Rating: 
Summary: Everything is Flesh!
Review: I really feel that the Hell Raiser "tale" should have been left on its own. Pinhead and Clive Barker's work is too precious to me, but then again, you can't help but want more!
So from what I understand, the lady that helped Clive with the original Hell Raiser movie, which is based off of the book: Hell Bound Heart. Was given premission from Clive to continue on with the Hell Raiser story (can't blame him, easy money). What she came up with Hell Raiser 2-4. The effects all seem to be from the same effects artists, at least for part 1, and 2. And the story, while dragging it out a bit too far, and into somewhat comic book proportions, including some failure to explain small details, like how Pinhead came back from death, since he was slain in hell, and if he could come back, then why couldn't he ressurect his minions, rather than slaughter a dance club, and create some kool, yet some what gimpy cenobytes such as CD Man.
Hell Raiser II remains most true in for to the feel and look of the original, with only a dash of comic book, and some VERY delightful creatures, beautiful women (pt 4), and interesting story line. The gore of course is great in the uncut version, and the show down is wonderful! "The Doctor Is In".Bottom line, as much as I feel that the original should stand on its own, I am still very happy with the 1st 3 sequals. It is NO WHERE near as bad as the Candy Man sequals! :) I'd give it a 5 star if part 1 did not exist.
Rating:
Summary: It's in the eye of the beholder
Review: Sometimes when a horror movie gets too frightening, it becomes CAMPY! That's what happens with HR2. The beginning seems like a new chapter into a fairy tale vs. a horror flick. If you have seen HR1, then you'll be excited to see what happens next. Kirsty suddenly becomes philosophic, and talks like an expert on how to find the Pinhead, and search his domain.
It becomes campy when she enters hell, and Pinhead and his legion torment her with logic in echoey voices.
The Lavaithan creature is funny with his puns and character. As well as Julia screaming as she looses her skin! It's a funny movie, and really allows Kirsty to grow, and understand the consept of the "box", and where it can take you.
Rating: 
Summary: The horror continues!!!
Review: Hellbound is a continuation of Hellraiser. Kirstie is in a mental hospital trying to explain her crazy situation to authorities. Kirstie remembers the bed that had Julia's body on it and she begs the authorities to destroy it. Little does she know it's too late. Dr. Charnard has been trying to see what will happen if you open the box, he wants to explore without having to suffer the consequences. The doctor has the mattress in his possession. The doctor brings Julia back by having a crazed patient who thinks he has maggots on his body cut himself. The blood that spills from the patients body falls on the mattress and resurrects Julia who died in the first movie. The doctor helps rebuild Julia by bringing back victim after victim for her to feed on. Julia using her sex appeal manages to make Dr. Charnard fall in love with her. The doctor uses one patient named Tiffany to help solve the puzzle box. She does not speak, but she loves to solve puzzles. When she opens the box, she looks like she will be the first victim but Pinhead knows the deal "It's not hands that call us, it's desire", and they leave the Tiffany alone. This box will either show you pleasure or pain. What you really get are cynobites who take great pleasure in tearing your soul apart making sure you feel nothing but pain and misery. Kirstie thinks she will find her father in the maze of corridors of the hospital Instead she is reunited with her crazy murderous Uncle Frank and to add to her unhappiness she discovers that Julia is also alive. Gotta love family reunions. Julia gets her revenge on Frank for killing her in the first movie. "Nothing personal Babe" as she kills Frank by ripping his heart out of his chest.
Dr. Charnard finds out the hard way he can't escape and is turned into a Cenobite that's linked to Levithan. I considered him lobotomy Cenobite. Kirstie realizes that the Cenobites were once human and when she confronts them she figures out how to turn them back to their human form. That was really interesting that she was able to do that. This movie also gives you history about how Pinhead was created.
This movie is so gory and gross, and I loved every single gory second!!!! You love the Cenobites even though you know they are bad, they are the type of monsters you just love. If you enjoyed the Hellraiser, then you will enjoy Hellbound.
Rating:
Summary: Not all i expected it to be
Review: "What is your pleasure, sir?"
'Hellbound' takes the original's premise and expands on it, realizing the disturbing and visionary hell that only Barker could create. Ashley Laurence reprises her role as Kirsty, the only one to defeat the Cenobites.
Kirsty's mother comes back from the dead, without skin no less, just like Frank in the previous film. She immediately wreaks havoc, killing off horny innocent men and stealing their flesh. Then she has her lover get a mental patient to open the legendary puzzle box. Of course the Cenobites show up, pissed when they run into Kirsty again. It's up to Kirsty to stop her mother and restore all that is good before she herself is assimilated into the Cenobites' collection.
This movie is disturbing, graphic, and a lot of fun. The images displayed of the Cenobite's hell are artistically original and they stick with you long after the movie. It's a perfectly realized journey of a Clive Barker world. Just as good as the first installment. Check it out!
Rating: 
Summary: The best of the bunch
Review: I'm a big fan of the Hellraiser series, so my opinion is bias! Hellbound is the only movie I ever went to see in a Theater more than once. I was hooked on Pinhead and the Cenobites immediately after seeing Hellraiser, and Hellbound clinched it for me, I became a loyal fan. Hellraiser is my Star wars! Loyal fans of Star wars can really talk about it, philosophically, technically and are militant about it. Any person who is a fan of SW will sit a put the movies in order of greatness and tell you why, in extreme detail! I'm like that with Hellraiser and I would put Hellbound slightly above the original. The first movie was a great horror movie, no doubt, but what grabs me about hellbound was the exploration of who the Cenobites were and the place they come from. The movie's explanation of what Hell would be like; a tailor made nightmare that you never wake up from. Yet, they show that the darkest of evil can have a soul, even if it is buried and just about forgotten. You have the same cast of Cenobites from the first movie and I must say that I like the female Cenobite and missed her in the movies that followed Hellbound. The female Cenobite seemed to have as much dialog as Pinhead, and I felt was just as enjoyable. She seemed to be almost an equal to Pinhead and yet has dissapered from the rest of the movies. We are introduced to Kenneth Cranham's character, Dr. Philip Channard, and evil surgeon who's curiosity of the occult had taken him down a dark and sinister path. His performance was brilliant and I was sorry that he was destroyed and would have loved to have seen him stay on as a continuing character. Cranham's performance was one of the best, right along with Bradley's. His character was believable and you felt his evil, right down to your bones. Like the first movie, and the really bad one that came after this one, most of the actors were poor, especially Ashley Laurence! God she is the worst! Everything from her weird facial expressions to the lifeless delivery of her lines, she is bad! Maybe if she was hot it would be tolerable but... Thankfully her performance doesn't take the movie down! Imogen Boorman's deaf girl character is worth mentioning. I thought she did a decent job portraying the deaf girl and it was essential that her character was in the movie, not for what she ends up doing, but to really show how evil Channard was. When he realizes that she is a prodigal problem solver (puzzles) and could help him in his quest, he snatches her, kills her mother (it's implied) and basically keeps her around for one thing, just in case it comes around, to solve the puzzle box. That's how cold and evil he was, and that's another endearing quality of this movie and something that the others have lacked. Hellbound would be top 2 to any Hellraiser fan, but I feel it is number 1, slightly edging Hellraiser. Also, when it comes to the horror genre you can't go wrong with this movie! In fact, you don't even need to see the first one; they reference all the key parts. So you can have a full understanding of what is going on. As far as horror sequels go, it is head and shoulders above any of the other series sequels, Friday the 13th, Nightmare on Elm Street, Halloween... This movie is a keeper and I highly recommend it!
Rating:
Summary: Cerebral/Visceral
Review: Firstly, I do like the film.It is a great watch, and pays off.
The big issue that polarises viewers of this film, is that Peter Atkins produces a very cerebral script... so it instantly goes into love it or hate it land.
It pays off if you know the background mythology, or if you can make it through Barker's written material.
The odd thing, IMO, is that Barker himself understands the visceral elements, as well as the intellectual, as evidenced by LORD OF ILLUSIONS, however, Peter Atkins seems to be wanting to emulate a book, rather than transfer a book to a film.
Rating: 
Summary: COULD HAVE AND SHOULD HAVE BEEN ALOT BETTER
Review: YES this is a very popular movie and has some great ideas that are expanded on where the first movie didnt. But overall this is a plotless mess, thanks to some production delays that forced The first movies star
Andrew Robinson (Dirty Harry) out of the picture. With no Larry Cotton
to actually rescue the characters just wonder aimlessly through the maze of hell. And what a boring and unfrightening interpretation of hell
this is. Where are all the tortured souls and ripped flesh we were promised in the original. Hell is just some dark tunnels and some old mattresses. Big deal. Add to that the fact this movie hasnt aged well.Id like to like this, and parts I do like but too much went wrong during the
production and the result is sort of well.. unfinished.
Rating:
Summary: It is Not Hands that Call Us. It is Desire.
Review: I bought the unrated version of this the other day. Wow. This is probably the most gory piece of movie I have ever seen! It picks off right after the end of Hellraiser with Kirsty waking up in a psychiatric hospital under the care of Dr. Chanard. And this other doctor guy who she sort of likes. On a sneak visit we find a dark side to the doctor. He has a collection of the puzzleboxes, corpses, and even takes the matress with Julia's blook on it (from the first movie). He eventually brings in the psychotic mental patient who sees maggots on his skin. The doctor gives him a knife and in probably the scariest scene of the movie, the man screams and cuts up his body. The blood ressurects Julia who grabs him and drains his blood. Julia pretty much takes up what Frank was in the first movie. The seducer. The doctor eventually falls for her.
He brings this mute girl who Kirsty meets, who does nothing but solve puzzles to his house to solve the Lament Configuration. The girl does and is freaked out when the cenobites show up. But they leave her alone, Pinhead knows it isn't her who *truly* called for them. So they leave her. And the doc and Julia are exploring the labyrinth of hell and so does the girl out of curiosity and eventually Kirsty in search of her Father, but instead has a run in with Frank and with Julia, while the doctor gets what he secretly wants when he meets Leviathan (who appeared as a giant puzzlebox, but as true fans of the comic books know, is really satan), he is made into a cenobite and starts terrorizing patients.
There a many cool things throughout the movie such as the individual hells, the labyrinth of hell, the humanity of the cenobites, and the fight between the cenobites and the Dr. Chanard cenobite. Really good and really gory movie.
Rating:
Summary: Everything is Flesh!
Review: I really feel that the Hell Raiser "tale" should have been left on its own. Pinhead and Clive Barker's work is too precious to me, but then again, you can't help but want more!
So from what I understand, the lady that helped Clive with the original Hell Raiser movie, which is based off of the book: Hell Bound Heart. Was given premission from Clive to continue on with the Hell Raiser story (can't blame him, easy money). What she came up with Hell Raiser 2-4. The effects all seem to be from the same effects artists, at least for part 1, and 2. And the story, while dragging it out a bit too far, and into somewhat comic book proportions, including some failure to explain small details, like how Pinhead came back from death, since he was slain in hell, and if he could come back, then why couldn't he ressurect his minions, rather than slaughter a dance club, and create some kool, yet some what gimpy cenobytes such as CD Man.
Hell Raiser II remains most true in for to the feel and look of the original, with only a dash of comic book, and some VERY delightful creatures, beautiful women (pt 4), and interesting story line. The gore of course is great in the uncut version, and the show down is wonderful! "The Doctor Is In". Bottom line, as much as I feel that the original should stand on its own, I am still very happy with the 1st 3 sequals. It is NO WHERE near as bad as the Candy Man sequals! :) I'd give it a 5 star if part 1 did not exist.
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