Hellraiser: Judgment

I didnt expect anything before seeing this. My faves are the second one and Inferno (the latter for the production quality & story). This one isnt actually bad - while there is no Doug Bradley - the story isnt tooooo bad, there is a pretty lame twist however leading up to that the acting & story are OK. The premise is that there is some kind of hellish bureaucracy sending sinners to a tormented hell and Pinhead appears to be a senior middle manager in that arrangement. there is a bit of gore, the actors at the start are new and quite exciting. There are some fairly gross bits that go beyond normal Hellraiser gore too. Not bad overall and this one has a better look and feel than its budget suggests.

I am a HUGE fan of the Hellraiser mythos. The aesthetics, the lore, the characters. After watching the original as a teenager the lead character 'Pinhead' needled his way into my consciousness as the primary 'horror character' of my dreams/nightmares. He left such an impression that it wasn't long before i chased down his original appearance in Clive Barker's (master of the macabre) novella 'The Hellbound Heart' and became absolutely smitten for life.

Armed with such impressive enthusiasm i devoured every Hellraiser movie as soon as it became available. My infatuation notwithstanding i couldn't help but notice the gradual decline in quality as each subsequent effort was released. Apart from 'Hellraiser 4 - Bloodline' there was a clear degradation in the caliber of film being presented. It was getting beyond embarrassing.

Understandably my expectations for the 10th film were about as high as my expectations of answering the door to a scantily clad Drew Barrymore offering me a cigar made from rolled up $100 notes, as she ushered me onto her private jet for a life of pool-side tickle-fighting.

My impression from having JUST finished watching the movie is,... relief. The people who made this film DIDN'T just churn out the product and slap the 'Hellraiser' name on it like the last 5 movies. There was some actual THOUGHT put into the script and i was grateful to not be able to predict the plot at every turn.

This is in no way the BEST film in the world, or even the best film in the series, but easily in MY top 3 of the series. If you're in to Hellraiser like I am, then im sure you'll enjoy it. If you're NOT into Hellraiser,.. then i hereby forbid you to watch it. lol

Thanks to whoever made this movie, i really enjoyed the ending and i'd love it if you made more.

Seen every movie in this franchise, my fun ended with the third part for obvious reasons. With every following sequal i had my hopes up, just to be dissapointed again and again.

When i saw this trailer my hope started to flicker again. The trailer was what i was hoping for. So i started watching this one while being curious and eager.

The bottomline is that this is not the entry we hope it is. But it isnt as bad as some of the entries either. Basiclly its those last 20 minutes you want and for that youll have to go through 60 minutes of scenes full with nonsense, boring set pieces and a lot of typing. If you find yourself at the end of that boring, long road youll get to experience just a little of the old vibe. And although not the strongest bits in the series, satisfying nonetheless.

The end creates chances for another weak entry or even a reboot. All in all i would hope they would for once invested a big budget in this franchise. All those little snacks here and there doesnt make for the meal we are so hungry for.

Oh, My God! They just keep getting worse... and worse...

Can we please have a decent story writer and director give the fans a decent story, one that will do Barker's vision credit(?)

This story has so many flaws it verges on the ridiculous. Evidently, the humans have grown out of wooden puzzle boxes so the L'Merchant Configuration is no longer a viable gateway to hell. But as The Auditor (Tunnicliffe) says to Pinhead (Taylor), "At least, we still have the house..." Hey! Who would have thunk it(?) The Cenobites own property and real estate... No matter how preposterous that sounds it actually gets worse... How do they lure their intended victims through the door(?) They drop them a line via good ol' pen and paper. I wonder if it's the chatterer that runs down the stationers... I hear he loves to meet people and is a terrible gossip; gift of the gab he's got... Why, couldn't they think of a new and imaginative way to contact their victims? At the very least, Tunnicliffe (the writer) could have the message sent on a piece of human skin and tattooed in blood.

Then when the victim gets inside, the audience is treated to a bit of unnecessary vileness. After The Auditor takes down the quarry's life story, via a typewriter which uses the captives blood as print (finally a bit of imagination) we are introduced to The Assessor (Gulager). He eats the transcripts then regurgitates the remains down a tube, which sprays over three naked women, The Jury. This then leads to the subject being handed to The Surgeon, no matter what the verdict, who proceeds to do a hack and slash job. Then once again, the naked women get splattered... this time with blood. This gives a new perspective on hell's judging process; however there's no rhyme or reason to it, so it just feels like fill in. Even though it's quite nasty to view, it's also quite boring. Tunnicliffe (The Director) doesn't have the skill to create an atmosphere of horror or tension, which helps to make the scene even more tedious.

One decent thing about this film and story is the Thriller story woven throughout. Two detectives, literally brothers in arms, Sean (Carney) and David Carter (Wayne), along with Detective Christine Egerton (Harris), are chasing a gruesome serial killer terrorising the city. However, the inevitable twist is so obvious it weakens this "stronger" section of the film.

The best part of this whole mess is the acting. Even Tunnicliffe isn't too bad. I think it was a little too much to create a new Cenobite (loosely termed, as he's not really a Cenobite) who has more screen time than Pinhead himself and then give the part to yourself. As for Pinhead, Taylor still doesn't have the presence of Bradley, but he is much better than the last instalment. I will give this to Taylor though... he has sitting down-pat. That's right, we get to see Pinhead relaxing... twice... How Scary!

There's even an appearance by Heather Langenkamp as The Landlady. Though, if you blink you'll miss her for she's on screen for about the same amount of time it takes you to read this paragraph.

Do yourself a favour and miss this mess of a film. There are a lot better horror flicks out there... A Lot! If you need your Pinhead fix then, as usual, I recommend cracking open the original flicks.

I will not spoil any of the movie here. I have to say that i liked it for what it is. It is clearly a better movie than the previous attempts since the fifth entry but it keeps the same style a theme as those movies. That means we have a killer that needs to be found.

The only real complaign i have for this movie is the presentation and revelation of the killer. The killer had great potential to be a very nice dive into the darker parts of the human phsyche but it is not so. It started good trying to colour him but they did not follow through. Perhaps some better writing next time will be all it is needed in order to present a much better killer.

Overall the acting was adequete with the exception of the auditor who was great beyond the call of duty. Kudos to that. Also the new Pinhead actor is good. Not nearly as good as the Pinhead of old of course but he is good enough that in time he can actually grow on it and improve.

Do not listen to the nay sayers, this movie is worth a watch for the fans of the series. It leaves things to be desired of course due to budget but give it a go regardless. Who knows, maybe you will enjoy it.