Hellbound: Hellraiser II (1988)
It is rare for a movie sequel to equal or exceed the original film. In the realm of horror, there’s always that formulaic trap, but for a film so brilliantly original and powerful as Hellraiser, it becomes a challenge of artistic ambition and macabre thematic imagination. Hellbound: Hellraiser II is that sequel which takes what the first film unleashed upon us, and built upon it for a fully enveloping vision of masterful horror. Before, you were only teased at the temptations and horrors of Leviathan’s realm. Now, you are plunged fully into this experience which will tear your soul apart. Welcome to Hell, and the 100th review posted to Forever Cinematic.
Picking up just about where the previous film ended, Larry, Frank, and Julia are all dead. Meanwhile, Kirsty Cotton (Ashley Laurence) is being held within the Channard Institute of Mental Health for observation. She speaks of the Cenobites, the dead returning to life, the opening of a gateway to hell. Of course, people believe she is psychologically traumatized by the death of her father. Although, one thing gains the attention of Dr. Channard (Kenneth Cranham). Kirsty mentions that they must destroy the mattress that Julia died on for she can return just as Frank did. Channard put his hands on the bloodstained mattress where her stepmother Julia (Clare Higgins) died, Channard decides to resurrect her, killing his patients and offering them to Julia to quicken her regeneration. The twisted doctor is shown to have much research into a familiar puzzle box, properly called the Lament Configuration, and via the puzzle-solving talents of one of his patients, Tina (Imogen Boorman), a speechless young girl, the Cenobites are summoned once again. Soon, all of our main characters venture into hell, Channard and Julia to explore it, Kirsty and Tina to stop the aforementioned duo.
If you haven’t seen the first Hellraiser, this sequel smartly brings you up-to-speed with a few carefully placed flashbacks and expositional sequences. Still, there’s no excuse these days not to watch that amazing film. However, back then, it took about a year for a movie to go from theatrical release to home video. So, audiences needed a little refresher in 1988, and it’s done very smoothly here.
This film treats the Cenobites with the respect they earned in Clive Barker’s original movie. Flashbacks aside, they don’t make their first appearance until fifty minutes into the picture, but when they do, we get an introduction of majesty. Pinhead is given a truly iconic moment stepping out from the blinding white light alone, and the music is at its operatic best here. The Cenobites are still generally background characters, but are given the opportunity to step forward into a more fascinating and revealing role. It’s one of the many ways this film builds upon the ideas and mystique of the first Hellraiser. It knows you’re intrigued by all of this boundless imagination, and it reels you in further with enticing insights that do not disappoint.
Dr. Channard is a fascinating new character that pushes the film beyond its smaller, more intimate beginnings. He is a man of no conscience, and is driven towards exploring the twisted, despicable, dark depths of the human mind. Where Frank was a sexually charged character, Channard is more cerebral. He’s psychologically stimulated by the gruesome horrors that he witnesses and even inflicts upon others. He’s a sociopath, sadist, and psychopath, which is exactly what Leviathan craves. Channard is in amazement and wonder at the sight of Hell, as if it is his Promised Land. What he gets from it is more than he ever anticipated, but ultimately, does not regret it. Actor Kenneth Cranham does a fantastic job with this character, and he restrains nothing when Hell finally gets its way with the Doctor. It takes a lot to rival Pinhead in the eyes of the fans, but many have long taken a strong liking to Channard. That’s all due to Cranham’s excellent performance.
Hellbound is absolutely grotesque. There’s not a drop of blood spared at any moment in this unrated cut. The violence is as gritty and graphic as you could imagine and then some. What you witnessed in Clive Barker’s film is multiplied in Tony Randel’s sequel. The most disgusting and horrific sights come from the Channard Cenobite, who is Leviathan’s most powerful creation. Channard’s twisted, sickening psyche combined with Leviathan’s power and domination give birth to a frightening monstrosity that ups the stakes in the final act. This is not a film for the weak of stomach. This is a heavyweight horror film loaded with terrifying, disturbing imagery, and gore in abundance. There is nothing held back from the dark, macabre imagination of Clive Barker, screenwriter Peter Atkins, or the magnificent direction of Tony Randel. The special make-up and creature effects do not fall off one bit from the first film, and are possibly more refined in some places. It’s more of that signature Clive Barker repulsive beauty that is brought to glorious life. His imagination delves into places that are far too forbidden for others, but it is where he thrives, creatively. Barker finds an attraction and an elegant artistry in these dark corners of the human psyche, and the creative forces on these first two Hellraiser films were able to embrace and realize that so marvelously. The special make-up effects artists employed for both films were clearly masters of their craft bringing gritty, ghastly realism to everything they did.
While the visual effects are still rather low budget using strictly grainy optical techniques, stop motion photography, and animation, they are very ambitious. They really push the boundaries of anything you’d expect from a generally low budget horror film of this time. The filmmakers had a bold vision to realize, and they were going to commit every bit of it to film. For a modern audience, yes, these effects come off as primitive, but it’s something these filmmakers had to work hard to accomplish. It took a wide imagination, and a commitment to a rigorous process to put them up on screen. For that alone, I respect these visual effects immensely.
This is truly an exceptionally well shot film creating a masterpiece of horror. Tony Randel allows this sequel to seamlessly blend with the first Hellraiser. While that film is incontrovertibly iconic in so many ways, Hellbound simply goes more ambitious with its visuals along with the story. Once inside Hell, we are treated to powerful, nightmarish images of blood, fire, sexual desires, and epic scope. Leviathan’s realm is a vast labyrinth of torture and pleasure indivisibly merged as one. Delving into Frank Cotton’s personal hell shows him tormented by temptation unable to satisfy his desires. This scene is ultimately a great moment that ties up a little bit of loose ends from the previous film. Seeing Frank, Kirsty, and Julia confronting one another again is an awesome moment with plenty of pay-off.
Above anything else is Christopher Young’s bold, more expansive score. The first film was more intimate with a smaller scope, and Young punctuated that tone and atmosphere beautifully. Here, it’s verbose and operatic. It’s grand and sweeping matching the film’s broader, more ominous scope. Hearing the powerful gothic theme crash into the film following the opening flashback just gets my blood pumping. It makes an immediate statement that Hellbound: Hellraiser II is bigger and bolder. It sends chills up and down me. This music is frightening, dark, and gorgeous. It’s a masterpiece all on its own, but coupled with the film, it’s indelibly iconic. It’s possibly the best and most beautiful horror movie score I’ve ever heard. This film in particular is why the name Christopher Young holds so much eternal respect with me. What he achieved here became inevitably influential in various gothic styled scores in the years following this film such as Batman and The Crow.
Hellraiser and Hellbound: Hellraiser II are so seamlessly blended together and the latter builds so perfectly on the ideas and aspects of the former, that they can feel like two halves of a single whole story. This sequel takes the logical progression of plot forward, and expands on everything While they do both powerfully exist apart from one another, they are immensely stronger as a single entity. You get a fuller story with wider scope and deeper insights into the themes presents in these stories and characters. It is an absolutely brilliant piece of work that demonstrates exactly what a great sequel is meant to do.
The returning cast members also push themselves further. Julia has definitely changed having gone to Hell and back. She is still a conniving and devilish woman, but now, her motives are far more insidious and grand. She is no longer than one being manipulated. Julia is now the one leading the mesmerized Channard towards a dreadful fate. Clare Higgins takes that strength to a much more imposing and dangerous level. Doug Bradley is given a great opportunity here as both Pinhead, and his human alter ego British Army Captain Elliott Spenser. The film offers up a stunning revelation about the Cenobites, and we see who Pinhead was before he was tortured and twisted by Hell. With only a few moments of screentime in his human form, Bradley gives us a strong sense of humanity and compassion which sets up for a better story than what he got with the next sequel. His opening scene is shockingly powerful showing the creation of Pinhead himself with each nail being hammered into his skull, and him screaming in agony.
Ashley Laurence evolves with the role of Kirsty. She’s more aggressive and assertive now. No longer is Kirsty cowering in fear, trembling at the carnage she sees. She is motivated forward with a new found courage as she charges straight into Hell on a search to find her father, and does not let her encounters with the Cenobites, Frank, or Julia deter her from attempting this. Kirsty has become a far stronger person now, and becomes an even more confident hero for the audience. Yet, there’s still that solid core of warmth and heart that made her so relatable and endearing to begin with. She has done a remarkable, standout job in this role, and it is thankful that she would get the chance to reprise it once more in Hellraiser: Hellseeker.
There is just no weak link anywhere in this film. It stands shoulder-to-shoulder with the first film as a bonafide horror classic. I really do love what Clive Barker has brought us in the medium of film. His imagination seems boundless and always fascinating. While he believes, same as with his own written and directed Hellraiser, that this is an uneven film, there is nothing I can ever take away from it. Any technical aspects that haven’t stood the test of time still display an amazing depth of vision that startle the senses. Tony Randel did a stunning job as director of this picture. He has said that the film reflects the dark mindset he was in at the time, and while that might not have been favorable for him, it benefitted this film immensely. This is a dark, intriguing, and revealing journey into an expansive, macabre world that would not have been easy to achieve without that mindset. Every talent involved was clearly committed wholeheartedly towards this challenging vision, and it resulted in an undeniable masterpiece of horror. Hellbound: Hellraiser II is one of the best horror films ever made, and many consider it superior to the first film. Both are different enough in their stories and scopes to offer you something distinct while also complimenting one another beautifully. With this film, the Hellraiser franchise seemed as if it could have limitless potential for original, innovative stories with the right minds behind it. Unfortunately, subsequent sequels would be a severely mixed bag with more bad than good in the hands of Dimension Films who would ultimately run it into the ground.
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