I said I was going to try and get to Hellraiser 2 before the end of month, and I sure did dood it! Seeing as how I just re-watched the original film for the first time since seeing it back in ’87 it should come as no surprise that I have not seen any of the sequels. Clive Barker produced and wrote the story here, but the screenplay was written by Peter Atkins who would go on to write two more screenplays in the series of Hellraiser films. Tony Randall (Ticks and Amityville 1992) is the director and no, he’s not Tony Randall from The Odd Couple. Hellraiser 2 picks up right where the original leaves off. Kirsty, once again played by Ashley Laurence, is in a mental institution. She relates the story of how her father was killed by the Cenobites with the help of the puzzle box that is called the Lament Configuration.
Kirsty’s doctor, Phillip Channard who is played by Kenneth Cranham (Maleficent and Layer Cake) is secretly obsessed with the puzzle box. Against Kirsty’s warnings, Channard takes the mattress Julia was killed on in the first film. Julia is once again played by Claire Higgins. Soon, like the first film, Channard is bringing victims to Julia so she can regenerate herself. Kirsty figures this out and with the help of another patient Tiffany, played by Imogen Boorman (Dreamchild and Alive and Kicking) she must once again stop the Cenobites and Channard who is also made into one of the supernatural creatures. Hellraiser 2 gives some background info on the puzzle box as well as who Pinhead, the Cenobite leader, was when he was human.
Hellraiser 2, while relying on quite a few flashbacks that rehash the first film, is quite a different film than the first one. Is it better, probably not, and I say that because I felt a little bit like I did when I first watched the first film for the first time. But as with the first film, it grabbed my attention, and I just went with it. I’ll give this just a little bit of a downgraded score and go three skinless Franks out of five for this decent sequel to a classic. I did the first two films; I’ll see about maybe getting to number three but I wouldn't put money on it.
Jeezy Creezy, I saw this back in the early 90's and YOU DIDN'T?!?!?! Dang, you sound like ME now! But yeah, back in the day I preferred HELLRAISER 2 much over the first one. And I watched the first HELLRAISER on Front Row/First Run on cable TV. Remember THAT?!?!?! Anyway, I waaaaaaaaaay liked the sequel over the first one.
ReplyDeleteOf course, I rewatch both in recent years and was not NEARLY as enamoured with HELLRAISER II as I was back when. And I STILL haven't watched my super duper 4k of the first HELLRAISER. Will I flip flop back and forth again and again. Nah, probably not. The first one's better.
Yeah, first time seeing part 2. Front Row? I remember those stupid little boxes with the wire attached to it. Was that the Sprucer Converter? Or was the first wireless cable box called that? 2 is close to as good as the first but like I said not quite. Now, have you seen part 3?
ReplyDeleteNo sir, I have not seen any other HELLRAISER movies besides the first 2. No FRONT ROW (later renamed FIRST RUN) was the Sprucer converter (which was wireless remote time, Jack), I believe; it was long after the Jerrold wired boxes. It was a rent-on-demand thang; you paid like 4 bucks or something and could watch the movie for 24 hours or summat. It was like renting videos without leaving the house. Space age futuristic stuff! And by this time, Blockbuster had taken over all the video rental stores (and I hated white bread Blockbuster) so any excuse not to have to go out to Blockbuster and rent a movie was alright with me. Also there was the added bonus that I videotaped every movie I rented on First Run so I not only had them to watch whenever I wanted but I could also put tons of clips from them on your Video Cerpts and that's what happened so . . . . . you're welcome.
ReplyDeleteThis was better than expected. Gruesome, but I enjoyed it.
ReplyDeleteOoo. OOO ooo! I totally forgot that I should be receiving the Arrow 4K box set of the first 4 HELLRAISER movies in a day or too. I pre-ordered dem and just now remembered! hee hee hee. So I think I'll be doing a HELLRAISER rewatch/watch of these 4 in the near future and hopefully that will nail down my feelings on the first two movies anyway.
ReplyDeleteZoinks and Jinkies I'm not even sure how many films are in the franchise so I don't know how far into then I would go.
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