HELLRAISER: BLOODLINE

"HELLRAISER: BLOODLINE"
(1996) (Bruce Ramsay, Valentina Vargas) (R)

Alcohol/ Drugs	Blood/Gore	Disrespectful/ Bad Attitude	Frightening/ Tense Scenes	Guns/ Weapons
Minor	Extreme	Moderate	Heavy	Minor

Imitative Behavior	Jump Scenes	Music (Scary/Tense)	Music (Inappropriate)	Profanity
Minor	Mild	Heavy	None	Moderate

Sex/ Nudity	Smoking	Tense Family Scenes	Topics To Talk About	Violence
Moderate	Minor	Mild	Mild	Extreme

QUICK TAKE:: Horror: The latest man in a bloodline spanning two centuries tries to kill the evil Pinhead.

PLOT:: It's the year 2127 and a spaceship crew docks with another craft and finds Paul (BRUCE RAMSAY) attempting to sabotage his own ship. After he's locked up, he begins to tell the crew, including Rimmer (CHRISTINE HARNOS), about how every ancestor of his for the past two hundred years has been cursed by a demon, Pinhead (DOUG BRADLEY), straight from hell itself. In flashback we get to see two of those ancestors, Phillip in the 18 century, and John in the late 20th century (both played by RAMSAY) dealing with this character. It was Phillip that created a toy box that was used by a magician to summon another demon, Angelique (VALENTINA VARGAS) for his personal uses. But along with her came Pinhead and down through the years the two of them, her aide, Jacques (Adam Scott) and the mystical puzzle box survived until meeting Paul who believes he has a way to return them all to Hell.

WILL KIDS WANT TO SEE IT?: If they're fans of the other Hellraiser movies or horror movies in general, they will.

WHY THE MPAA RATED IT: R: For strong horror violence and gore, and for some sexuality and language.

CAST AS ROLE MODELS:: No characters here are developed enough to be considered as good or bad role models.

CAST, CREW, & TECHNICAL INFO

HOW OTHERS RATED THIS MOVIE

OUR TAKE: 1 out of 10: This is a very bad movie. While it has been some time since seeing the original installment of this series, it does seem that the first film at least had some originality and a scary quality to it. This was just a poor excuse to try to make some extra money before the interest in this series drys up (this one made about $16 million). To demonstrate how bad it is, first and foremost it was directed by Alan Smithee (really Kevin Yagher). Alan Smithee is a fake name used by directors when they don't want to be associated with the final work and usually occurs when someone else takes control of the film. One can also tell it's a bad film by the running length -- in this case it's a mere 81 minutes. Throw in the bad acting, laughable special effects (could the "hell dog" have looked any more fake than it did?) and scenes that would be scary only to toddlers, and you get this horrible mess. While diehard fans of the series might like it, the rest of the world will find it laughably atrocious. We give it a weak 1 out of 10.

OUR WORD TO PARENTS:: While not overly scary to adults, little kids, if given the chance to see this film, will be scared by it and will probably have nightmares as a result. This is a very bloody and sadistic film with people being skinned, decapitated, impaled, and meeting other nasty ends. It also deals heavily with demons and creatures from Hell. Profanity is moderate with 5 "f" words being the worst. There are two sex scenes, both with nudity and sexual movement. If your kids really want to see this, we suggest that you carefully read through the category listings to determine if they should see it and/or if they're mature enough for the content.

ALCOHOL OR DRUG USE: Jacques has a mixed drink.

BLOOD/GORE: There are several scenes where maggots and other worms are seen crawling out of meat or on top of the puzzle box.
The movie has extreme amounts of blood and gore throughout. See "Violence" for specific details not listed below.
An 18th century doctor is seen hacking into a body and then puts a rib spreader onto the body and its internal organs are seen.
Angelique's mouth is very bloody and then she is seen carrying a bloody heart in her hand.
John comes home to find a knife impaling a magazine into a wall with blood running down from it.

DISRESPECTFUL/BAD ATTITUDE: One would assume that Pinhead and Angelique, being demons and responsible for the deaths of many people, would have serious cases of both types of attitude.

FRIGHTENING SCENES: Many of the scenes listed under "Violence" will also be scary or tense to some viewers.
Most of the scenes will not be scary to older teens, but will be to younger kids if given the chance to see this.
Pinhead's appearance (a bald, mean looking man with pins sticking out of his head) and that of his "hell dog" might be scary looking to some viewers.
An 18th century magician summons a demon from hell and the floor breaks open and a demon fills the skin of a dead woman.
Two security guards enter a hallway where the door slams shut, the light goes out, and we know something bad's going to happen to them.
John's wife goes to do the laundry room and has to walk through dimly lit hallways to get there.
John walks through a hallway in his building that now has skeletons and body parts hanging from it.
Pinhead's "hell dog" chases after John's wife in the 20th century and after Rimmer in the 21st century.

GUNS/WEAPONS: Rimmer and her crew are armed with laser weapons that they arrest Paul with and later try to shoot Pinhead with, but in the later case they have no effect.

IMITATIVE BEHAVIOR: Phrases: "Screw" (non sexual), "Idiot," and "Bastard."

JUMP SCENES: A man believed to be dead suddenly grabs another man.
In a darkened hallway, one guard touches another guard's shoulder and makes him jump.

MUSIC (SCARY/TENSE): There is a heavy amount of scary and suspenseful music throughout the movie.

MUSIC (INAPPROPRIATE): None.

PROFANITY: 5 "f" words, 3 "s" words, 2 hells, 1 crap, 1 incomplete "What the..." and 2 uses each of "My God," "Oh God," and "Oh my God," and 1 use each of "God damn," "Jesus," "God," and "For God's sake" as exclamations.

SEX/NUDITY: Angelique is seen having sex with a man from a distance. She's nude and the sides of her breasts can be seen.
John dreams of having sex with Angelique. She's seen on top of him and her bare breasts and bare butt are seen. Sexual movement is also seen and moaning sounds are heard.
Two security guards talk about whether they'd do "it" (have sex) with a woman who used to be a man.

SMOKING: A crew member smokes a cigar.
Angelique smokes a cigarette.

TENSE FAMILY SCENES: John and his wife must deal with Pinhead kidnaping their son.

TOPICS TO TALK ABOUT: Demons from Hell.

VIOLENCE: A remote control skeleton-like mechanical creature blows up when Pinhead arrives.
A woman is strangled with a rope by an eighteenth century magician and his apprentice. The shadow of them manipulating her body is seen and the sound of her back being ripped open is heard. Blood spills onto the floor and bloody hands are seen. They are skinning her and both her skin and then her skinless and very bloody body are seen. Both men are also very bloody.
Phillip enters the magician's house and finds the man tied to a chair and very bloody. He's then hit on the back of the head and knocked down. Angelique then pulls a knife from the magician's body and it's implied that she kills Phillip but we don't see the act.
Angelique repeatedly runs her sharp fingernails across Jacques' face and soon it's a bloody mess. She then lifts him up and smashes him into a wall and drives her hand into his chest and pulls out his heart.
Chains appear from nowhere and impale a man's skin, causing some blood to flow. Another chain appears after the others disappear and the man is pulled into the opening of a wall where a hellish creature evidently kills him based on his screams.
Pinhead takes one of the long hooks on his fingers and pushes it through Angelique's chest causing some blood to flow out.
Two security guards encounter Pinhead and are smashed together by a machine. Drill bits go into their faces and then the skin of their heads is pulled together and rolls it up into a spiral.
John's neck is sliced open and as lots blood pours out, his head slowly reels backwards and then falls from his body and lands on the floor.
Soldiers in the future hit Paul in the face with the butt of a laser rifle.
Hooks fly into a soldier's head and yank the skin off, exposing a very bloody, and now skinless head.
Other soldiers are seen dead and very bloody after their encounters with Pinhead.
The two security guards (who earlier had their skin rolled together in a spiral), now rip their heads apart, breaking the skin. They then grab a soldier and smash him in between themselves and lots of blood spills onto the floor.
Rimmer traps the "hell dog" in a pressure chamber and blows it up in a big, bloody explosion.
There's a big explosion at the end of the movie that hopefully kills off Pinhead for good so that he never returns in another sequel.

Reviewed November 24, 1996

Other new and recent reviews include:

Privacy Statement and Terms of Use and Disclaimer
By entering this site you acknowledge to having read and agreed to the above conditions.