patrick_bateman_90029

The '80's gave way to the modern horror film. True, they didn't have the "teen stars" coveted by the raving teen masses back in the day, but they did have the killers that these same teens continually talk and debate about. We had Freddy, Jason, Chucky, and the resurrected "careers" of Michael Myers and Leatherface. BUT there was one who managed to be not only the most frightening of the bunch, but actually never managed to cave… until now, that is. It was Pinhead, the leather-clad Black Pope of Hell's Labyrinth, played with ghastly grandeur by thespian Doug Bradley, the symbol of the brilliantly macabre Hellraiser series.

However, with the release of Hellraiser: Hellworld, the third direct-to-video sequel directed by Rick Bota (whose previous entries, Hellseeker and Deader, actually gave me fleeting moments of hope for the Hellraiser series), not only has Pinhead caved (and this is a level of caving that no one could ever imagine, a level even worse than the one he stooped to in Hell on Earth), but the whole idea and principle of the series has caved to a point of extreme embarrassment.

In the "real world," Pinhead, the Cenobites, the Labyrinth, Leviathan, and the Lament Configuration are nothing more than instruments in "Hellworld," the hottest internet game to sweep the gamer and hacker world (which is kind of a sad commentary on the gaming world). Five gamers in particular – Chelsea (Katheryn Winnick), Allison (Anna Tolputt), Derrick (Khary Payton), Mike (Henry Cavill), and Jake (Christopher Jacot) – have been invited to a "Hellworld" party, hosted by a peculiar man (Lance Henriksen, who just seems to be looking for work nowadays, which is just depressing) who knows all about Hell and more. But it's not long before Pinhead and two of his followers – Bound and Chatterer (who are completely butchered because of lack of funding. Watch Hellbound* and Hellseeker^ to see how Bound^ and Chatterer* are SUPPOSED to look) – arrive to bring everlasting torment and misery to the five gamers. But how can the Cenobites be there if no one has opened the Lament Configuration, which doesn't even exist to begin with? And what could the transpiring events and the Host have to do, as Chelsea begins to suspect, with the suspicious suicide of their friend, Adam (Stelian Urian), who became more paranoid of the game as he continued to play?

Words truthfully cannot describe the disgust I felt as the film progressed. Of course, I will admit it was nice to have tiny references to the original films occasionally discussed here and there – such as the infamous "Engineer" from the original or the discussions of Philip L'Merchant, the box's creator – but references do not make a film. Serious research of the material, an excellent screenplay, and a cast up to the challenge does, which Hellworld all lack. The screenplay is nothing more than a bunch of bland splatter-fest clichés and scenes poorly sewn together, and the cast (save for Henriksen and Bradley) are all at their possible worst. When each character meets their fate through the Cenobites, their pain was completely unbelievable. If you want to sell a Hellraiser movie, the most excruciating forms of suffering have to be believable. And another thing, how come two of the torture-prone friends get better looking makeup than the Cenobites?

Back in the '80s, Pinhead's "Oh, what wonders we have to show you" would have a monumentally chilling effect. Now, it does nothing but cause fleeting moments of despair as I recall a time when Pinhead was effective.

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