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

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The horrific pinhead character is front and center on this chilling blue, black and blood red poster for Tony Randel's Hellbound: Hellraiser II

The daughter of the couple from the original Hellraiser (1987) is psychologically challenged and falls into the clammy embrace of a mental hospital, where everyone are deeply psychotic, and the doctor is not exactly pure as snow.

 

Hellbound: Hellraiser II is written by Peter Atkins (Wishmaster (1997)), based on a story by Clive Barker (Candyman: Farewell to the Flesh (1995)), and directed by debuting Tony Randel (Ticks (1993)). It is the 2nd film in the Hellraiser franchise (1987-).

The plot is actually enormously hard to follow and summarize from this deeply mysterious and staggering special effects-driven horror film, a fascinating sequel to the memorable, gruesome original film. The grand and goosebumps-inducing score (by Christopher Young (One by One (2018))) accompanies a string of nightmarishly horrific images perfectly, and the film transports the viewer to the experiences of horror from one's childhood, as scene after scene resolutely lunges at our subconscious instead of our reason.

The fact that the actors' performances are varying in quality, and that the story is somewhat forfeited, is not something that wrecks the experience for the hard-boiled horror fan here, who gets full value for their bucks, especially because of the dizzying, inventive practical effects. Hellbound: Hellraiser II is a type of horror film that's missed today.

 

Related post:

 

Hellraiser franchise: Hellraiser (1987) - Barker's legendary horror debut

 

 

Watch a trailer for the film here

 

Cost: Reportedly 3 mil.£, approximately 3.8 mil. $

Box office: 13.2 mil. $ (North America and United Kingdom only)

= Some uncertainty but at least a big hit (projected return of 4.21 times its cost)

[Hellbound: Hellraiser II premiered 9 September (Toronto International Film Festival) and runs 93 minutes. Shooting took place around January 1988 in the UK. The UK-set plot of the first film was switched to the US, because the studio thought it would be more commercial. The film opened #8 to a 3.1 mil. $ first weekend in North America, its peak there, where it grossed 12 mil. $. It made 980k £ in the UK, approximately 1.2 mil. $. It was released theatrically in at least 13 other markets. A cautious 16 mil. $ projected total gross would rank the film as a big hit. Roger Ebert gave the film a 0.5/4 star review, translating to 4 notches under this one. The Hellraiser franchise returned with Hellraiser III: Hell on Earth (1992), and 8 more sequels so far. Randel returned with Inside Out (1991, video) and theatrically with Children of the Night (1991). Ashley Laurence (The Green Fairy (2016)) returned in Monsters (1989, TV-series), Hunter (1989, TV-series) and theatrically in Face the Edge (1990); Doug Bradley (Back Fork (2019)) in Nightbreed (1990). Hellbound: Hellraiser II is rotten at 50 % with a 5.30/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

 

What do you think of Hellbound: Hellraiser II? 

Hard Rain (1998) - Spectacle and fun in Salomon's career-killing actioner

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+ Best Heist Movie of the Year + Best Indiana Movie of the Year + Best Mega-flop Movie of the Year + Costliest Flop of the Year: 57.6 mil. $ range + Worst $ Return of the Year: 0.52 Times its Cost

 

Heavy downpour soaks a man on the run on this strong poster for Mikael Salomon's Hard Rain

Two related armored truck drivers are ambushed by a team of bank-robbers during a torrential rainstorm in a town in Indiana.

 

Hard Rain is written by Graham Yost (Justified (2010-15)) and directed by Mikael Salomon (A Far Off Place (1993)).

Randy Quaid (Davis Rules (1991-92)) is priceless as the greedy sheriff villain in this hugely entertaining action picture. The pace is high from beginning to end; there's humor and charming side characters as well as Christian Slater (Ask My Anything (2014)) and Morgan Freeman (Levity (2003)) skillful as the leads. The score by Christopher Young (The Tower (2002)) is involving, and the action scenes are impressive and sometimes innovative. It is also well done the way Yost manages to get the water element to work for his script, paired with a 3 mil. $ heist.

There are a few loose ends, and the shoot-outs may become a tad too numerous at some point, but Hard Rain is still one heck of an action spectacle.

 

Related posts:

 

Mikael Salomon: 1998 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess 

Far and Away (1992) - Howard, Hollywood's sweethearts visit the old West with dull result (cinematographer)

Backdraft (1991) - Ron Howard's giant, stupid Chicago-set firefighter movie (cinematographer) 

 

 

Watch the opening title sequence from the film here

 

Cost: 70 mil. $

Box office: 26.6 mil. $ - 31 mil. $ (different accounts)

= Mega-flop (returned between 0.38-0.44 times its cost)

[Hard Rain was released 16 January (North America) and runs 96 minutes. John Woo was slated to direct but bowed out to do Face/Off. 10 companies were involved in the financing and production of the film. A 6 mil. $ set was created in an aircraft hangar in California. Shooting took place from August 1996 - January 1997 in California, Indiana and Toronto, Canada. The ending of the film was changed due to poor test audience feedback. It opened #5, behind holdover hit Titanic, fellow new releases Good Will Hunting and Fallen and holdover hit As Good As It Gets, to an 8 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it left the top 5 in its 2nd weekend and grossed 19.8 mil. $. One source claims the film only made 6.8 mil. $ abroad, while another claims that its final gross was 31 mil. $ (11.2 mil. $ abroad in that case.) Roger Ebert gave the film a 1/4 star review, translating to 4 notches under this one. Slater was imprisoned for about 90 days on drug and violence charges directly following the premiere. Freeman later publicly dissed the film, and Minnie Driver said in an interview in 1997 (so before the film was even released) that she hated working on it due to the wet conditions (...). Salomon turned to TV and a prolific career directing there but did return theatrically with Freezer (2014). Freeman returned in Deep Impact (1998); Slater in Basil (1998). Hard Rain is rotten at 30 % with a 4.40/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Hard Rain?

Sinister (2012) - Derrickson's genuinly unpleasant horror

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+ Best Mega-Hit Movie of the Year

 

The poster for Scott Derrickson's Sinister effectively conveys some of the film's horrors

 

A true-crime writer and his strained family move to a new town for his work, but the man, who desperately needs to write another hit after years of flops, has neglected to inform his family members that this time, they are moving into the crime scene. 

Ethan Hawke (Boyhood (2014)) treads intensely into his character's shoes here to a fantastic degree. Juliet Rylance (The Knick (2014-15)) is also good as the wife and mother, and the two share a couple of passionate, very credible fights in Sinister.

We follow Hawke's work with a substantial amount of very troubling material, which he finds in the house. Sinister features phenomenal sound work and a droning, unpleasantness-creating score by Christopher Young (Spider-Man 3 (2007)). It is not a 'fun' ride type of horror, - as The Conjuring (2013), for instance, - but a deeply discomforting horror movie about family slayings and child abductions.

The third act fails to live up to the promises of the first two and disappoints a bit, but the film up until this has been so well-made and intensely scary that this doesn't rock the fact that Sinister is a good horror. It is written by C. Robert Cargill (Doctor Strange (2016)) and co-writer/director Scott Derrickson (Deliver Us from Evil (2014)).

Related posts:

Scott Derrickson: 2012 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED V] 

2012 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED IV]

2012 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED III]

The Day the Earth Stood Still (2008) - Unduly bashed sci-fi drama

From Young's score for the film, here is the track entitled Don't Go in Dad's Office

Cost: 3 mil. $

Box office: 77.7 mil. $

= Mega-hit

[Sinister premiered March 11 (Austin, Texas' SXSW festival) and runs 110 minutes. Cargill got the idea for the film from a nightmare he had following watching The Ring, and it was originally meant to have a Willy Wonka-inspired boogeyman character in it. The demonic face now seen on the poster and in the film is based on an image from Flickr that Derrickson found and purchased the rights for for 500 $. Filming took place in LA, New York and Long Island from September - October 2011. The film opened #3, behind Taken 2 and Argo, to an 18 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it dropped from the top 5 in its second week and grossed 48 mil. $ (61.8 % of the total gross). The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were the UK with 10.6 mil. $ (13.6 %) and France with 3.2 mil. $ (4.1 %). A commercially and critically less successful sequel, not by Derrickson, was released in 2015. Sinister is fresh at 63 % with a 6.2 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Sinister?