As the title says, this 8th installment is better than what I was expecting, considering the absolute mess the 5th, 6th and 7th movies all were. This one has a more Hellraiser feel to it although it is done in a serial slasher kind of way.
The previous three films were just all extremely painful to watch, with all three having nothing to do with the Hellraiser world, so going into this one I was prepared for another excruciating 90+ minutes of which I'd never get back. However, I was a wee bit surprised as this was actually watchable. The acting was much better, the story was actually written (it seems) with the Hellraiser world in mind and there were a few darker moments. Moments we've come to expect from the subject matter on which the 1st two films focused.
The main aspect to this film however, is that it's done in the style of a slasher movie. Each member of the main gang starts getting picked off one by one just like in any other horror slasher film. That's where it loses some of the credibility of the Hellraiser world because Pinhead isn't a serial killer as such. Solve the box; the Cenobites arrive; take the soul of said puzzle box conquererr; Cenobites return to Hell. Here, they work through the main group just like a Michael Myers, Freddy Krueger etc. It's just all a bit too '90s slasher' for me.
As I mentioned before, this film isn't as horrible to watch like the previous three films. This one is much more bearable and dare I say it, more enjoyable. Don't get me wrong it's still not up with the 1st two films, but it does keep the interest piqued just enough to keep watching. You could actually watch the 1st three films, go straight to this one and not even worry about what was missed in the subsequent films.
A nice little surprise of a sequel.
The previous three films were just all extremely painful to watch, with all three having nothing to do with the Hellraiser world, so going into this one I was prepared for another excruciating 90+ minutes of which I'd never get back. However, I was a wee bit surprised as this was actually watchable. The acting was much better, the story was actually written (it seems) with the Hellraiser world in mind and there were a few darker moments. Moments we've come to expect from the subject matter on which the 1st two films focused.
The main aspect to this film however, is that it's done in the style of a slasher movie. Each member of the main gang starts getting picked off one by one just like in any other horror slasher film. That's where it loses some of the credibility of the Hellraiser world because Pinhead isn't a serial killer as such. Solve the box; the Cenobites arrive; take the soul of said puzzle box conquererr; Cenobites return to Hell. Here, they work through the main group just like a Michael Myers, Freddy Krueger etc. It's just all a bit too '90s slasher' for me.
As I mentioned before, this film isn't as horrible to watch like the previous three films. This one is much more bearable and dare I say it, more enjoyable. Don't get me wrong it's still not up with the 1st two films, but it does keep the interest piqued just enough to keep watching. You could actually watch the 1st three films, go straight to this one and not even worry about what was missed in the subsequent films.
A nice little surprise of a sequel.