Hellbound: Hellraiser II (1988)

How sad is this?

At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

Blistering performances.

Best of the many (and mostly bad) sequels to Clive Barker's original film. This was also the last of the Hellriaser films that Barker had a significant hand in the creative process, staying on to write the story as well as producing. I remember watching this film way back in the day when it first came out on VHS and the one scene that had burned itself into my memory was still as horrifying now as it was then. This sequel picks up right after the events of the first film, with Kristy being brought to a mental institution after the death of her dad and stepmom after encountering Pinhead and the Cenobites (not a boy band). Unbeknownst to Kristy, the head doctor of the hospital, an excellent Kenneth Cranham as Dr. Channard, is darkly interested in the occult and has been searching for the Lament Configuration for years. He listens to Kristy's account of what happened to her and instead of destroying the bloody mattress she's pleaded with him to destroy, he decides he wants to resurrect Kristy's evil stepmother, Julia. As with the first film, a resurrection requires massive amounts of blood for a body to reform, which brings us to the aforementioned horrific scenes that was burned into my teenage memory. In order to resurrect Julia, Dr. Channard takes one of his mentally ill patients who believes he has bugs crawling all over his body and who has to wear a straight-jacket at all times to prevent digging at himself, places the patient on the mattress, removes his straight-jacket, and hands him a straight razor to slice at his imagined bugs crawling over his skin. That scene was just as unsettling now as it was 30 years ago, which is saying something in a post Takashi Miike and "Hostel" horror film world. Beyond that one shocking scene, the story involves Channard seeking the Hellraiser puzzle box and Kristy tying to again escape Channard, Pinhead, the other Cenobites, and hell itself. Without spoiling anything, this film reveals more about the Cenobites history and origin, which is interesting and also feels canon since Barker was part of the story (more was told in the subsequent sequel, but Barker had little to no part in those films). Although his film lacks the interesting visual style Barker brought to the first film, with it's dichotomy of beauty and blood, director Tony Randal does and effective job of building suspense, horror, and a fair amount of visual style to the film. Similar to the first film, both good and bad, the gory practical special effects are top notch and wonderfully (and horrifically) executed, but the other special effects look like they were done with Magic Marker. The super imposed images of Hell are visually striking, but not even close to looking as if the characters are really in this location (it's super fakey looking). Despite those shortcomings and although "Hellbound: Hellraiser II" is not a classic horror film, it is a worthy sequel to the original Clive Barker classic. On a side note, rewatching this film mostly made me wish that Barker can somehow regain the film rights to his creating and have the opportunity to reboot the franchise, just as James Cameron is getting to do with his Terminator franchise.

Kirsty is brought to an institution after the death of her family, where the occult-obsessive head resurrects Julia and unleashes the Cenobites once again. Hellbound: Hellraiser II was suprisingly not only better than what i was expecting but also better than the original film plus can we just admit the fact that this movie was very freaky and creepy? I mean the scene where the Cenobites die and turn into their human forms or that guy cuts himself and then Julia appears with no flesh? Were just spooky to say the least and definitely a great sequel. (7.5/10)

Clive Barker wrote the story but he didn't direct this one as he did the first — Tony Randel stepped in after editing the original, and Barker took the role of executive producer. From what I've read they got a little sloppy as far as using some stills from scenes that wound up being cut in their promos, and changing up the Chatterer cenobite (giving him eyes) to the chagrin of die-hard Hellraiser fans. I was also interested to read that Randel and the rest of the crew fully expected Julia to step in and sort of take over Pinhead's role as the pillar of the remaining movies, but when she declined to take part in any further sequels (and when they saw how massive of a hit Pinhead was in the first film), they kept him as the main villain.The sequel begins mere hours after the ending of the first — Kirsty is in a psychiatric hospital, still having visions of all the horrors she experienced. She meets Dr. Channard (the appropriately evil Kenneth Cranham) and his assistant Kyle (William Hope), and urges them to destroy the mattress that Julia had died on. It is soon revealed that Dr. Channard — a wicked man who is comfortable using others for his own sick experiments — is well aware of the power of that mattress and the Lament Configuration itself and he's eager to do his own research. He brings one of his psychiatric patients to his home and offers the manic, restlessly itching man a razorblade so his blood can resurrect Julia. Kyle has witnessed the whole thing after he became suspicious of Channard, but he is quickly sacrificed to complete Julia's physical form after him and Kirsty return together. It's then up to Kirsty and her new- found friend, Tiffany (Imogen Boorman) — a mute patient of Dr. Channard's who is particularly adept at puzzles — to defeat both Channard and Julia and escape the cenobites.I am a bit torn on how I feel about them showing the sort of "background" of Pinhead — also known as Captain Elliot Spencer — becoming what he is now. Part of his mystique, his larger than life personality, was not really knowing where he came from or how he found himself as the leader of these hellish demons. So to see him in the opening of the movie as just this nerdy looking guy was… off putting. I think it adds to the sadness of the whole concept, which they explore more later on — the fact that all of these cenobites were once human — but it does put a dent in his horrifying armor.The scene where Dr. Channard has the psychiatric patient flaying himself open with a razor is… more intense than I even remembered. It's just one of those scenes where you just stare open-mouthed in disbelief. And Channard's mix of disgust and morbid fascination is perfect.The bloody, muscley suit they have Julia in is BRILLIANT. The special effects team did an incredible job, truly. It's so glistening and REAL looking (I mean, I don't actually know what a person without skin would look like, but if I had to guess, that would be it.)The scene when the cenobites show up is, true to form, FANTASTIC. I just love the whole process — the wind starts gusting in, thunder starts booming, lightning flashes, glass shatters, and right when you think the chaos has settled… the room literally just OPENS UP, stretching out old cobwebs and revealing this otherworldly glow. And then out they come, each more horrifying than the last, until we get to Pinhead himself who is just THE MOST EPIC VILLAIN EVER I AM NEVER OVER IT.They clearly set up Julia to be the new #1, even having her repeat some of Pinhead's classic lines like "Come, I have such sights to show you" as she escorts Dr. Channard around. She would have been a worthy rival, really.The maze that they are existing in is pretty awesome, partially for its sheer expansiveness… they show it from above in one scene and it's just overwhelmingly massive. The star of the show is Leviathan, the ruling deity over the cenobites' home world — a monstrous, hovering octahedron that emits a horn-like noise that will haunt your dreams (composer Christopher Young even included the morse code for "God" in the sound) and an intense black beam that will force you to re-live past memories. Impressive, to say the least. I loved Channard being overwhelmed by its sheer enormity and uttering "Oh, God" and Julia responding with "no, this is mine".Dr. Channard being transformed into a cenobite himself is… amazing, and his re- emergence — "And to think… I hesitated" — is PERFECT. Chills. He has the creepiest laugh ever and he's sort of this maniacal, almost mischievous creature. He's straight up amused by the power he wields and completely uninhibited thanks to his utter lack of caring (not that he was ever held back by such a thing). What the other cenobites lack in enthusiasm he makes up for, without a doubt.And then comes one of the most disappointing scenes in all of my movie watching: Channard killing all of the cenobites, finishing with slashing Pinhead's throat. Again… Pinhead is this omnipotent being, and he's not only reduced back to his human form but then killed off by this newbie cenobite's (admittedly awesome but stupid in this context) snake knives? COME ON NOW. Heartbreaking, honestly. But it's okay because Channard's head gets ripped in half not long after that and it's sweet, sweet revenge.Ultimately, I felt like it wasn't nearly as cohesive as the first film, but offered enough of the familiar awesomeness to be a worthwhile watch.

The first two Hell Raiser movies are my favorites. The music helps make the movie for me. Great music. Just a very cool movie. Scary enough for some I guess, I just like the acting and story line. Not gonna give any spoilers - just watch. A cousin told me about these movies a long time ago - I thought, whoa, is he messed up? But then I watched and paid attention... the more I watched, the more I liked these films. Give it a few tries and do not blink or you will miss part of the plot! Remember, it is "only" a movie... You will probably like the ending :-)