So much average

Just perfect...

As Good As It Gets

This movie feels like it was made purely to piss off people who want good shows

Best of the many (and mostly bad) sequels to Clive Barker's original film. This was also the last of the Hellriaser films that Barker had a significant hand in the creative process, staying on to write the story as well as producing. I remember watching this film way back in the day when it first came out on VHS and the one scene that had burned itself into my memory was still as horrifying now as it was then. This sequel picks up right after the events of the first film, with Kristy being brought to a mental institution after the death of her dad and stepmom after encountering Pinhead and the Cenobites (not a boy band). Unbeknownst to Kristy, the head doctor of the hospital, an excellent Kenneth Cranham as Dr. Channard, is darkly interested in the occult and has been searching for the Lament Configuration for years. He listens to Kristy's account of what happened to her and instead of destroying the bloody mattress she's pleaded with him to destroy, he decides he wants to resurrect Kristy's evil stepmother, Julia. As with the first film, a resurrection requires massive amounts of blood for a body to reform, which brings us to the aforementioned horrific scenes that was burned into my teenage memory. In order to resurrect Julia, Dr. Channard takes one of his mentally ill patients who believes he has bugs crawling all over his body and who has to wear a straight-jacket at all times to prevent digging at himself, places the patient on the mattress, removes his straight-jacket, and hands him a straight razor to slice at his imagined bugs crawling over his skin. That scene was just as unsettling now as it was 30 years ago, which is saying something in a post Takashi Miike and "Hostel" horror film world. Beyond that one shocking scene, the story involves Channard seeking the Hellraiser puzzle box and Kristy tying to again escape Channard, Pinhead, the other Cenobites, and hell itself. Without spoiling anything, this film reveals more about the Cenobites history and origin, which is interesting and also feels canon since Barker was part of the story (more was told in the subsequent sequel, but Barker had little to no part in those films). Although his film lacks the interesting visual style Barker brought to the first film, with it's dichotomy of beauty and blood, director Tony Randal does and effective job of building suspense, horror, and a fair amount of visual style to the film. Similar to the first film, both good and bad, the gory practical special effects are top notch and wonderfully (and horrifically) executed, but the other special effects look like they were done with Magic Marker. The super imposed images of Hell are visually striking, but not even close to looking as if the characters are really in this location (it's super fakey looking). Despite those shortcomings and although "Hellbound: Hellraiser II" is not a classic horror film, it is a worthy sequel to the original Clive Barker classic. On a side note, rewatching this film mostly made me wish that Barker can somehow regain the film rights to his creating and have the opportunity to reboot the franchise, just as James Cameron is getting to do with his Terminator franchise.

One of the best things about this film is its continuation from the first. Dr Channard (Cranham) takes an interest in Kirsty (Laurence) after she's institutionalised after her family's slaughter. However, Dr Channard has darker ulterior motives as he also has an interest in the L'Merchant Configuration. Taking possession of the mattress where Julia (Higgins) was murdered, he begins to bring her back from her torture in hell. He also has a genius puzzle solver in his asylum... a mute girl called Tiffany...This is a horror film that verges on a dark fantasy, which is especially evident in the scene where Tiffany is opening the box. What with the musical score and the atmospheric colours pulsing, it gave the film a much different feel to other horror flicks of the time. There's more than a feel of Argento here. I think it's this reason we didn't really enjoy or appreciate it at the time. However, watching it again has been very enjoyable. There's a lot to like about this film. It's packed full of atmosphere, though it's not always horror or fear. There are lots of iconic shots, such as a newly reborn and skinless Julia in her white suit, smeared with blood... Dr Channard undergoing his transformation... and the labyrinth itself. Even the acting is stronger this time around, as Laurence, Higgins, and Chapman who resume their roles from the original film, appear more comfortable in their roles. Then there's Cranham, who is a wonderful actor, he can do nothing but add strength to the cast. Of course, there's Bradley who is Pinhead - there can be only one. He was the strongest actor in the original, and thanks to his delivery of the best lines in the script and his skill to be ominous and scary... just by being there, he still stands out in the sequel.There are some things that just don't work. One of which is the guardian of the labyrinth, the Leviathan. Which is just a revolving piece of metal that casts out a dark light over its dominion? We then learn that the end transformation of the L'Merchant cube is a miniature Leviathan... This may have worked better had the mini-L been able to create dark thoughts in peoples minds... or to create hellish scenes. But this and the subsequent ending is a little weak. It was nice though that they decided to reduce the number of light effects in this film, which made it a little stronger. I didn't even mind the energy bolts shooting through the labyrinth at the end. However, the stop-motion animation does look a little dated today, but what else were they supposed to do(?) The new Cenobite has some special skills and there was no CGI at that time which would do it justice.This is a big film with big ideas. Unfortunately, at that time they were really restricted by budget, means, and running time. This film should have been at least another half an hour longer... maybe an hour... to do the story justice and to help build up a couple of characters a little more, like Tiffany and Kyle (Hope), and to stretch out the ending as it feels rushed to fit the 90minute runtime, which most horror flicks of the '80's & '90's rigidly stuck too.That said, this is a superior horror flick to the majority of the fodder being created today. This kicks arse in imagination, story concept, scale, direction, and acting. So if you are wanting a classic horror to watch then the Hellraiser movies are worth a viewing or three.I would recommend this to all lovers of the dark and nasty.

Pinhead is back to raise some he'll in the continuing story as Kristy is placed inside a sanitarium.Her Dr. Channard tries to convince her it was all an illusion, but secretly prays to its God and wants to unlock the secrets kept within.The wicked step mother returns in the same way Frankie did looking to avoid the cenobites and have vengeance on the girl who sent her to hell.Expanding upon the mythology it reveals that cenobites true origins and were they came from.What I think the film did better then its procedure was bringing back the true purpose the creatures stood for and making them a guardian for the innocent. It builds up tension and saves the gore and blood for the last hour.Tony Randem does an excellent job with imagery and special effects. The music hitting its climatic height at the right cues. If you enjoyed the terror of the first, don't miss out on the explosive sequel.10/10

HELLBOUND: HELLRAISER II is the horror film that shows such nasty horrors that other late '80s horror films can only dare to hint at, and to boot it's a film made at Pinewood Studios. I have a feeling that this was the last horror film made in Britain (not counting amateur productions of course) to really offer up graphic, depraved horror, the stuff of nightmares, and we've never seen its like since. This is in some ways a superior sequel to the first film and I would rate the two almost equally as horror classics of the 1980s; it's merely that HELLRAISER came first with a delightful and raw simplicity that gives it the edge. HELLBOUND: HELLRAISER II takes the basic premise of the first film, only to expand upon it, explore the mythology created, and deliver an even bigger and better adventure.The gore and violence certainly hasn't been toned down, and in some ways it's even nastier than before. There are skinless people, hooks ripping flesh and, in a moment of pure evil, a man who hallucinates that his body is covered with grubs is given a straight-razor with which he proceeds to slash himself before a living corpse comes out of the mattress he is sitting on and devours him - if that isn't spine-chilling then I don't know what is. This is a very visual movie which is one of the few to offer up a depiction of hell; the resulting images are both creepy and highly disturbing. The hell displayed here is a labyrinthine maze of ancient corridors, populated by the weird figures of giant babies with their mouths sewn shut, undulating bloodstained bodies, and a clown who juggles his own eyeballs. Then we get skinless corpses writing "I AM IN HELL HELP ME" on walls with their own blood and one of the scariest mental asylums I've seen on film (you know, the 'maintenance' level).The special effects are varied and entertaining, aside from the huge spinning demonic shape in the sky at the end which is a little bit rough around the edges. The makeup is gruesome and the cenobites are as disgustingly awful as ever. Even some cool stop motion animation pops up at the end of the movie to menace our heroes. The music is evocative, the pacing excellent and Tony Randel's direction top-notch - compare this to a pitiful mess like DREAM DEMON and you'll see what I mean. The film also benefits from a high calibre of acting from most of the cast, some of whom return from the first film.First up is Ashley Laurence reprising her role to good effect as the feisty Kirsty, although Imogen Boorman stands out more as the strangely beautiful mute girl who has a way with jigsaws. Clare Higgins is back and even more deadly-but-beautiful than ever. However, the film is commanded by Kenneth Cranham playing the fiendishly perverse Dr. Channard who eventually ends up becoming a new, even more horrific Cenobite (one with plenty of comedic one-liners too). Cranham's initially decent doctor soon turns out to be a sweaty bastard as the cracks start to show and it's another excellent performance from the underrated actor. Watch out for William Hope playing a young male doctor, Kyle, who helps Kirsty in her quest.Doug Bradley is perfect as Pinhead although largely underused here, what with all the other sub-plots going on. HELLBOUND: HELLRAISER II is an imaginative piece of work with a truly unique visionary style, a masterpiece of the macabre and not for weak stomachs - this comes highly recommended. Unfortunately it marked the end of quality in the series which, with the arrival of HELLRAISER III : HELL ON EARTH, turned into just another US horror franchise, albeit one with a little more class than most.