While most horror sequels are dismissed as money-grubbing junk piles, once in a while, one comes along in which there obviously has been some real effort applied. When a filmmaker is handed the reins to an already popular movie series, it might seem all too easy to just coast on “auto-pilot” and simply try to fill the screen with as much gore as possible. Fortunately, this is not the case in 1988’s Hellbound: Hellraiser 2. Although it’s certainly not the modern classic that the original has become, this sequel earns a lot of points for simply not doing the same old thing.
Already boasting five films in the series, with a sixth on the way, the Hellraiser flicks generally deal with two components: a creepy puzzle box called the Lament Configuration and an undead ghoul named Pinhead. Pinhead usually has a group of disturbing and deformed compatriots (called Cenobites) at his side, and much of the horror in these movies deals with human skin being pierced by metal hooks. Sound like fun to you? Then feel free to give Hellbound a shot. Along with the original (which was written and directed by Clive Barker), this one would make one heck of a double feature.
Picking up immediately where the first Hellraiser leaves off, this movie centres around Kirsty, a young woman who dealt with a whole lot of gruesome stuff in the first flick. Since she’s been found covered in blood, screaming about undead zombies from hell and haunted mattresses, Kirsty is promptly plunked into a loony bin. There she meets a mute young lady named Tiffany who has an affinity for solving puzzles, and two psychiatrists: one young and nice, the other old and evil. Through a truly gruesome series of escapades, Kirsty and Tiffany find themselves lost in the catacombs of Hell, while trying to escape from a collection of villains – some human, most of them not.
The DVD version of Hellbound contains a ‘director’s cut’, and I use the word ‘cut’ as a sick little pun. Simply put: if you can stand some truly disturbing gore scenes, then Hellbound is a horror movie that’s worth your time. Gorehounds will have a field day with this version. Returning from the first movie, Clare Higgins (The House of Mirth, Fatherland) and Ashley Laurence (Cupid, Hellraiser 6: Hellseeker) acquit themselves well amongst all the carnage and Doug Bradley (Nightbreed, An Ideal Husband) is a wicked hoot as the deliciously malicious Pinhead. Director Tony Randel (Fist of the North Star, Ticks) keeps the movie going at a rapid pace, stopping every ten minutes to present some wet, icky violence. When the two heroines eventually journey into Hell itself, Randel also shows a deft hand in presenting some truly disturbing sequences.
