Hellbound: Hellraiser II

20th Anniversary Edition

Anchor Bay

R1 DVD

In 1987, Clive Barker, an up and coming young writer of transgressive horror and fantasy, adapted his own short novel, The Hellbound Heart, for the screen. What resulted was a literal revolution in horror; Barker also directed the film and created one of the most transgressive and challenging horror films of the Eighties - Hellraiser. The central motif of the film is the Cenobites. The term "cenobite" comes from individuals who live an isolated life within small cells as part of a monastic order. Now what is the connection between monks and the figures in Hellraiser which look like leather outfitted sado masochists ? Well, it could be reasoned (and many biographies of such figures bear this out) that when an individual withdraws himself from the world and lives in a literal “isolation chamber” all manner of emotions and desires are exaggerated, to the point where many go quite insane. The history of saints and monastics is in many cases the history of emotional aberration and extreme neurosis.

Hellraiser created a mythology where the Cenobites are denizens of the underworld and exist as explorers of the extremes of pleasure and pain, their tools are whips, chains, knives, hooks and other accessories which transcend the confines of the flesh. They take pain and pleasure to the ultimate limits and beyond. They only communicate with those on earth who have invited them via the puzzle box (known as the Lament Configuration) which acts as an inter-dimensional doorway. When they have been called they cannot be dismissed, there is no turning back. There are laws which govern the box and the behavior of the Cenobites, no matter how cruel they seem. The Cenobites are led by Pinhead and together they lead their victims to the depths of hell where they can experience flesh in a very new way for eternity.

Hellraiser was an instant success, bringing Barker immediate celebrity status, one year later, Tony Randel took the director's seat for the sequel Hellbound. Hellbound begins exactly where the first film finished off. We get a recap of the story thus far and then we see the creation of Pinhead. This is quite a startling and powerful scene. We see a lone figure in army uniform in a building which evokes a religious mood, it has curved walls and light streams from above his head. It looks like a Church but it isn't and that's about right considering what is about to occur. As he opens the box, a small opening appears in the top, as he looks over it, he is hit with multiple chains which tear open his flesh. His head is then cut into a grid pattern and nails are hammered in - Pinhead is born !

The film then moves its focus to Kirsty who with her boyfriend are the sole survivors of the first film. Locked in a mental institution as the police investigate the death of her family, she is being treated by Dr. Channard, however, he is not the sympathetic doctor he first seems. When he hears her tale he requests the mattress on which Julia expired be brought to his home. It seems Dr. Channard is an occultist who has been fascinated by the puzzle box for many years and has a large collection of the boxes and related items which fill his home.

Dr.Channard brings a patient from his mental institution whose psychiatric condition involves an obsessive state where he sees his body infected and covered in maggots. Channard gives him a straight razor. In an especially confronting scene, the patient slashes his body with abandon and his blood brings about the resurrection of Julia.

For a while the film has a similar “resurrection” theme to the original Hellraiser, however, this time it focuses on Julia rather than Uncle Frank. As Channard provides Julia with victims she consumes them to regain her beauty (which is clearly skin deep !) and comes back to the world of the living. Channard, however, wants more, a lot more. He uses Tiffany, a young mute girl with a penchant for puzzles, to open the box and the Cenobites come out to play. This time rather than focusing on the Cenobites here on earth, the film explores the hell realms which look like a satanic version of an Escher design. Within hell it seems every individual has their own domain so we see everything from a dark circus to Uncle Franks sexually frustrating realm of ghosts who offer pleasure but never deliver.

Hellbound: Hellraiser II really is a great film, it expands so many of the themes found in the original. We come to understand a lot more about the Cenobites especially Pinhead and are introduced to some fun new characters including “The Doctor”, a very twisted Cenobite formed when Dr.Channard is taken to hell by Julia and gets to experience his heart's desire.

It is fair to say that since it was a film made twenty years ago that some of the special effects are a bit dated but it still stands the test of time well and is certainly a dark and transgressive horror experience. In many ways the Hellraiser series (primarily movies 1-3) are classic cult horror films with a new and unique take on the genre, you won't see demons like these anywhere else.

The 20th Anniversary edition has a lot going for it, the image quality is good for its age and the sound is especially impressive. While the back speakers are not used as often as in a modern Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack, the atmospherics (such as lightning, wind etc) do work well. My only gripe was after twenty years I would have liked to have seen a director's cut with extra footage, but we can't have everything we want.

There are lots of rather cool extras including four featurettes: The Soul Patrol which features new interviews with Cenobite performers Simon Bamford, Nicholas Vince, and Barbie Wilde and Outside The Box which includes a new interview with Director Tony Randel about how Hellbound shaped his creative future. There is also The Doctor Is In which offers an interview with Kenneth Cranham on his experiences playing the villainous Dr. Channard and Under the Skin with a new interview with Doug Bradley (Pinhead). There is also a nice selection of promotion materials, posters etc.

This review will appear in Volume 2 No.2 (2009) of the digital and print edition of Synergy Magazine.

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