Shocked by how bad this movie really wasn't.

Okay.

I'm not calling this movie a gem. It has flaws, absolutely. Such as:

1. As far as production value, it really doesn't look that great, most of the time. It looks like an elongated episode of a revamped Twilight Zone or Tales From the Darkside or something, most of the time.

2. The story and characters are somewhat disjointed, and some of it is just stupid. Like the two ninja cowboys, wtf was that?

3. It's derivative; I found myself reminded of Jacob's Ladder and Angel Heart, more than once or twice, throughout.

4. It seemed like the director or whoever was in control of the project wanted to throw in so many tricks he/she learned in film school, the movie had some problems deciding what it wanted to be, stylistically speaking, in some places.

5. It doesn't exactly follow the Hellraiser canon. In previous films, you solve the box, the cenobites come, they have such sights to show you, you get destroyed as painfully as possible, the end, basically.

BUT...

1. Production value isn't everything. It looks like exactly what it is, which is a low-budget horror flick. I'm sure if they could have made it look like Se7en, they would have. Yes, it's distracting in places, and really distracting in one or two places, but I can understand and forgive that because other elements made up for that. Mostly.

2. This is the one that prevents the movie from being really good, in my opinion. I mean, with the way the plot unfolded, it seemed like pretty early on, Turturro would've become extremely alarmed at Sheffer's connections to the murder victims, and done something about it. And there are some moments which seem pretty forced, like Sheffer's conversation with the tattoo/piercing guy. That said, I've seen worse dialog in a lot of big studio productions; it's certainly not Shakespeare, but it isn't terrible, either.

3 & 4. While I do wish the nameless demons didn't look quite so much like the ones in Jacob's Ladder, there are worse films to be derivative of than it and Angel Heart. In fact, while we're on the subject, one could suggest that Jacob's Ladder actually took some of its own inspiration from the first two Hellraiser movies in some spots and not be considered completely insane. And stylistically, in more than a couple spots, such as the scene in the poker bar and the scene where Sheffer is giving his wife the gun, I even found myself reminded (yes I really am going to say this) of David Lynch, particularly the Twin Peaks era, and derivation from Lynch is tough to pull off; most directors who attempt it aren't able to do so effectively, which is not the case here. In a few spots, mind you.

5. While the other Hellraiser films have concentrated chiefly on physical torture, there were certainly elements of psychological torture as well, particularly in Hellbound - remember what happened when the girls were hit with the black "light" when they were wandering around in hell? And how about Uncle Frank's room, full of women on beds writhing around sensuously, who disappeared whenever Frank went to touch them? I like how this film is mainly psychological horror; that's my favorite horror subgenre, behind metaphorical horror.

All in all, I give this movie a solid 6.5/10. I was expecting to snap it off after about 30 minutes or so, but it kept me well enough engaged up to the end. Nice to find a pleasant surprise in this series that I'd long ago given up on.


Gently... With a chainsaw...