Film Excess - Free Ukraine - Stop Putin - End the war NOW!!: Hellraiser III: Hell on Earth (1992) - Satanic meltdown disguising messy franchise preservation effort

3/24/2023

Hellraiser III: Hell on Earth (1992) - Satanic meltdown disguising messy franchise preservation effort

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Pinhead looks frightening before the New York skyline on this colorful poster for Anthony Hickox's Hellraiser III: Hell on Earth

A career-oriented woman reporter with a nightmare about her father, who passed away in the American Vietnam War, sees a chance for herself, when a mysterious massacre takes place in a local nightclub...

Hellraiser III: Hell on Earth is written by Peter Atkins (Wishmaster (1997)), with Tony Randel (Godzilla 1985 (1985)) contributing story elements, and directed by Anthony Hickox (Waxwork (1988)).

A yuppie owner and his guests are terminated in inventive ways, and the film enjoys regular blasts from a grandiose score (by Randy Miller (The Last Dojo (2018, short))), which sounds like it plays straight from hell. The story is often ridiculous, - among other things there is a Cenobite that kills with flying CD's! - but at least one isn't bored, as long as the expectations are held low - very low.

Unfortunately the story develops with a grinning Pinhead (the central demon) enormously blasphemous, almost satanically, while amateur production values shine through. The ending shows clearly, and without any real sense, that the main focus of the film here is on preservation of the budding horror franchise. The budget dollars for Hellraiser III: Hell on Earth were not wasted on stars but on special effects, (down to the last dime it seems), including some dubious early CG work.

Hellraiser franchise: Hellbound: Hellraiser II (1988) - Nightmarish FX abound in the first Hellraiser sequel

Hellraiser (1987) - Barker's legendary horror debut

Watch a trailer for the movie here

Cost: Estimated 5 mil. $

Box office: In excess of 12.5 mil. $ (North America only)

= Some uncertainty but likely a box office success (projected return of 3.4 times its cost)

[Hellraiser III: Hell on Earth premiered in May (Dylan Dog Horror Fest, Italy) and runs 93 minutes. Randel was fired as director prior to shooting and replaced with Hickox. Shooting took place from September - November 1991 in North Carolina. Hickox claims that Bob Weinstein loved his first cut, whereas Hellraiser creator Clive Barker claims that Weinstein got him to save the film (by adding new gore scenes) due to Barker's criticisms of Hickox's cut. The film opened #3, behind fellow new release Sneakers and holdover hit Honeymoon in Vegas, to a 3.2 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it left the top 5 in its 2nd weekend and grossed 12.5 mil. $. The foreign gross numbers are regrettably not reported online. With a projected 17 mil. $ world gross, the film ranks as a box office success, provided that the estimated cost of 5 mil. $ holds up. The franchise continued with 8 more sequels, the first being Hellraiser: Bloodline (1996). Hickox returned with Motörhead: Hellraiser (1992, music video) and theatrically with Warlock: The Armageddon (1993). Doug Bradley (Corrective Measures (2022)) returned in 2 TV-series and one music video credit prior to his theatrical return in Shepherd on the Rock (1993). Hellraiser III: Hell on Earth is rotten at 40 % with a 4.40/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

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Donald Sutherland has passed away

Born in Canada, Sutherland battled polio as a child. His first credit was in Suspense (1963, TV-series) and his first film was The Castle of the Living Dead (1964). Later credits in his remarkable career include The Saint (1965-66), The Dirty Dozen (1967), M*A*S*H (1970), Kelly's Heroes (1970), Klute (1971), Don't Look Now (1973), 1900 (1976), Casanova (1976), The Eagle Has Landed (1976), Ordinary People (1980), A Dry White Season (1989), JFK (1991), Outbreak (1995), Fallen (1998), Virus (1999), Fierce People (2005), Pride & Prejudice (2005), Lord of War (2005), The Hunger Games (2012), The Undoing (2020, miniseries) and many more. He passed away at age 88. R.I.P.

Roger Corman has passed away

Born in Detroit, Michigan, Corman had a sprawling, intellectually hungry life as a youth and young man before arriving with his first film in 1955, Five Guns West. He would follow that with titles such as Apache Woman, It Conquered the World, Attack of the Crab Monsters, Teenage Cave Man, A Bucket of Blood, House of Usher, The Little Shop of Horrors, The Pit and the Pendulum, The Intruder, The Raven, The Terror, The Masque of Red Death, The Tomb of Ligeia, The Wild Angels, The Trip, Bloody Mama and many more. As a producer he was behind almost 500 films. Arguably among the most important filmmakers of the 20th century, Corman passed away at age 98. R.I.P.

William Friedkin has died

Born in Chicago, Friedkin accrued TV credits prior to his advance to the big screen as the director of Good TImes (1967), The Birthday Party (1968), The Night They Raided Minsky's (1968) and The Boys in the Band (1970) before his major breakthrough, The French Connection (1971), for which he won his only Oscar. He followed it up with the even bigger smash, The Exorcist (1973), arguably the best horror film of all time, for which he was Oscar-nominated. Later credits include Sorcerer (1977), Cruising (1980), To Live and Die in L.A. (1985), Rampage (1987), Rules of Engagement (2000), Killer Joe (2011) and The Devil and Father Amorth (2017, documentary). Friedkin passed away at age 87. R.I.P.

Louise Fletcher has passed away

Born in Alabama to deaf parents, Fletcher got her first credits in late-1950s TV-series.She took a 10 year-long sabbatical to devote her time to motherhood after the release of A Gathering of Eagles, but then came back and soon saw her career's most important part, as Nurse Ratched in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975), for which she won her sole Oscar. Later credits include Exorcist II: The Heretic (1977), The Lucky Star (1980), Brainstorm (1983), Two Moon Junction (1988), Cruel Intentions (1999), A Perfect Man (2013) and many more. Fletcher passed away at age 88. R.I.P.

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Born in Paris, France, Godard lived much of his life in Switzerland. He wrote for French film criticism magazine Cahiers du Cinema and became foundational for the New French Wave that inspired new waves in scores of other countries across the world with his Breathless (1960). Later credits include A Woman Is A Woman (1961), Vivre Sa Vie (1962), Le Petit Soldat (1962), Contempt (1963), Alphaville (1965), Pierrot le Fou (1965), 2 or 3 Things I Know About Her (1967), Weekend (1967), Every Man for Himself (1980), King Lear (1987), Century of Cinema (1995, documentary), Goodbye to Language (2014) and many more. Godard died of assisted suicide at age 91. R.I.P.

Wolfgang Petersen has died

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Caan was born the son of Jewish immigrants from Germany in New York. He got his start on TV in the early 1960s. His credits include El Dorado (1966), The Rain People (1969), Brian's Song (1971, TV movie), The Godfather (1972), - for which he earned his only Oscar nomination, - Slither (1973), The Gambler (1974), Funny Lady (1975), Rollerball (1975), Silent Movie (1976), Hide in Plain Sight (1980), - the only film he also directed, - Thief (1981), Misery (1990), Honeymoon in Vegas (1992), Bottle Rocket (1996), Eraser (1996), Dogville (2003), Elf (2003), Las Vegas (2003-07), Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs (2009) and many more. Caan passed away at age 82. R.I.P.

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Adopted from an orphenage at a young age, Liotta got hooked on acting in high school. He had various TV credits in the late 1970s and early 80s, with his film debut in The Lonely Lady (1983). Later credits include Something Wild (1986), Field of Dreams (1989), Goodfellas (1990), Cop Land (1997), Hannibal (2001), Blow (2001), Narc (2002), John Q (2002), Identity (2003), Observe and Report (2009), Youth in Revolt (2009), The Details (2011), Killing THem Softly (2012), The Place Beyond the Pines (2012), Shades of Blue (2016-18), The Simpsons (2018, TV-series), Marriage Story (2019), The Many Saints of Newark (2021), Black Bird (2022, TV-series) and many more. Liotta passed away at age 67 in his sleep while on production in the Dominican Republic. R.I.P.

Philip Baker Hall has died

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Film Excess - Free Ukraine - Stop Putin - End the war NOW!!

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3/24/2023

Hellraiser III: Hell on Earth (1992) - Satanic meltdown disguising messy franchise preservation effort

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