Review of Hellraiser III: Hell on Earth (1992) by Michael W — 20 Mar 2014

Hellraiser III is everything I thought Hellraiser II would be. So a reporter who is in dire need of big break (Terry Farrell) may have bitten off more than she can chew when she investigates the back-story of a young man that was ripped apart by chains.

This is a big step down from the first two movies, and let me tell you why. For starters, the lead actress is one of the weakest acting talents of the Hellraiser movies so far; sure, this isn't a series that is known for its award winning performances, but seeing her here makes me feel bad for calling out any stiff acting from the first two installments.

Next, this has almost nothing to do with the continuing story set up by the first two; believe it or not, Hellbound made me realize how much I was actually getting invested in these characters. Here, everything that wasn't Pinhead got dropped like it was deadweight.

And speaking of Pinhead, while Doug Bradley is chewing up scenery left and right (and is easily the biggest and only reason to watch this), they drastically changed his character motivations; he used to be shrouded in mystery and only looking to take his pound of flesh from people that tampered with the puzzle box, while here, he becomes this laughing homicidal maniac, a la The Joker.

All of the replacements to the Cenobites are pretty lame, and so much about this feels like it was made by a completely different team that never shared in that original vision. While this isn't something I would call terrible, it definitely fails to deliver on everything that you want out of a Hellraiser movie.