Review of Hellraiser III: Hell on Earth (1992) by Patrick F — 22 May 2010

Decent enough, but a departure from the first two originals. This movie did push forward creatively as it explored the idea of the Cenobites coming onto earth and the dire consequences of that, giving us tons of horror, gore, chaos, and destruction along the way. It also brought us for the first time to a big city environment, which was totally different from the first two movies. This movie feels different, and is paced differently from the first two, but is enjoyable enough. The acting though takes a slight nosedive, and the actors from the last movies including our heroine Kirsty and even Tiffany are gone (Kirsty is briefly covered in this movie, loosely tying it into the first two). Hell on Earth is somewhat reminiscent to Poltergeist 3, when compared to parts 1 & 2, but is nevertheless solid enough to please fans of the series to a somewhat imperfect degree; though this is perhaps one of the last solid Hellraiser flicks.

After the events of the last movie, the Cenobites have been defeated including Pinhead, and he himself is now trapped in a pillar, depicted briefly in the last sequel. The pillar is in a stranger's possession in this movie, when it is bought by a wealthy young nightclub owner, J.P. Monroe (Kevin Bernhardt). Our heroine here, a tv reporter Joey (Terry Farrell), learns about Pinhead and the puzzle box, and experiences its horrific events by witnessing the death and carnage by an unfortunate soul who opened it. She meets another young woman Terri (Paula Marshall), who has the puzzle box, and eventually they both realize the horror behind it, and what they have to do to yet again prevent a tragedy from occurring.

Pinhead becomes stronger and stronger, and is brought more bodies to feed on, furthering his strength(a similar concept discussed in the previous two movies). We are then introduced to more tragic events, original and different takes on the story, and even further exploration of the nature of Pinhead (the dark site, the human connection). Eventually as if it were almost inevitable, all hell breaks loose in the nightclub, and eventually on earth, as the Cenobites along with Pinhead gain enough power and bring forth chaos, escaping their trappings.

Several new Cenobites are created, and at this point in the movie, everything becomes an all-out bloodbath. This time, Pinhead sets out to not only bring carnage and chaos to everyone in his path but to destroy the puzzle box; the Cenobites wage an all out war to ensure their dominance on earth.

Eventually though, they are stopped, yet again, before they can get too powerful and affect too much of their environment.

Ultimately, this movie's quality is definitely lacking something from the first two, but it explores enough new ideas well enough, and loosely ties into its predecessors to a degree that it still becomes a sequel worth watching.