Review of Hellraiser: Hellworld (2005) by Andy H — 10 Oct 2010

Though I'm digging the latter Hellraiser sequels more than some of the earlier ones, I can't help but feel cheated that they don't have anything to do with eachother. pinhead went from a frightening demon, to a soap opera participant, to making cameo appearances.

So I don't expect much when watching these anymore but surprisingly, I found myself really digging this latest entry big time. This one was bluntly about gory deaths and having some fun with it. I couldn't help but get into it as the party atmosphere was just so damn appealing to me! Take the set-up of House on Haunted Hill, toss in some Hellraiser references and inventive kills, throw some likable teens in there and you get a FUN TIMES mixture for horror fans.

Rick Bota must really enjoy doing the Hellraiser films because here he put out a lot of insane visuals, played around with fast/slow motion big time and his lighting (it's a rave/party) was still impressive.

Score wasn't grandiose, but the catchy rock made up for that. Finally; the gore here was right up my alley with original bits that had me cheering in its realism but 'fun' sense, couple that with many tit shots and I'm a satisfied customer.

Doug Bradley showed up and was gone. Guy's still good. Katheryn Winnick wasn't fully on all the time but her looks made up for that. Didn't want her to die so that should say something. Henry Cavill cracked me up as the horn-dog.

I was actually rooting for him! Lance Henriksen is a genre king and having him in a small but good role made the movie all the better for me. This guy can just do no wrong. Christopher Jacot had me siding with him as the broody and sympathetic teen while Khary Payton was interesting as the fun-lover of the group.

Seemed like a person I'd wanna hang with back in those days. On the downside, there's that mistake of calling this a Hellraiser sequel again. Having it be Pinhead and the Cenobites would've been no different than just throwing some random-ass demons in there and calling it a day.

I couldn't help but roll my eyes at the attempt they made. Lastly, the last third wasn't the most epic it could've been. I did appreciate the gory bits, just felt it might have overstayed its welcome a bit.

But this was a damn good party movie that I enjoyed highly. Add to this a smart screenplay, a cool-as-ice ending, GOOD uses of cell phones (for once) and an attitude that wasn't afraid to poke fun at itself and you get one fun ride.

If you can get past the fact that it's not a real Hellraiser, you may be able to get some fun out of it. I sure did...