.”
3. It was composer Roque Banos who came up with adding the siren sounds. His inspiration came after living in Los Angeles for a short time and hearing many, many sirens.
4. It was Pucci’s idea for his character, Eric, to have a beard and long hair – partly as a visual nod to the film’s 1970s vibe, and partly because “you never have to do anything” with it.
5. “In any good story you have one of the main characters taking a bad step in the beginning,” says Alvarez as David (Shiloh Fernandez) fails to simply turn around and apologize to his sister Mia (Levy). “He makes another mistake,” adds Levy when he ignores her pleas for help after she’s been assaulted by the tree, but Alvarez says that choice is far more understandable.
6. Pucci is asked if it was his choice to be playing with the deck of cards on the porch swing, but he says it was Alvarez’s suggestion. The director adds that he had just tried impressing Pucci with a card trick – turns out they’re both amateur magicians – and Pucci carried it into the scene. It’s also a nod to the original film.
7. The clock at 14:56 is the actual one from the original film.
8. Most of them agree that the blood would send them packing in real life well before the book would. They’d be curious about the latter.
9. “It smells like burnt hair” was improvised by Pucci.
10. The script called for dead crows in the basement, but Tapert suggested they try something different, so they went with cats. A dead one had been found “in an alley” somewhere, and they took a mold of it to craft additional prosthetic cat corpses.
11. All of the closeups of people touching the book feature Alvarez’s hands.
12. Mia’s front yard vomit consisted of cold soup.
13. Early scenes of a wet and angry Mia were preceded by her doing sprints or jumping jacks offscreen to make her seem more exasperated. She was so amped up while driving the car that Alvarez, who was hidden in the backseat, was scared “while Jane is going crazy.”
14. Levy recalls Alvarez suggesting a similar scene from Wild at Heart as a reference point for her own performance after crashing the car into the pond.
15. They shot the film mostly chronologically, and that left producers a little concerned as they were seeing a lot of character drama. “They didn’t know what we were doing, and they were really anxious to get to the horror.” Those concerns were put to rest when they saw the dailies for the assault and bunkbed scene that follows.
16. It was Tapert who suggested they include the tree vine assault, and Alvarez was happy to see it used as more than just a shocker. “Being raped is her being injected with the devil,” says Levy, and he adds that it moves the story forward rather than just disturb.
17. The shower burn was the first bit of graphic mutilation that the writers conceived when they started working on the script.
18. The attempted escape in the Jeep after Mia is burned originally included a shot of David trying to call for help on his cell phone only to be stymied by a lack of service, but Alvarez took it out. He doesn’t think the audience needed it, and he didn’t want it to knock viewers out of the scene’s intensity.
19. The flooded river at 35:16 “is a real river.” It’s the same one the Jeep passes through at the beginning, and they simply waited for a heavy rain and then filmed the result.
20. Alvarez asked the sound department to come up with a unique sound for the Deadites, and the result was the crackling, “bug in a jar” noise.
21. “This was the hardest thing ever,” says Levy at 37:54 as her character projectile vomits blood onto Olivia’s (Lucas) face. They did four takes of the scene with Lucas having to be completely rinsed off and reset each time.
22. That’s not digital trickery at 39:32 as Olivia’s reflection gives an evil grin. “This was a timing thing because the mirror had to go away from me, and as it went away from me I had to actually do that face.” We see mostly the back and slight side of her outside of the reflection at this point, and the result is a cool little shot.
23. The bathroom encounter between Olivia and Eric originally ended with her hitting her head, but Raimi watched the dailies and asked Alvarez to milk the horror and gore a little bit longer.
24. “So everyone actually kills each other,” says Levy, “Mia never kills anybody in this movie.” Alvarez adds, “That’s the whole beauty of the story; Mia is the only innocent person, she’s a victim all the way.”
25. Alvarez recalls that one of Raimi’s “three rules of horror” is that “the innocent must be punished.” Does that contradict the point immediately above? Maybe, but she went through hell, and at the end of the day, are any of us actually innocent?
26. He acknowledges that the film, like many horror movies, is filled with characters making questionable choices, but he defends most of them as being understandable given the context.
27. “It’s my first sex scene,” says Levy at 1:31:11 as her character licks Natalie’s (Elizabeth Blackmore) leg. “This one was her stunt double’s leg.” She adds that “Kiss me, you dirty cunt!” is the favorite thing she’s ever said.
28. Natalie’s attempt to rinse her hand wound was originally written to include a black worm coming out of the gash, “but we didn’t want to be too supernatural.” Mr. Alvarez, my good man, have you seen your own movie?
29. Alvarez sees the theme of the movie as accepting that sometimes the only way out of a problem is through it – and here that means killing your friends before dismembering or burning their bodies. A good lesson for us all, really.
30. Eric’s laughter at Natalie saying “My face hurts” was real as Pucci found the line – one that Alvarez added on the fly – to be very funny given the situation and the fact that both of her arms are gone.
31. “Those woods were really, really creepy,” says Pucci, and Lucas adds that their New Zealand filming location was near a Maori burial ground.
32. Mia, gasping for her life in the hole with the plastic bag over her head, was apparently Levy’s audition scene.
33. They see Mia’s resurrection – the real Mia coming back to life after her brother’s janky defibrillator attempt – as a reward from beyond for David finally apologizing to her like he should have done from the start. I don’t mind saying that this is an odd take given how clear this film (and franchise as a whole) makes it that there’s absolutely no good supernatural entity looking out for these characters. Characters in these movies are absolutely and utterly fucked, and they should probably just accept that. Alvarez ultimately concedes that you can also just believe that the defibrillator actually worked.
34. For those who missed it, the necklace chain on the ground at 1:16:51 is in the shape of a skull as a nod to the scene in the original film where Ash (Campbell) goes for a necklace and sees a skull.
35. The machete comes through the wall at 1:20:10 and slices Mia’s leg, and they used Natalie’s prosthetic arm for the shot – it’s getting cut at the elbow.
36. They went through various versions of the Abomination Mia (Randal Wilson), including one that was made up of all five of the friends.
37. The original ending saw Mia walking on the road, but they cut it. The image still made it into the one-sheet poster.
38. The end credits feature extremely bloody shots filmed at high speed and meant to reference various beats from the film itself in tighter, close-up detail that viewers might have missed.
Quotes Without Context
“You kind of want to put the rape idea in people’s minds.”
“The car, of course.”
“I would definitely open the book.”
“Swimming through the swamp was fun.”
“Duct tape fixes everything.”
“How come David is such a bad boyfriend?”
“This kiss, I was really suffocating her.”
“I’m such a perv.”
“It’s like Beetlejuice.”
“Fede kept telling me this is my Bruce Willis moment to pump me up.”
Keep up with more horror commentary breakdowns here.
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