Rated R (Strong Violence and Gore,
Language, Sexuality and Drug Use)
Running Time: 1 Hour & 39 Minutes
Cast:
Craig Sheffer-Detective Joseph Thorne
Doug Bradley-Pinhead
Nicholas Turturro-Detective Tony Nenonen
James Remar-Dr. Paul Gregory
Noelle Evans-Melanie Thorne
Lindsay Taylor-Chloe
Nicholas Sadler-Bernie
Sasha Barrese-Daphne Sharp
Matt George-Leon Gaultier
Michael Shamus Wiles-Mr. Parmagi
Ray Miceli-The Faceless Killer/The
Engineer
Lynn Speier-Wire Twin Cenobite #1
Patricia Kara-Wire Twin Cenobite #2
Mike J. Regan-Chatterer Torso Cenobite
Directed by Scott Derrickson
 |
| Savor this moment because this is all you'll see of Pinhead in "Hellraiser: Inferno." |
When I look at what has become of the
“Hellraiser” franchise, all I can do is just sigh and hang my head in shame.
Apparently, it had sunk to such low depths after the fourth installment that
Dimension Films decided it just wasn’t worth releasing to theaters anymore, yet
that hasn’t stopped them from making sequel after sequel, with the series
barely surviving on the straight-to-video shelf. Instead of just letting it die
or doing a full reboot, The Weinstein Company rushed a ninth film into
production last August, titled “Hellraiser: Revelations,” with an estimated
budget of $300,000 and cobbled together in two weeks since they were faced with
expiration of the film rights. Doug Bradley himself even declined to
participate in the film, commenting that ‘this does not seem to me to represent
a serious attempt to revive the Hellraiser franchise’ but being a good sport,
he wished everyone involved with the production good luck. Essentially, it is
an ‘ashcan’ film, made only to retain the legal rights and not meant to be
distributed. A famous example is the low-budget 1994 film “The Fantastic Four,”
produced by Roger Corman. “Revelations” was released in one theater in Los
Angeles, California this past March. “Hellraiser: Inferno” is the fifth
installment of the “Hellraiser” franchise and the first to be released
straight-to-video. Color me surprised when I discovered that it wasn’t as bad
as I was expecting it to be (my expectations were really low) but it does not
change the fact that it is still a mediocre effort. While it does attempt to
try something new by being more of a psychological thriller, “Inferno” tends to
drag with only a few bits standing out. Disappointingly, Pinhead, despite being
displayed so prominently on the Blu-Ray cover, only appears for a mere three
minutes, leading me to believe that it wasn’t meant to be a “Hellraiser” film
to begin with.
Joseph Thorne (Craig Sheffer) is a brilliant but corrupt
detective serving at the Denver Police Department. He steals confiscated money
and drugs from the evidence locker, spends precious little time with his wife
and daughter and instead prefers to sleep with prostitutes while snorting
cocaine. He narrates: ‘I believe in fidelity, I understand the concept. Most
men just leave. If doing this keeps me coming back [to my wife], then who's to
say what's right and what's wrong?’ While investigating a crime scene involving
a bloodily dismembered corpse, Thorne discovers the victim to be an old high
school acquaintance. He also finds a severed child’s finger embedded in a
candle and the puzzle box known as the Lamont Configuration. Strange
occurrences begin to take place after he solves the box as the people in his
life start turning up dead, with more severed fingers being found at each of
the crime scenes. Thorne becomes increasingly paranoid and obsessed with
solving the case as he hunts for a killer known as ‘The Engineer,’ leading him
to a deadly confrontation with the diabolical Cenobite Pinhead (Doug Bradley)!
Most fans will be disappointed to discover that “Hellraiser: Inferno” has
absolutely no links to the previous films and functions as an irrelevant,
stand-alone tale that should’ve been called “A Day in the Life of Pinhead.” It
eschews the sadomasochistic themes that made the series popular and is more of
a psychological thriller. While I commend writer/director Scott Derrickson’s
attempt to explore a new direction in the franchise, I just wish it wasn’t such
a bore half the time. The first hour wouldn’t feel out of place from a standard
police procedural, leading me to speculate that the film wasn’t meant to be
part of the “Hellraiser” series to begin with but the script was altered in
order to justify slapping the title on the video cover. The second hour is more
interesting as we see Thorne’s hallucinations become more and more severe as he
questions his grip on reality. Taken as a whole, “Inferno” is like a twisted
morality tale of a man forced to confront his sins but must endure an eternal
lifetime of suffering because of them, which is a nice touch and went beyond
what I expected of a mere straight-to-video release. While Pinhead himself had
too much screen-time in the previous film, here he has too little. In fact, he
appears for a grand total of three minutes but it’s certainly the best three
minutes out of the entire film! Again, he just stands there and yaps but the
dialogue he recites in this film is a lot stronger compared to “Bloodline” and
fits into his cold and calculating demeanor. There’s a really strong nightmare
scene after Thorne solves the Lamont Configuration and finds himself back in
his childhood home. He meets these lithe, female Cenobite twins who start
fondling his body and licking him with their serpentine tongues. This is as
close as it gets to the sex and sadism of Clive Barker’s original but alas we
never get anymore scenes like this one. The gore is kept to a minimum to
emphasize the atmosphere and suspense, something I admire as well, but we do get
to see the grisly aftermath with bodies skinned of their flesh or hung on
chained hooks. “Hellraiser: Inferno” has some nice ideas but the execution only
yields a few compelling bits while the rest of the film ends up grinding along
trying to fill up the necessary running time.
As this is a straight-to-video
release, I recognize absolutely no one in the cast. Well, there’s James Remar
and Sasha Barrese but they’re hardly household names. Craig Sheffer sleepwalks
most of the time but actually manages to muster a convincing performance when
his character begins to lose his mind, although his screams of agony are way
overacted! Everyone else, from Nicholas Turturro (of “NYPD Blue” fame) to James
Remar is slumming for a quick paycheck to cover next month’s rent or to put
food on the table. Doug Bradley, despite his minimal screen-time, is excellent
as always but I just wish he appeared more often. “Hellraiser: Inferno” arrives
on Blu-Ray as part of a double-feature bundled with “Hellraiser: Bloodline.”
Being a straight-to-video release, picture and audio quality are adequate but
sorely lacking. While day scenes offer some nice clarity and textures,
nighttime scenes end up looking murky and shadows lack depth. On the sound
front, everything lacks oomph and sounds tiny, necessitating you to really turn
up the volume. There are absolutely no extras or subtitles besides the menu
that the back of the box proudly advertises.
Released on VHS (remember those?!)
and DVD on October 3, 2000, “Hellraiser: Inferno” seems to have received
middling reviews from what I’ve managed to dig up, although some fans do swear
by this film. The production budget was an estimated $2 million but I cannot
provide any info on whether it broke even in video sales but two years later, a
sixth installment, “Hellraiser: Hellseeker,” was released straight-to-video and featured the return of Ashley Laurence in her role as Kirsty Cotton from
the first two films. Of course, more sequels would soon follow. The attempts at
taking the franchise in a new direction are admirable (and desperately needed)
but “Hellraiser: Inferno” never really rises to the occasion and suffers from
the lack of Pinhead or any thematic ties to the previous films. While it’s
certainly not a total loss despite its straight-to-video status, the whole
affair ends up drudging along and fails to offer a compelling tale.
Final Rating: 2 out of 5
“It's all a puzzle, isn't it, Joseph? Like
a game of chess, perhaps. The pieces move, apparently aimlessly, but always
towards one single objective: to kill the king. But who is the king in this
game, Joseph? That is the question you must ask yourself. Don't you recognize
your own flesh, your own spirit?”
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