Hellraiser: Prophecy

Lucifer recruits a Theology student to solve the puzzle and summon Cenobites, to support him in the war against Gabriel and his angels. But while manipulating an innocent girl, he doesn't even suspect that he was being manipulated too.

This is a twenty-minute fan-movie shot with practically no budget and all participants on both sides of the camera are complete amateurs with no film experience. Within that frame, this is quite solidly written and shot, and the costumes and effects are great. The rating on IMDb is 3.9 and, in my opinion, it is quite objective, but it deserves at least eight for the first attempt by complete amateurs.

6/10

It might be with some shock that people see the 7 out of 10 rating that I've given this film; after all, I've given far smaller scores for films that were better acted, filmed, edited and directed than "Hellraiser: Prophecy", to say nothing of special makeup effects.

However, a quick look on the official web-site and the "trivia" section here will inform the hardcore horror fans which "Hellraiser: Prophecy" is aimed at that the entire cast and crew of this film was made up of people who have little or no experience of film-making whatsoever. "Hellraiser: Prophecy" is something that the medical students involved in making it should be proud of.

I'm sure if one were to watch every fan film on the internet, one would find that "Star Wars" fan films outnumber all the other ones grouped together at a ratio of about 2:1. Indeed, many of them come out looking fine. This should not be surprising: black and brown robes are readily available at most charity shops, and in these days of cheap (or completely free) sfx packages, rotoscoping a lightsaber is a short and easy job. The makers of "Hellraiser: Prophecy" had no such luck.

Are the cenobite costumes and make-up as realistic as those shown in the official Hellraiser films? No. I can distinctly see the area at which "Angelique"'s skull cap ends, and the actress' hair begins. But considering the fact that most people making this type of film would have made do with leather jackets, tomato ketchup and a pack of children's' face-paints all round, these costumes are to be commended for displaying a great deal of care, time and effort, and were no doubt put together on an extremely small budget, unlike their "official" counter-parts.

The acting is not Oscar-worthy to say the least, and I won't patronise any of those involved by suggesting anything silly like taking it up professionally. But it certainly is a long way off being effortless, and quite a long way off being bad. Indeed, it's at about the same level as a number of so-called professional actors whom I've seen doing dramatic workshops in schools. Again, the people involved certainly punch about their weight.

I certainly doubt that both the director and camera crew have had no experience filming whatsoever; at the very least someone must have made some amateur stuff on their mum and dad's video camera. But with a little more training, I would go so far as saying that these people in fact probably could try to do a professional feature film. With some money behind them for a better camera and a good editor, I think that we're seeing budding talent here. The film flows together well, it's framed well, and the editing's pretty good do. As other people have written, there's some segments with quick cuts that do resemble professional horror film quality.

Sound is the only major category that let this film down. There were some sections where lines were not really audible. I'm assuming that on-set dialogue was recorded using the camera-mic, and thus it's no what you'd call sharp. The Angelique character has an effect placed over the dialogue which makes it difficult to understand in some parts - and it might have been wise to find an effect that distorted the clean voice a bit less. Having said that, the sound editor did make good use of the music in their possession.

Let me say again, this film was made by people who had no experience. Indeed, it was made by medical students; one would therefore think that very few people involved have ambitions of going into professional film-making at all. Are they as good as the amateur film-makers and actors that I know who DO want to go into film-making professionally? Probably not. Would any of my amateur film-making friends be any good as a doctor? Definitely not.

At worst, "Hellraiser: Prophecy" is a good try. At best, it is an inspiration. Take your pick.

And i used to think that hellraiser: revelations was terrible.

In this short film Hellraiser: Prophecy, one of the first real Hellraiser-based serious fan-film to be released, written and directed by Jonathan Kui, a nightmarish concept takes shape: a Second Rebellion is taking place in the porphyrogene gates of Heaven, as the Archangel Gabriel leads a faction of dissenting Angels against their Maker. They mean to strip Mankind of their very essence: their Souls, seeking a return to a time when they didn't have to compete with what they believe to be inferior creatures, for God's love. In their way, defending the Word, stand the Archangel Michael and the rest of the Angelic Host.

Paradoxically, Lucifer must choose to side against this Second Rebellion for reasons of his own. For this he must contact stronger forces beyond the reach of anyone without a Soul. Powers that rely on Order, and Discipline, which might help Lucifer maintain the status quo. The Order of the Gash, explorers in the further regions of Experience who serve Leviathan, may be such a force. But their dimension is off-limits to Lucifer.

This is where Natasha (Lori Pyzocha) comes in...

I'd say the strongest point of this movie is its story, a powerful and original screenplay written by Johnathan Kui. The dialogue is dramatic and rich, directly contributing for the progression of the narrative, delivered by amateur actors who nevertheless manage to achieve a handful of rather intense moments.

Jeremy Yost as Lucifer has, of course, some of the best lines of the script, and manages to incarnate a scornful Lucifer, with a persistent smile on the corner of his mouth, yet dead serious when he must press his point.

Monica Dus as the treacherous and serpentine Angelique also has some beautiful lines as she coaxes and seduces her despairing victims into the grasp of her God Leviathan.

Allison Blum as Lydia portrays a completely lost woman, driven to violence and thrown into a state of despair and confusion.

A word of praise for the Cenobite troop Costume Design is in order, designed and realized by Christie Bialowas.

The story does a well thought-out expansiveness to the mythology of Hellraiser that I enjoyed, incorporating Angels, Demons & Cenobites as a part of the same multi-dimensional Space. We are also given a new insight on what it takes to open the Lemarchand Lament Configuration.

Chains galore in the final act, as well as some well-achieved chainings. The special effects in the chaining sequences are believable enough (Trivia: using fake blood actually bought from 2 Hours in the Dark).

Of course, as a low-budget short, some details are to be taken with a grain of salt, especially in the make-up department. The Cenobites, as highly modified creatures, necessitate a good amount of work to achieve verisimilitude, and there are some details that must be forgiven for the sake of general enjoyment of the story. Our minds have a magic tendency to fill in the gaps and put perfection or close, where some may be lacking.

Other prop difficulties are also still being worked upon. The CGI special effects in my screening copy, though as yet incomplete, were also very believable, and I have no problem accepting them as is; they work perfectly, if you keep an open mind. I was particularly fond of Lucifer's eye-opening scene, very accomplished and disturbing. I first saw this in the teaser trailer.

When engrossed in the story, our suspension of disbelief can do wonders. Allow yourself to be transported and take any faults as the growing pains of a new director working with an amateur, yet hard-working crew.

The finished DVD will also include some great Bonus Material like a Gag Reel (I laughed my head off at some of the basic bloopers the crew and cast faced during the shoots - you will be amused to see how many takes nervous laughter can spoil!) as well as some very interesting surprises for hard-core Hellraiser fans. Keep on the lookout for the final DVD version.

I am eagerly awaiting the finished package, which will be free, to include in my Hellraiser collection.

It's my belief that Hellraiser fans will be generally pleased by this addition to the growing deck of fan-based films. I for one am looking forward for Jonathan Kui's upcoming work.

Okay, maybe it is a fan film, but still just horrible. You get bad acting in all cheap flicks and this is no exception. So that isn't really the issue. This is bad because the authors clearly have no idea of movie making.

Juvenile script, no effective lighting, lousy camera-work and the scenes are way too long and just boring. And the agonising thing lasts for 22 long minutes. If you're going to make an amateur movie, it would be nice to learn some basics about visual storytelling and montage before shooting something this long.

I suggest that instead of wasting your time on this, watch any b-(or c-)movie from the 40's. At least those won't bore you to death.