Movie Review - Hellbound: Hellraiser II

Hellbound:  Hellraiser II

1988

The Cast

One of the best things about this film is its continuation from the first.  Dr Channard (Cranham) takes an interest in Kirsty (Laurence) after she's institutionalised after her family's slaughter.  However, Dr Channard has darker ulterior motives as he also has an interest in the L'Merchant Configuration.  Taking possession of the mattress where Julia (Higgins) was murdered, he begins to bring her back from her torture in hell.  He also has a genius puzzle solver in his asylum... a mute girl called Tiffany...

This is a horror film that verges on a dark fantasy, which is especially evident in the scene where Tiffany is opening the box.  What with the musical score and the atmospheric colours pulsing, it gave the film a much different feel to other horror flicks of the time.  There's more than a feel of Argento here.  I think it's this reason we didn't really enjoy or appreciate it at the time.  However, watching it again has been very enjoyable.  There's a lot to like about this film.  It's packed full of atmosphere, though it's not always horror or fear.  There are lots of iconic shots, such as a newly reborn and skinless  Julia in her white suit, smeared with blood...  Dr Channard undergoing his transformation... and the labyrinth itself.  Even the acting is stronger this time around, as Laurence, Higgins, and Chapman who resume their roles from the original film, appear more comfortable in their roles.  Then there's Cranham, who is a wonderful actor, he can do nothing but add strength to the cast.  Of course, there's Bradley who is Pinhead - there can be only one.  He was the strongest actor in the original, and thanks to his delivery of the best lines in the script and his skill to be ominous and scary... just by being there, he still stands out in the sequel.

There are some things that just don't work.  One of which is the guardian of the labyrinth, the Leviathan.  Which is just a revolving piece of metal that casts out a dark light over its dominion?  We then learn that the end transformation of the L'Merchant cube is a miniature Leviathan...  This may have worked better had the mini-L been able to create dark thoughts in peoples minds... or to create hellish scenes.  But this and the subsequent ending is a little weak.  It was nice though that they decided to reduce the number of light effects in this film, which made it a little stronger.  I didn't even mind the energy bolts shooting through the labyrinth at the end.  However, the stop-motion animation does look a little dated today, but what else were they supposed to do(?)  The new Cenobite has some special skills and there was no CGI at that time which would do it justice.

This is a big film with big ideas.  Unfortunately, at that time they were really restricted by budget, means, and running time.  This film should have been at least another half an hour longer... maybe an hour... to do the story justice and to help build up a couple of characters a little more, like Tiffany and Kyle (Hope), and to stretch out the ending as it feels rushed to fit the 90minute runtime, which most horror flicks of the '80's & '90's rigidly stuck too.

That said, this is a superior horror flick to the majority of the fodder being created today.  This kicks arse in imagination, story concept, scale, direction, and acting.  So if you are wanting a classic horror to watch then the Hellraiser movies are worth a viewing or three.

I would recommend this to all lovers of the dark and nasty.

I give this a Blood-soaked and Flesh Torn 7.25 out of 10.

The Trailer

Movie Review - Hellraiser

Hellraiser

1987

The Cast

Before Fifty Shades of Grey, there was One Shade of Cenobite... and it was blood red... and it spilt out beautifully.

I have to say that besides Hitchcock's movies this is one decent story adaptation.  This could be that the writer and the director are one in the same - the great Clive Barker.  However, I think where this supercedes all the other writer cum director flicks out there is that each was a separate project.  He wrote the story to be a story, not as a concept to behind making a movie.  And, I think that is where most writer/directors fail... oh, I had a good idea for a film, quick write the script...

So if you don't know the story yet, it's about the Cotton family.  After being willed a house, Larry (Robinson) and Julia (Higgins) decide to check it out, with the possibility of moving in.  Kirsty (Laurence), their daughter, plays the independence card and rents out a room in the town, instead of moving in.  However, something isn't quite right in their new abode.  Julia is having daydreams about her affair with Larry's brother Frank (Chapman), who is the black sheep of the family - and a sexual sadomasochist to boot.  While moving in Larry cuts his hand.  He rushes to Julia for help as he's hemophobic.  His spilt blood soaks into the floor of the attic and starts Frank's rebirth... and hell will follow after...

Another bonus for the film and the audience is that Barker is an all-round artist.  He not only writes but paints and draws, and directs both movies and plays, which allows him to put his art and imagination into his work.  This being his first film you begin to get an inkling of what this guy is capable of.  In Hellraiser he plays with camera shots and angles, manipulates light to create atmosphere, he even gives us some realistic nightmare visions.

The special effects, especially the "wet-work" and Franks rebirth in particular, still look good today and will send a shiver down your spine and make your stomach twitch.  Though truthfully, the computer visuals are dated and now detract the viewer's attention from the film... I literally shook my head and cringed inwardly at how bad these now look.  The thing is, I didn't like them originally, I thought they were nasty and cheap.  They also appear to have been added after the fact as none of the actors even acknowledge the floating stars or the electric blue light (except for when it shocks them).  It would be nice if somebody could remaster this like Star Trek (the original series) and Star Wars, just to update these tired looking CGI.

The acting is okay, though at times the voices seem wrong.  It feels and looks like Franks American voice was overdubbed a millisecond or two out of time and at a different pitch and volume than the others.  There are a few scenes where this also happens with Kirsty and her boyfriend Steve (Hines).  Though, if you've watched plenty of dubbed martial arts movies, like myself, it's not too much of a distraction.

If you've not watched this film yet and you claim to be a horror or a dark fantasy fan then get yourselves a copy and enjoy... If you have a copy and not watched it for a while, dust it off and enjoy.  There's a reason this became an instant horror classic on its release, it was different, innovative, and walked the tightrope of wickedness.  Well worth a watch... again... and again... and again... until you hear the scratching in the walls and creak of timbers and the clunking of chains...

I give this Meaty Splatterpunk of a Love Story an Unchained 7 out of 10.

The Trailer

A Modern Trailer

Book Review - The Mammoth Book Of Terror

The Mammoth Book Of Terror

Various Authors

1992

This is an above average collection of horror stories set to turn your veins to ice with terror.  Not only are there short stories but there are a few longer works and a couple of short novellas - from the cream-of-the-crop of horror writers.  There are a few stories that are worth the price of the book themselves.

I give this book a chillingly cold 7 out of 10.

The Stories:

The Last Illusion

8 out of 10

This is one really good story of magicians and the dark realms which surround them.  This story stars Harry D'Amour, Barker's PI who has the unfortunate luck to be hired in occult cases.  This tale is very reminiscent of The Books Of Blood stories, so if you enjoy dark and graphic horror with high tension and thrills then you'll love this story.

Bunny Didn't Tell Us

6 out of 10 

Gangsters and hitmen are not your average fayre for horror stories so this little tale is a nice change.  Schow, who has been acclaimed to have created the Splatter Punk sub-genre, does a good job of interweaving dark humour.  However, be aware that there really isn't much splatter in this story.  That doesn't really detract from it's telling or your enjoyment of it.  In the blurb before the story, we're informed that Schow wrote the story as a homage to EC Comics.  I must confess that, at times, I could actually see the artwork and the frames in the comics pages.

Murgunstrumm

8 out of 10

I had never heard of Hugh B Cave before reading this novella and I am ashamed of that.  I thought I was up on my horror and dark fiction writers but sadly I have missed Cave.  This is a brilliant tale of love and insanity.  I have never been one for the Gothic as I find it a little too romantically inclined with not enough weird.  However, they way Cave attacks and structures this story and his skill at painting visions in my mind hooked me in right from the start and had me read the story in one sitting.  I now have a desire to hunt out more of Cave's work...  I believe it will be well worth it.

The Late Shift

5 out of 10

If you thought that death was the end of your boring work routine then Etchison has you thinking again with this dark little tale, as he asks the question of what happens between the time you die and the moment you are laid to rest?  This for me isn't the strongest story in the collection as I'm not too keen on Etchison's style (but that's just me) and the story concept for me was a little weak... and there's not a lot of terror in the piece. 

The Horse Lord

6 out of 10

I do like Lisa Tuttle and this short story about a malignant spirit is no exception.  Though the story is dark and does worm it's way under your skin it's the build to the climax that lets the story down as it feels rushed when compared to the rest of the tale.  For me a slow burn and creepy atmosphere would have been better and kept in style with the story; though it is still worth a read or two.

The Jumpity Jim

5 out of 10

This is the type of Gothic horror that I'm not too keen on.  There's love, romance, and lots of hints at strange things.  Then when the horror finally shows itself... well it just wasn't that horrific - especially when Hayes was building it up to be one of the worst entities ever born.  Hayes does a good job with the writing and the pace flows well enough to keep the reader going, it's just a shame that he goes for a standard ending.

Out Of Copyright

7 out of 10

Campbell, for me, is one of the great horror and dark fantasy writers of our time.  I really did love this little revenge tale of an unscrupulous editor who uses out of copyright stories for his anthologies so he doesn't have to pay the writer - and it also gives him the privilege of altering the narrative to suit his needs.  The twist is nice and well thought out.

The River Of Nights Dreaming

8 out of 10

This is a strange little nightmare of a story depicting the fall of a female prisoner into the abyss after an accident allows her to escape.  If you like strange and weird, peppered with a little sex, then this could be your cup of tea.  There is one brilliantly written sequence where her mind starts to crack and realities and dreams merge, mix, and rip apart.  I have never read anything so convincing; a brilliant job by Wagner and makes the story worth the read it itself.

Amber Print

7 out of 10

This story of movie collectors spoke to my heart.  I love film and I love the film this tale is based around - The Cabinet Of Dr Calgari.  Copper magnificently weaves his dark tale around the film and gives the reader a new insight that will chill the bones.  If you, like myself, have a good imagination then this will have you thinking of movies in a different way...

The House Of The Temple

7 out of 10

Being a fan of Lovecraft's it's always nice to read other author's stories based upon his mythos.  Lumley does a great job creating a dark and oppressive atmosphere in which to set his tale.  I have to admit that I also like his "Monster" as it's not one of the Old Gods, which is a nice twist in itself.  Well worth a read, even if you're not a fan of Cthulhu.

The Yougoslaves

9 out of 10

This is one well thought out and structured short story and easily shows why Bloch is a master of his craft.  It also has some of the most believable characters, situations, and outcomes, in the compilation.  Though there is no gore in the story, it is easily the darkest and most unnerving tale so far - and still, if not more-so, relevant today.  For me, this is the one to read.

First Born

7 out of 10

The Little Shop Of Horrors meets One Born Every Minute - this is a slightly humorous dark tale of a bored, newly-retired, successful businessman with a hobby and a dream.  Unfortunately for his surviving relatives, he needs their help to reach the next step in his experiments.

The Black Drama

8 out of 10

This is a short novella that is based on Lord Byron's lost vampyric tale Ruthven.  What Wellman gives the reader is a very clever story based on Urban Legend and blood-sucking mythos.  The twist isn't exactly a surprise as I'd figured it out quite early in the tale, though the writing is splendid and Wellman can really create a believable and creepy world and atmosphere.

Crystal

6 out of 10

I am a great fan of Grant's though I have to say that even though this has a great idea it isn't one of Grant's better-written works... and loses a lot as it's missing his eerie atmosphere which is usually present in his works.

Buckets

9 out of 10

This IS my favourite tale in the compilation.  It's the still controversial subject matter which I loved the most.  That and I really do love a great Halloween story - and this is great.  Though if you're not into graphic detail then this may not be for you.

The Satyr's Head

7 out of 10

This is a strange and weird sexual horror story based on mythology.  Though it's well written and structured it does seem to be lacking in some elements.  I think the story would have been stronger had Riley added a little more sensuality to the storyline.  However, it is still an enjoyable read as it stands.  Riley was looking at turning this tale into a novel - I will try and find the book and see how the story has been expanded.

Junk

8 out of 10

Ever since I came across Ghost Train, The Wyrm, and Spectre in a secondhand bookshop while on holiday on the Isle of Wight I have been a fan and avid reader of Laws.  I would highly recommend horror fans to check him out if you haven't done so already.  In this short we are introduced to a stranger, who may be more than he first appears, that has an interest in used car parts...  The only trouble for the owner of the junkyard is that the parts have some dark "conditions" attached to them.  This could be a nice little opener for a bigger and nastier tale.

Pig's Dinner

6 out of 10

Claiming to be the most gruesome story in the collection I have to say it falls short of that title, as both Yougoslaves and Buckets left me more grossed-out and chilled.  Though the gore is there it's missing atmosphere... to be honest, it would have been difficult to add a creepiness.  I do like the dark humour that Masterton infuses into his writing, though I would have liked a little more of everything as the story is pretty much over before it's begun.  This could be because it's one of the shortest tales in the collection.