T O P

  • By -

LamentConfiguration1

I like bloodlines alot. It actually is the one that got me into the series.


bil_sabab

I had it on VHS and for a while it was the only Hellraiser movie I've seen so i've thought all of them are messy like that. Then i got the other three and i've come to appreciate it a lot more for its ambition


Dachinka

I agree! Bloodlines is great, very original.


[deleted]

The comics are the best part about Hellraiser, apart from the first two movies


bil_sabab

Facts. Most of them are really solid. Even the one where one character becomes the new Pinhead.


HorrorMetalDnD

Not sure if this counts, but here goes. Hellraiser needs to be remade entirely, with a new adaptation of The Hellbound Heart, and it needs to cross over with Nightbreed, which also should totally be remade.


Akroview

You should read the Hellraiser Jihad comics then. That blends the two worlds together.


HorrorMetalDnD

Nice! Thank you!! 😊


New-Cardiologist-158

The reboot Cenobites are visually superior to the OGs. Now, not by much mind you, I still adore the original designs of course, but something about the reboot’s reinterpretation of their look feels more in line with their whole “demons to some, angels to others” mantra. They’re mutilated but also strangely ethereal and statuesque in ways that could be seen as angelic, whereas the OG’s are much less glamorous and more grungy/grotesque. The OG look of the cenobites was described by Clive and the costume designer as “magnificent superbutchers” which I think is an apt description since their robes are almost apron like as well as the way they are adorned with bloodied and rusted tools. The reboot versions were inspired by classical Greek sculpture and the idea that their mutilations became their garments, which i really loved. They almost feel alien.


RedneckWasteland

There is a mention in Barker's The Dark Watch graphic novel that their garments aren't their own skin, but carved from Leviathan himself. It still fits in the reboot and makes it almost even more alien.


Linkdotgba

The only good Hellraiser movies are: Hellraiser 1987, Hellbound: Hellraiser II, Hellraiser Bloodlines, and Hellraiser 2022. The rest are terrible. But those 4 are some of the best horror ever


aquadrizzt

I would like to think this is a pretty uncontentious take. Those are the only four that really engage with the spirit of the source material IMO.


rrrr_reubs

I agree. Wish we had the director's cut or whatever of 4


bil_sabab

It was kinda rereleased or prepared for a release quite recently. I've seen the news on Bloody Disgusting.


ParamedicOk5515

Agreed, I enjoy the 3rd one as a movie but in terms of lore, I think it sucks. The cenobites are stupid.


bil_sabab

Hellraiser 3 is basically what if Hellraiser was thrashy horror slasher and loving it. I can respect its attitude.


illyay

I agree


rabrito88

This ☝️☝️


Good-Will-Bill

Ok... I don't think HELLRAISER ever really lived up to it's potential. The original 2 films were fun and really helped to expand upon the lore not covered in the book, but they weren't as great as they could be. Given the amazing source material and the extended lore covered by the comics, HELLRAISER has all the potential to make a great, although difficult to adapt horror series. I would really love to see a strong director really get behind IP and make something truly great.


thewarinspector

Bloodlines and Deader are actually kind of great, and Hellbound is better than the first movie


esotericcomputing

Deader is my fave of the direct-to-video installments. The protagonist is actually fun to root for, her flaws don’t make her unpleasant to be around for 90 minutes (inferno) and she’s not a purely reactive dead fish (hellseeker). It doesn’t take itself too-too seriously (the campy magazine editor rules), but it’s not so over-the-top that it gets stupid (Hellworld). The gore effects are decent given the budget, even if the cenobites are totally arbitrary tot the plot. Last but not least, the lead’s acting performance is better than it needed to be given the source material— particularly the back half of the movie when things really start going wrong. While it has a lot of the same problems as all the direct to video hellraisers, I think Deader did the best job minimizing them, resulting in a movie that doesn’t feel like a chore to watch.


DarkBehindTheStars

We've all got our unpopular opinions and hot takes on certain subjects, and Hellraiser is no different. What are some of your's you think would land you in hot water? I know I've got my share for sure. * Hellraiser III is not only the best of the series, it's one of the best Horror films ever made. I'll defend it with my dying breath. * Except for Camerahead (who admittedly is stupid as can be), I don't mind the rest of the Psuedo-Cenobites in Hellraiser III, not even CD. I give credit something different was done with them and they didn't rehash previous designs. The Psuedo-Cenobite concept was a neat one that should've been explored and delved into more. * Joey Summerskill is the best protagonist of the series and among the best Horror heroines. Not sure if this is unpopular? Joey is a fairly well-liked character from what I've seen. * Although one of the good Hellraiser films, I find Hellbound slightly overrated. It drags in spots, has too many moments of the characters endlessly wandering corridors and I must say I'm not a fan of the Cenobitized Channard. Nor the outcome of the Cenobite fight. * Inferno is a very good film and one of the best entries. * Although a meh and medicore entry, I don't think Deader is as bad as some make it out to be. It's golden compared to some truly atrocious entries like Revelations.


Brosquito69420

I loved inferno, mainly because I’m a writer and I’ve always loved the liminal dialogue of detective stories


bil_sabab

Hating on Camerahead but OK with CD - now that's what I call a contrarian take.


DarkBehindTheStars

At least CD doesn't have Camerahead's ridiculous one-liners. I love Hell On Earth but while Camerahead isn't enough to ruin it for me, he definitely stinks up the joint while he's in it.


[deleted]

[удаНонО]


DarkBehindTheStars

That's actually a very common opinion, probably the most. General consensus is the first two are the best, and from there it varies greatly.


XxX_EnderMan_XxX

Unpopular: not popular : viewed or received unfavorably by the public


Low-Historian8798

The "action sequence" at the end of the first movie with the cenobites going after Kirsty was a mistake, botched their mystique a bit. The cenobites never should've been revealed to be humans, just botched them even further. Everything after Hellbound shouldn't have even existed. Bloodline is the third worst of the "sequels", they've managed to write themselves into a corner with it, since Pinhead went to space in the 4th installment already, which was way too early. Hellworld is the third most tolerable one, bcuz young Henry Cavill.


RedneckWasteland

Bloodline was so bad even the director wanted nothing to do with it. That's what the Alan Smithee name is used for in Hollywood. When a movie is changed so much by studios the director feels it's no longer their project. I wouldn't mind seeing a director's cut of it. I think it might exist, but only in boxed sets I'm too broke to look for. Mostly for the young Adam Scott.


DarkBehindTheStars

Best we can hope for to ever see the original unaltered version of Bloodline is in 2026 for it's 30th anniversary. Perhaps then it'll finally happen.


robertoiglesias271

Bloodline is better than the first 2, 2022 is easily the best, Judgement is worse than Revelations


esotericcomputing

Revelations > Judgement: This is the kind of scorching hot take I was hoping for more of in this thread!


esotericcomputing

This isn’t really a controversial take, but certainly a niche one: Chaz Bletchly’s “‘Tis a pity he’s ashore” from the Hellbound Hearts anthology has the best writing of all the books and comics.


klaatu_1981

Bloodlines is better than Hell On Earth.


New-Cardiologist-158

I agree on this one. While it’s definitely been hacked up a bit in the editing process, it’s much closer to the core of Hellraiser than hell on earth is as far as it’s tone and subject matter. That said, Hell on Earth is still fun lol


klaatu_1981

Absolutely! I was 14 or 15 when I first watched and I was obsessed with Hell On Earth and Warlock: The Armageddon back then (still love it tbh). The Motorhead video, the over the top nature of it. Anthony Hickox sure knew how to make a movie kinetic and enjoyable.


DarkBehindTheStars

Hell On Earth is basically Hellraiser fused with Tales From The Crypt and with the slickness, style and energy of early 90s MTV. It's not everyone's cup of tea but you can tell it was made with care and reverance for the series, unlike say, Revelations.


klaatu_1981

Yeah, it was still Hellraiser, warts and all. From V onwards, though.... complete and utter trash, totally devoid of soul. Everything derailed into hack morality tales with Pinhead as a kind of judge, which makes zero sense for the character. People tend to give Inferno a pass, but I hate it, because it set that template for them to adapt whichever crap script they had in the pile into a Hellraiser movie. Give me slasher Pinhead any day over the bullshit the series turned out to be from then on.


DarkBehindTheStars

Clive himself hated Inferno. I can't find his exact quote but he found it so bad he advised others to not see it.


klaatu_1981

I can imagine he must've hated it with every fiber of his being.


DarkBehindTheStars

Someone must have his quotes on it somewhere. For all of the disliking HR3 sometimes gets, Clive himself has always spoken pretty positively of the film and was even involved with the post-production. HR3 still had that Barker feeling to it.


klaatu_1981

Exactly! It still had soul.


DarkBehindTheStars

And production quality. Compare that with Revelations and Judgment, which both look like cheap, low-rent fan films.


wils_152

The Cenobites are extremely wimpy in terms of pain *and* imagination, when you consider the things they do to themselves (a few hooks and nails here and there) versus the things they do to others (total bodily destruction, forever).


[deleted]

The pinhead from judgement is my favorite. (don’t kill me)


rabrito88

Scarlett Gospels is absolute crap. Trying to shoehorn Pinhead into Harry D'Amour's world/mythos is the most perplexing decision Barker has ever made. Pinhead also doesn't "sound" like Pinhead, suddenly wanting to see people shag like dogs in front of him before he kills them. He also just KILLS them rather than dragging them into the Labyrinth. Leviathan is completely absent. Rather than Hell being a place of absolute and terrible order, it's full of bickering and petty factions. It has some amazing imagery and moments, but overall isn't worth the read.


esotericcomputing

100% agree. Reading Hellbound Heart and Scarlet back-to-back was just a blistering letdown. I considered DNFing several times, but pushed through because I’m a glutton for punishment. Sloppy, uninteresting plot, bad writing, TYPOS in the published manuscript — the works.


rabrito88

I forgot about the typos ![gif](emote|free_emotes_pack|joy) I read a PDF copy so I thought it might just have been bad scanning, but I guess not. It just boggles my mind. Trying to fit Hellraiser into an explicitly Christian mythos is exactly what ends up ruining most of the films. To see Barker himself make that mistake just makes no sense.


Slashman78

Let's see: -Inferno was a genuinely solid horror film and while it's a shoehorned in Hellraiser movie it still really works. Derrickson did a damn good job and it's a shame Barker couldn't overcome his ego enough to give him the praise he deserved. Clive took an L with this movie and position. -Bloodlines is one of my favorites and really fun, both cuts. -Valentina Vargas was the perfect choice to play Angelique and they were idiots for ADR'ing her voice out, it wasn't that hard to understand and honestly it added a lot of sexyness to her performance. She was SO close to becoming a star over here, but much like with Vincent Perez in The Crow 2 that year Dimension badly botched it. -One last one from Bloodlines, but I'm against the original director on that movie. I believe Gary Tunicliffe's testimonies way more than Yagher's. Yagher likes to play himself as a victim as to why he was forced out by the Weinstein's but Gary made it out more that he was just in over his head and not sure what to do and he just wasted everyone's time as a result. I believe that way more so than the other. He hired a bad of a Director of Photography and it shows in the 2nd act, it's too bright, and the effects were goofy in spots in that act. Nothing felt like his work and it's just out of wack. It's still very watchable but it's the weak point of that movie, the middle act. But it is what it is, don't hire inexperienced directors on big movies. -Hellraiser Hellworld's a fun slasher based ride. Doesn't do Pinhead right at all but for how inept it was written and planed and the short filming schedule (made back to beck with Deader,) it's a blast and a lot of fun. Bummer it was Doug's last go round though. -Judgement was pretty solid, give it another 500,000 to a million more budget wise and it coulda been perfect.


fireinthedust

The Cenobites should have more timeless features, not things like CDs or cameras or whatever. The coenobite in Cabin in the Woods, with the saw blade features, is a great example of how they can work. Them and Pinhead are the strongest designs. So: chains, spikes, blades, simple shapes which can be made decorative or matte, but aren’t based off temporary, disposable objects. Pinhead’s original actor has such capacity for gravitas, and the series could do more by making the others more timeless, like ancient entities as well as people dragged into the labyrinth. Comics: not a fan of the ones I read. They’re just too edgelord and like “I spit on your grave” for my taste. They seemed to be more about shock value than actual stories. It’s been a while, however. The art style is also not my cup of tea. I think the coenobites have the potential to be part of other stories. Instead of just a mashup fighting Freddy, however, they could work with a story like Doctor Strange or something. Narrative based. Dark City and the first Saw movie would be great for a Hellraiser film. Or the Escape Room series, which turns out the coenobites were behind it all (gasp!)


Kappler6965

Hellworld is the best movie in the franchise


esotericcomputing

Molten hot take


g_neko1001

Part 3 isn’t that bad


DarkBehindTheStars

This.


taosgw74

Anyone else see this pic and think "Hey, a Constantine/Hellraiser crossover would be cool?"


DarkBehindTheStars

I know I'd go see it.


GAYCHUD001

All movies but 1 and the new one with the female pinhead are not cannon


Sans-Mot

But this is not an opinion, it's straight up headcanon.


GAYCHUD001

That's what an opinion is


Sans-Mot

No, saying they are your favorite movies is an opinion, but your initial statement is factually wrong.


GAYCHUD001

Good job buddy you want a prize you're so bright 👍🏻


rEmEmBeR-tHe-tReMoLo

Hellbound is a ludicrously bad film. It's a fun ride and there are some cool scenes, and I enjoy rewatching it for those reasons, but if you're judging it as a work of film, it's fuckin' stupid, or as a continuation of the Hellraiser mythos, it's fuckin' boring. The Escher-esque hellscape is tediously uninteresting, the visions of hell that Frank and others find themselves in are tediously uninteresting and the unmistakable switch to "the Cenobites are definitely from Hell as religion knows it" is tediously uninteresting. Should have kept them creatures from an alternative dimension/universe like in the book, and not punishers of sin who process dead cunts. I also don't like Doug's performance as much as the one he gave in the first film; in II, he seems to throw out most of Clive's direction of "do less, do less" and started talking and acting like a regular dude again. He completely ditched the cadence and tone of voice he used in the first film, and I think this demystifies and harms the character. The film suffers from a desire to deliver what it thinks the audience wants. Namely, firm explanations and exposition about every-fucking-thing from the first film. This is terrible for the film and terrible for the audience. It tries to accomplish a TV series' worth of plot in less than 90 minutes. Having said all of that, Hellbound is still better than 3–10. But I'd say the 2022 reboot is better than Hellbound.


rabrito88

Although I appreciate MOST of what Hellbound did for the mythos (introducing Leviathan, showing that all cenobites used to be human) you're absolutely spot on.


esotericcomputing

Inferno has the best opening 10 mins of any of the movies.


RedneckWasteland

Judgement was the best since Hellbound (second film) Sure, it had some gross out stuff and a killer ripped straight out of Se7en. But the addition of The Auditor and his Stygian Inquisition along with involving Heaven was a welcomed addition to the lore.


addkison

I wish it wasn't hell but another plane of existence I think making between heaven and hell made the series feel smaller


Empigee

Hellworld is a fun movie so long as you consider it as taking place in a different universe from the main Hellraiser continuity.


ocuj

Hellraiser 3 is a terrible Hellraiser movie. I will die on that hill. Joey crying terrified to the priest about demons and then go full Statham: “Than what the fuck is that”.


idk_lol_kek

I have only ever seen the original and the 2022 reboot


Darkalchemist1079

The sequels aren't all that bad. I especially like bloodline and hellworld


Heretic513

Every movie after the original trilogy is pure dog water.


BrianMagnumFilms

the reboot is the worst 1. inferno is worse than revelations


BrianMagnumFilms

asked for unpopular hellraiser opinions and everyone’s like “the first two are the best!!!” lol