Leviathan
Original title: Leviathan: The Story of Hellraiser and Hellbound: Hellraiser II
IMDb RATING
6.3/10
578
YOUR RATING
A documentary uncovering the history and the making of Clive Barker's Le Pacte (1987) and Hellraiser II : Les Écorchés (1988) films.A documentary uncovering the history and the making of Clive Barker's Le Pacte (1987) and Hellraiser II : Les Écorchés (1988) films.A documentary uncovering the history and the making of Clive Barker's Le Pacte (1987) and Hellraiser II : Les Écorchés (1988) films.
- Director
- Writers
- Stars
Geoffrey Portass
- Self - Image animation
- (as Geoff Portass)
- Director
- Writers
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Featured reviews
This is without a doubt THE best documentary on Hellraiser and it's first sequel, Hellbound:Hellraiser II. An extremely thorough and exhaustive collection of interviews with pretty much everybody involved in the creation of these two masterpieces on Horror cinema, the only real exceptions being Clive Barker himself (I believe due to illness) and Ashley Lawrence, who portrayed Kirtsy Cotton in the films, but due to the sheer amount of information and anecdotes from the large number of talking heads on offer here, their absence is barely noticeable. Spread out over 3 DVD's, with the first two dedicated to Hellraiser and Hellbound respectively, and the third disc being crammed with extra features, which include mini documentaries on Clive Barker, Channard, The Cenobites, the unused music of Coil and much more.
Fans of other excellent documentaries of this type, such as More Brains!:A Return to the Living Dead (from the same writer), Crystal Lake Memories:The Complete History of Friday the 13th and Never Sleep Again:The Elm Street Legacy will certainly enjoy this, I'm sure.
Highly recommended for fans of the Hellraiser franchise
Fans of other excellent documentaries of this type, such as More Brains!:A Return to the Living Dead (from the same writer), Crystal Lake Memories:The Complete History of Friday the 13th and Never Sleep Again:The Elm Street Legacy will certainly enjoy this, I'm sure.
Highly recommended for fans of the Hellraiser franchise
Leviathan: The Story of Hellraiser - this documentary, narrated by Oliver Smith, focuses on the production history of Hellraiser & hellbound, its cult status, and some of the key themes/sub-themes in the films. Included in it are interviews with special effects designer Bob Keen, image animator Geoff Portass, Ashley Laurence (archival footage), Doug Bradley (Pinhead), director of photography Robin Vidgeon, producer Christopher Figg, and director Clive Barker (archival footage) , amongst others. A great assortment of interview material. Highly recommended for fanatics.
Leviathan: The Story of Hellraiser and Hellbound: Hellraiser II And although the film undoubtedly does demand breaks along the way - four hours is just too long of a sit for any movie.
Its Perfect for a lazy Sunday in front of the TV, Leviathan: The Story of Hellraiser is a fascinatingly detailed insight into arguably one of the most iconic horror series.
A chronological study of its subject, leviathan charts not only the success of the movies but also the origins and rise of production company New World. The quality of films varies wildly throughout the series. You already know that, but it is fascinating to hear the stories behind the production of the first two classics. The motivation to continue to visit and revisit, alongside the pitfalls of chasing the early success.
My first foray into the Hellraiser series was 1988's Hellbound: Hellraiser II. A fairly strong offering within the bigger scheme of the series, the first sequel hits the heights of its predecessor and is as good , if not better than the first.
With a slightly daunting running time, Leviathan succeeds in remaining entirely engaging throughout which is in no small part due to the quality of contributor. Ranging from self-depreciating honesty to steely resolve, it is clear that it was not always plain sailing for those involved in the production of the Hellraiser series.
Narrated by Oliver Smith, Leviathan is absolutely bursting with behind the scene pleasures; photos, footage, storyboards, and stories. Clearly a labour of love, the pacing is excellent, the time dedicated to each film perfect and the sheer volume of information means it is impossible not to learn something about the production.
Don't let the duration scare you. The chronological structure allows you to watch in chunks if you so decide. Just make sure you take pleasure in it Solve The pattern Turn the Key Open The Box In the end Leviathan is an interesting, sporadically fascinating documentary that should leave Hellraiser enthusiasts more than satisfied.
Its Perfect for a lazy Sunday in front of the TV, Leviathan: The Story of Hellraiser is a fascinatingly detailed insight into arguably one of the most iconic horror series.
A chronological study of its subject, leviathan charts not only the success of the movies but also the origins and rise of production company New World. The quality of films varies wildly throughout the series. You already know that, but it is fascinating to hear the stories behind the production of the first two classics. The motivation to continue to visit and revisit, alongside the pitfalls of chasing the early success.
My first foray into the Hellraiser series was 1988's Hellbound: Hellraiser II. A fairly strong offering within the bigger scheme of the series, the first sequel hits the heights of its predecessor and is as good , if not better than the first.
With a slightly daunting running time, Leviathan succeeds in remaining entirely engaging throughout which is in no small part due to the quality of contributor. Ranging from self-depreciating honesty to steely resolve, it is clear that it was not always plain sailing for those involved in the production of the Hellraiser series.
Narrated by Oliver Smith, Leviathan is absolutely bursting with behind the scene pleasures; photos, footage, storyboards, and stories. Clearly a labour of love, the pacing is excellent, the time dedicated to each film perfect and the sheer volume of information means it is impossible not to learn something about the production.
Don't let the duration scare you. The chronological structure allows you to watch in chunks if you so decide. Just make sure you take pleasure in it Solve The pattern Turn the Key Open The Box In the end Leviathan is an interesting, sporadically fascinating documentary that should leave Hellraiser enthusiasts more than satisfied.
Leviathan: The Story of Hellraiser and Hellbound: Hellraiser II (2015)
*** (out of 4)
This documentary from Kevin McDonagh is apparently out there in a couple different versions. Apparently one runs nearly eight hours long and the other, which is the one I watched, comes with the Scarlet Box from Arrow Video and runs around 210-minutes. Now I obviously can't comment on the "uncut" version but I must say that I'm not sure a film like HELLRAISER really needs four hours devoted to just it. Having watched the Arrow Video version, I can say that HELLBOUND: HELLRAISER II really didn't need a two hour documentary on it.
I'm not going to list all of the people interviewed here because there are dozens and dozens on each movie. Actors, cinematographers, special effects artists, directors and others are all interviewed. Clive Barker is missing outside of some archival interviews but just about everyone else that you'd want to hear from are here and telling stories ranging from how they were hired to various production bits.
Look, if you'e a die-hard fan of HELLRAISER and its sequels then I'm sure you're going to love this. I enjoyed the first two movies but I'm just not sure I needed this much of a documentary. Many of the stories just weren't interesting enough to where they were needed and after so many of them you've got an extra long documentary that just drags at spots. I thought this was certainly the case with the two hours devoted to HELLBOUND.
Still, you have to respect the filmmakers for trying to deliver EVERYTHING to the fans of the film. Your level of being a "fan" will determine how much you enjoy this.
*** (out of 4)
This documentary from Kevin McDonagh is apparently out there in a couple different versions. Apparently one runs nearly eight hours long and the other, which is the one I watched, comes with the Scarlet Box from Arrow Video and runs around 210-minutes. Now I obviously can't comment on the "uncut" version but I must say that I'm not sure a film like HELLRAISER really needs four hours devoted to just it. Having watched the Arrow Video version, I can say that HELLBOUND: HELLRAISER II really didn't need a two hour documentary on it.
I'm not going to list all of the people interviewed here because there are dozens and dozens on each movie. Actors, cinematographers, special effects artists, directors and others are all interviewed. Clive Barker is missing outside of some archival interviews but just about everyone else that you'd want to hear from are here and telling stories ranging from how they were hired to various production bits.
Look, if you'e a die-hard fan of HELLRAISER and its sequels then I'm sure you're going to love this. I enjoyed the first two movies but I'm just not sure I needed this much of a documentary. Many of the stories just weren't interesting enough to where they were needed and after so many of them you've got an extra long documentary that just drags at spots. I thought this was certainly the case with the two hours devoted to HELLBOUND.
Still, you have to respect the filmmakers for trying to deliver EVERYTHING to the fans of the film. Your level of being a "fan" will determine how much you enjoy this.
It's hard to believe that a documentary can have a run time of minutes under 8hrs, one single documentary!
Now when they did the Friday 13th documentary (Crystal Lake Memories: The Complete History of Friday the 13th (2013)) it covered 12 different films and was around 6hrs long. This is 8hrs and covers 2 films, 2!
Nobody can dispute that the documentary is thorough and is arguably a must watch for fans of the first two Hellraiser movies but 8hrs is far far too long.
As you can imagine the documentary goes over old ground several times, it's interviews are decent but the number of people interviewed is far less than you'd imagine especially the absence of Ashley Laurence (Not as if she was the lead or anything)
I liked Hellraiser and considered the second film a watchable affair but this was seven shades of overkill and damaged my enjoyment. This really should have been edited down to 2hrs, 3 at the most.
The Good:
Very thorough
Some decent interviews
The Bad:
Too few people interviewed
How can you do this without the lead? Seriously?
Far too long
Bit repititious
Things I Learnt From This Movie:
I have far too much time on my hands
Now when they did the Friday 13th documentary (Crystal Lake Memories: The Complete History of Friday the 13th (2013)) it covered 12 different films and was around 6hrs long. This is 8hrs and covers 2 films, 2!
Nobody can dispute that the documentary is thorough and is arguably a must watch for fans of the first two Hellraiser movies but 8hrs is far far too long.
As you can imagine the documentary goes over old ground several times, it's interviews are decent but the number of people interviewed is far less than you'd imagine especially the absence of Ashley Laurence (Not as if she was the lead or anything)
I liked Hellraiser and considered the second film a watchable affair but this was seven shades of overkill and damaged my enjoyment. This really should have been edited down to 2hrs, 3 at the most.
The Good:
Very thorough
Some decent interviews
The Bad:
Too few people interviewed
How can you do this without the lead? Seriously?
Far too long
Bit repititious
Things I Learnt From This Movie:
I have far too much time on my hands
Did you know
- TriviaClive Barker and Ashley Laurence declined to be interviewed for this documentary. They claimed that they were tired of talking about Hellraiser for many years.
- ConnectionsFeatures Scooby-Doo! Mystères associés: The Hodag of Horror (2012)
Details
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- Also known as
- Leviathan: The Story of Hellraiser and Hellbound: Hellraiser II
- Production company
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
- Runtime
- 7h 56m(476 min)
- Color
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