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.

 

Related post:

 

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.]

What do you think of Hellraiser III: Hell on Earth?

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? 

Hellraiser (1987) - Barker's legendary horror debut

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Amazingly designed and colorized, the nightmarish poster for Clive Barker's Hellraiser

Julia discovers that her recently deceased brother-in-law, who she secretly had an affair with, is actually not wholly dead but caught in a the grip of a sadomasochistic cult from hell, a predicament Julia can improve by killing.

 

Hellraiser is written and directed by debuting Clive Barker (Salome (1973, short)), adapting his own 1986 novella The Hellbound Heart.

It is a classic in the modern gore horror genre and in 1980s horror in particular. As an epic, supernatural gore fest that mixes hell, demons and sex it is a rare breed, and Hellraiser is genuinely scary. The special effects and Cenobite monsters are innovative; the story is simple and thrilling, and some of the actors are skillful: Andrew Robinson (Child's Play 3 (1991)) and Clare Higgins (Being Human (2009, TV-series)) as the randy mother Julia are worth high-lighting.

 

Watch a brief TV promo for the film here

Cost: 1 mil. $

Box office: In excess of 15.5 mil. $

= Mega-hit (returned more than 15.5 times its cost)

[Hellraiser premiered 13 May (Cannes Film Festival, out of competition) and runs 93 minutes. Shooting took place in London, England from September 1986 - ?. The location was changed from England to North America in post production, with overdubbing created to sell this. Several cuts were made to obtain an R rating, as the MPAA were first inclined towards an X rating. The film opened #3, behind fellow new releases Fatal Attraction and The Pick-up Artist, to a 4.4 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it spent another weekend in the top 5 (#3) and grossed 14.5 mil. $. It made 763k £ in the UK, approximately 1 mil. $. Regrettably its box office in the rest of the world is unreported online. Roger Ebert gave the film a 0.5/4 star review, translating to 4 notches under this one; (Ebert simply did not understand the horror genre.) The film spun a franchise that spans 9 sequels so far, beginning with Hellbound: Hellraiser II (1988), all without Barker as director. Barker returned with Nightbreed (1990). Robinson returned in The Twilight Zone (1987, TV-series) and theatrically in The Verne Miller Story (1987); Higgins returned in The Fruit Machine (1988). Hellraiser is fresh at 73 % with a 6.60/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Hellraiser?