Hellraiser III attempted to turn Pinhead into a Freddy Krueger -style figure, but while Doug Bradley is a hammy delight in the part, Hell On Earth is largely a mess thanks to its convoluted and nonsensical plot. The Cenobites, for their part, were turned into gimmicky monsters like Camerahead, a facet not helped by the film's slog of a story.

In fact, until the final act, Pinhead is far more interesting than the lead heroine, making it hard to root for her survival at all. Related: What's In The Box? Bloodline has by far the most ambitious concept of the Hellraiser movies, being split between three converging timelines. The first story follows Philippe Lemarchand in , the creator of the infamous puzzle box, and how his actions cursed his bloodline.

The second story follows his descendant in a contemporary setting, while the finale takes place in a sci-fi hellscape version of outer space. There are genuinely creative ideas in Bloodline, but the film is still hampered by the small budget and sloppy re-edit failing that plague much of the franchise.

Getting to the real meat of this list, Hellbound picks up from the end of the original, with Kirsty sent to an asylum after surviving the Cenobites' wrath. This sequel greatly expands the premise of Hellraiser's macabre world, bringing viewers into Hell - known as The Labyrinth - and revealing the being that commands it. It also features an origin story for Pinhead, which, like the original, features plenty of stomach-churning gore.

Surprisingly, the filmmakers didn't initially see Pinhead as the star, and returning villainess Julia was pegged to lead the franchise. The whole sequence is genuinely creepy and suspenseful, a duo of sensations that are sadly missing from a great many of the later sequels.

The second moment occurs when Amy opens the box. I also really liked the dystopian punk train that Amy encounters during her investigation into the Deaders: a fully-operational private carriage on the Romanian underground devoted to sex, flesh and drugs, presided over by cockney wide boy Joey played by Marc Warren. When Amy returns to the train later in the movie to find it a death-filled husk, the transformation screams Clive Barker, although the great man regrettably though perhaps understandably had nothing whatsoever to do with the production, having washed his hands of the franchise a little after Bloodline.

It works as a nice nod. But you are home, Amy. I gather that the original, non- Hellraiser -related script for this movie was pretty good. How could I have had the gall to place Hellworld — considered by many fans the worst of the franchise by a considerable margin — so high up this list? Lister, Rimmer, Kryten, and Cat all face judgement. Rimmer and the Cat pass: Kryten and Lister fail. Inferno , Hellseeker , and Deader all tried to be good Hellraiser movies.

All three movies failed, some more miserably than others. Hellworld is happy to be exactly what it is: a fun, teen-focused, semi-generic, fully-stupid slasher movie that cares not a jot for the legacy of its source material, save for the inclusion of a few corny call-backs Hillbound Drive, Leviathan House and some fleeting appearances from Pinhead and co.

In the universe established by the movie Hellraiser exists as a work of fiction, and Hellworld is a spin-off point-and-click game that is inexplicably popular with online teenagers despite looking like it was made on an Amiga circa The game is implicated in the death of a teenage boy through boredom, I would assume , and so his close friends and fellow Hellworlders, an assortment of teen-horror stereotypes, vow never to play it again.

As the party hits full swing, Henriksen and Pinhead begin picking the youngsters off one-by-one in a series of yukky but unoriginal ways, each kill inspired by a different horror franchise.

Little that we see happening at the party actually happens hmmm, that plot trope sounds awfully familiar… where on earth do I recognise it from? Their unfolding nightmares — and deaths — are the result of Henriksen squatting over their graves shouting terrifying nonsense at them.

That makes sense. Yes he is! My brain was dead by that point. Hands up, people. This film sucks hard. It was only devilment that made me place it so high up the rankings. Every Hellraiser ranking list in existence puts this movie in the bottom two, and I just wanted to see if I could justify a different placing. Oh, and some guy called Henry Cavill is in it, too.

Hellraiser III marks the moment when the franchise became a franchise: a product, a money-spinner. Hellraiser III detaches itself from the baroque, phantasmagorical stylings of Clive Barker and instead allies itself with the flashy, noisy, vapid excesses of Hollywood.

While the first two films stood apart from the horror genre pack, Hellraiser III is very much a conventional action-horror flick, and recognizably a child of the early s. Goodbye eerie sense of dread, haunting images and the exploration of sexual themes. Hello mass-killings, explosions, and a fire-breathing cenobite.

New overlords Dimension Films wanted a third movie that was bigger, bolder, brasher, and, crucially, more commercially viable, while Barker wanted to forgo the pyrotechnics and follow through on his stylistic and thematic vision. Money won, as it often does, and Barker and the studio parted ways. Pinhead was dead, and staying dead. Julia — the wicked step-mother extraordinaire from Hellraisers I and II — was to be the star and returning villain of the series. People wanted more of him. Thus, it has that same style as its predecessor did and it works.

We have most of the cast from the first movie, obviously, like Ashley Laurence as Kirsty Cotton aka our main girl of this franchise , Claire Higgins as Julia, and Sean Chapman as Frank, who was the main villain in H1, for a bit. That being said, I would've liked to have more of him as well as if they brought back Larry, Kirsty's father, instead of the whole thing with Julia and Dr.

Channard just to steal that plot point from the original. They even show a bit of Pinhead's origin, only for a brief moment feeling out if place, yet leaves you wanting more at the same time. But even with that, I definitely recommended this sequel if you loved the first Hellraiser.

R 97 min Horror. An investigative reporter must send the newly unbound Pinhead and his legions back to Hell. Out of all the films, this one is regarded as the most fun of the series. As you can tell by the subtitle, Pinhead is taking Hell on Earth once the puzzle box has been solved.

Now, at the time, horror was having a phase where their icons are the ones audiences are rooting for, like Jason, Freddy, Michael Myers, just to name a few. So, they had to make their one mascot to be the star of this threequel. Therefore, I do like this one because it actually felt like a fun movie and didn't take itself too seriously, which is fine considering the other horror franchises that were turning into entertaining films at the time. Pinhead just steals it, as always. Some of the kills are really cool too like the CD one.

This was where it started to get flawed, however, and it kinda shows. But if you can enjoy something as a simple, mindless slasher flick, then this is for you. R 99 min Crime, Horror, Mystery. A shady police detective becomes embroiled in a strange world of murder, sadism and madness after being assigned a murder investigation against a madman known only as "The Engineer".

Votes: 16, I originally had this as my 3rd favourite, but here's where it is now. I like how this one was more of a psychological thriller, as it doesn't rely on gore as much but more of the tension. Sure, it was the first sequel to be straight to DVD, and Pinhead doesn't appear as much, but it's a fine movie for what it is. Fun Fact: This was directed by Scott Derrickson, the same guy who gave us works such as Sinister and Doctor Strange; so I'm thinking this guy had to start somewhere.

R 85 min Horror, Sci-Fi. In the 22nd century, a scientist attempts to right the wrong his ancestor created: the puzzle box that opens the gates of Hell and unleashes Pinhead and his Cenobite legions.

If Inferno was the start of the DTV releases, then this is where it started going downhill. Unlike the cenobites, Channard is pure evil, and makes a stand, while Julia has her own motivations; Composer Christopher Young takes his subtle score from the first one and makes it grand and epic. Basically, this movie just expands on everything established in the first film, and ups the ante in the process, resulting in a sequel that sets an incredibly high bar yet to be topped.

Do you agree with this ranking? Do you disagree? How would you rank these movies? Go to our Facebook page and let us know! Syndicate News. November 12, Facebook Twitter LinkedIn. Share this: Twitter Facebook. Like this: Like Loading About Seth T.

Miller 51 Articles. I am very passionate about writing, and spent a great many years focused on the craft of Screenwriting, but I have recently decided to switch gears and pursue my works as novels instead.

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