Review of Hellbound: Hellraiser II (1988) by Bradens584 — 19 Dec 2020

Hellbound: Hellraiser II is a rollercoaster. By the 15 minute mark I was prepared to but this film in the mid threes. By 25 minutes it was low fours. By 35 minutes it was low fives. And by the end I can say a thoroughly enjoyed it.

There are some bad qualities. It isn’t as creatively shot as its predecessor, and where Hellraiser is very well plotted, Hellbound seems more like a showcase of special effects, not that that’s a necessarily bad thing.

William Hope as Kyle is absolutely atrocious, but there are some good performances. I especially got a kick out of the returning characters, Clare Higgins as Julia is really able to spread her wings in this instalment, as whole I really liked Julia’s arc in this one.

Ashley Laurence reprises her role as Kirsty and she does well. The special effects are brilliant as always, nothing as mind blowing as some of the effects in the first one, but still very well done. And the most important component, the Clive Barker script.

In the first half hour I was really worried the film was going to fall into repitition of the first one, but Clive Barker manages to bring new lore elements and expands the world of the franchise in a way you rarely see horror sequels do.

Doug Bradley also returns as Pinhead, and he is awesome.