Hellraiser III: Hell on Earth – Dramatic drop in quality

If you’re into serious sickness in your horror and skinless corpses getting down and dirty with each other before hatching murderous plots, then Hellraiser 1 and 2 should do quite nicely for you.  They follow each other and tell the tale of a mysterious puzzle box that, when opened, summons the ‘cenobites’ – a race of demons who want to tear you apart for their own amusement.  The first two films go together nicely and the second expands on the first.  However, with part three we’re introduced to new characters and the series seems to deviate from what’s gone before.

The only thing that links it is ‘Pinhead.’ And, if you don’t know who that is then you obviously haven’t seen any cover art for the franchise.  He’s the ‘lead cenobite’ and basically the only real reason you’re going to want to watch part three.  In fact, Pinhead, despite being the villain, is the most charismatic and interesting aspect of the whole film.  Once you take him out of it there’s really little left that’s any good.

It’s about a female reporter who discovers the existence of the cenobites and the box that calls them and decides to investigate.  However, the whole film is very dated.  Somehow the first two seem to exist in a time and place that’s pretty indeterminate.  I had difficulty telling whether the originals were set in America or the UK.  Here it’s set firmly in nineties America – and it always will be.  Everything screams nineties, with the possible exception of the acting, which in cases like ‘Doc’ could well be taken from the nineteen forties.  I hate to pick on one actor, but the lead female’s cameraman seems to act like he’s reading his lines off a prompt card out of shot.

At least he’s not in it that much.  The lead female is about as generic as you can get and just stumbles from one forced plot device into the next.  Everything about the film screams ‘low budget’ and, despite a few nice moments of gore and practical (bloody!) effects, everything falls on Pinhead’s shoulder to save.

If you’re a fan of the first two, know that the drop in quality is about the only thing dramatic about ‘Part III.’ Most of it is dire, interspersed with good scenes starring the bad guy who you might as well root for seeing as the heroes are so damn bland.  Oh, and watch out for the dumbest cops ever to be caught on camera in the final act.  They deserve everything that’s coming to them.

6/10 Should probably keep you awake if Freddy Krueger was haunting your nights