Hellbound: Hellraiser II Review

... time to play

I recently decided to rewatch Hellbound: Hellraiser II. Why Hellraiser II and not the first one, you might ask? Well, as much as I adore the world of Hellraiser as a mythology-- and am a rather large Clive Barker fanboy-- I feel the first one has some severe pacing issues that may be a function of far too straightforward cinematography, overly drawn out tension, script issues, or a combination of all three.

And I just felt like it.

The first thing I noticed, right off the bat, was that Hellraiser II had more daring cinematography than the first one. The first Hellraiser wasn't necessarily flawed in its visuals, but the composition of the cinematographer in the second film had more interesting juxtapositions.

However, this came at the cost of beginning quite literally with clips from the first film. This cheapened the effect of being in the Hellraiser world and felt more like a television recap, and in the world of feature films, this sort of technique just never works and always reeks of “hey we need to film up some time. Do we reshoot? Why? They've already told this part of the story...” -- in other words, lazy filmmaking. I find this surprising in an otherwise alright visual package. But I digress.

Another flaw in the first sequel is that it digresses from the original mythology in quite drastic ways. Upon reading up on the history of the film's production, this is often quoted as an issue with rights and actors refusing to return, causing hasty rewrites, but some of the discrepencies have nothing to do with returning actors, or even the script continuity, but rather, it seems like the filmmakers did not reference the first film very much when art direction was being constructed. An early example of this occurs when the police are investigating the house shortly after the events of the first film, and the house is completely different. Even in the flashback, we see Julia laying on the bed, her face ripped to shreds by the cenobites' hooks and chains. However, when we see the bloody mattress, it sits propped up against the wall. This literally made me scratch my head.

As stated, the film starts directly after the first one. Kirsty is in a mental institution after the police refuse to believe her story-- the detective investigating keeps on asking her to steer clear of “fairy tales”. In this environment, we meet Dr Channard, the film's antagonist. At first, he seems like an outspoken scientific and logical soul, but as the film progresses, we quickly learn that he is a bit too logical, and is devoid of almost any compassion. Except when it comes to skinless chicks. He apparently is quite aroused by them. But I am getting ahead of myself!

GET THEM OFF ME!

Dr Channard sets in motion not only the release of Julia, through the aforementioned bloody mattress, but he also unleashes hell on earth through a collection of puzzle boxes that he gives to a group of mental patients. This, apparently, in the logic of the film, cracks the walls between hell and our world, which becomes a sort of... closet to each other, the characters able to pass back and forth between the two worlds seemingly at will. Well... accidental will, for it seems they can never really expect to go from one end to the other, they just sort of accidentally fall into different rooms that are either in hell or in reality. Like a creepy Scooby Doo.

This would be frustrating if it wasn't for some of the film's strengths, which is in two very important categories: the makeup effects are gruesome and contribute strongly to the film's atmosphere. One can almost smell the rotten flesh and decay that surrounds the environments, and where the art department isn't screwing with continuity from the first film, they do well to create a dream-like environment filled with many macabre nightmares.

The second category the film does well is in its depiction of hell itself. When we finally see the other side, it is an intimidating labyrinth-- foreshadowed by Dr Channard stating that the “mind is a labyrinth” earlier on in the film. It is a maze filled with decrepit walls built from the nightmares of those that wander its hallways, from the more standard rot of the majority of the characters to the twisted, dark carnival that one character wanders into.

I think this is why the issues of continuity still do not stop this from being one of my favourite of the Hellraiser films. Logic is seen as the enemy, cold, calculating-- everything else is a sort of dreamscape, where anything can happen. We have a large, phallic thing strapping itself to a character's head as he is transformed into a cenobite; we have hallways of hell opening to rooms of naked ladies under covers whispering “I'm wet” provocatively, toying with one of the inhabitants of hell as they disappear just as they writhe in lust.

With these seemingly incoherent visuals, it seems the film is asking you less to follow a mythos and more to follow a nightmare as it unfolds in front of you, and in this way the film succeeds. Hellbound truly does feel like a nightmare, from the sexual frustrations of the phantom ladies to the fear of medicine induced by scalpels flying everywhere, and, as one cenobite proclaims, “I recommend... amputation!”

Oh my god, he didn't wash his hands after using the bathroom!

So, even though we have horrible gaps in logic, like Dr Channard randomly giving a mental patient a puzzle box as Julia watches-- if she escaped hell, wouldn't she be afraid the box will send the cenobites after her?-- the easiest of explanations takes us back into the dream-world. In the case of Julia's lack of fear, Dr Channard pleads with her, “I have to see, I have to know.” Ok then.

As always, Doug Bradley is absolutely exquisite as the Pinhead cenobite (or “lead cenobite”, as Mr Barker would rather him be credited as). He is sophisticated, calm, but utterly vicious. His deep, obviously altered voice bellows with confident maliciousness. “Ahh, the suffering. The sweet suffering!”

Although I cannot give the film a perfect score-- its gaps in logic do pop the viewer out of the experience from time to time-- the film is a wonderfully nightmarish romp through the depths of hell, and feels very much like something created from the subconscious. In this way, I can give the film 90%. However, be warned that this film is not for everyone-- only those who want to wander through a nightmare need apply!