I’m back, and still haven’t gotten entirely through the Hellraiser franchise. I think I needed a mental break from it all to be honest – but here I am reviewing the fourth film of this strange franchise.
And I must say this one was actually quite enjoyable.
When the film first opened, I was skeptical considering it panned to a spaceship environment. The only other horror film I associate with space is “Leprechaun 4”, and that movie wasn’t a masterpiece.
But, I put the skepticism aside and just watched the film.
Once I figured out the film was mainly about the origins of the box, I was intrigued. Prequels for horror movies either go surprisingly well or crash and burn – but this film pleasantly surprised me in many ways.
Going back in time to when the box was first created was my favorite section of the film mostly because it felt foreign. I wasn’t quite sure what was going to happen. Then when I found out the people who asked for the creation of the box are bat shit crazy – I was on board for the rest of the film. I was kind of curious why they wanted to summon demons. Was it to be all mighty and powerful? Or were there other intentions?
After showing how the original toymaker died trying to protect the planet from hell, the film decided to jump to a more modern city day approach. This was alright, but slightly confusing as to why the box was a business? Was John, the main character, creating boxes to sell all over the city? It seemed like he was this successful inventor yet, why did it seem so publicized? Did he really not know that the box opens gates? That seems rather difficult to believe.
Then all of sudden we are back in space and boom the movie ends in what feels like minutes. It doesn’t take long to kill Pinhead and save all of mankind, on a spaceship at least.
I was kind of all over the place though with my thoughts on the character development in the film.
Pinhead took his sweet time making his appearance in this movie, but I was actually fine with that because it supplied the movie with some tension and build up into the next few acts.
I will say, I wish Angelique’s character had more seasoning. As a demon I get why she is evil but I wanted more of a motive, not just that she was at the wrong place wrong time sort of thing. And her character got boring throughout the entire film.
The cenobite created of the two brothers fascinated me. How Pinhead merged them into one monster was quite genius and I couldn’t wait to see them in action – yet it only showed them at the end of the movie sadly. And they sure didn’t do much…
And the main character? I didn’t quite get attached to him, even though the same actor was the toymaker generation in each section of the film. Which this also sort of confused me. Must be strong genetics for all these family members to look exactly the same.
I think having the film in three different environments and sections made sense though to show the hierarchy of how far the box and Pinhead have come. Having the film sectioned like this also made it entertaining and kept my focus the entire time. The last film bored me, but this one did not at all. I still think the second one may be my favorite in this franchise so far but this is coming in close for the title. “Hellraiser: Bloodline” is a must see film for Pinhead fans. Honestly just skip three and go straight to four.
Have you seen “Hellraiser: Bloodline?” Did you like how the film took place in space or do you think because of this creative choice, the film was horrible? Drop your thoughts in the comments below!
Spooky Reviews 