Hellbound: Hellraiser 2
1988, UK/USA, Directed by Tony Randel
Colour, Running Time: 99 minutes
DVD, Region 1, Anchor Bay, Video: Anamorphic 1.85:1, Audio: Dolby Digital 5.1
Larry’s daughter, Kirsty, is now locked in a mental institution due to her stories of doors opening to Hell and the soul-claiming Cenobites that emerge from them, these stories automatically condemned as being the product of a disturbed mind. The hypocritical complication is that the head doctor, Channard, has concealed a long-term obsession with the occult, collecting paraphernalia of various kinds including an array of puzzle boxes - the type that was used to open the aforementioned doorways. Based on Kirsty’s ‘insane’ babbling he retrieves the mattress on which Julia died, bringing in one of the institution’s tenants - a man burdened with the perpetual belief that his flesh is crawling with maggots, Channard knowing that once offered the means the patient will bleed himself on the mattress. This he does and Julia is returned to life, once again requiring an array of victims to fully complete her resurrection and leading to Channard‘s desire to personally witness the sights of the Cenobites’ realm. Meanwhile Kirsty also wants to hazard a journey to Hell, the intention being to bring back her father.
With a story that leads directly on from the original film the director’s chair for Hellraiser 2 was passed over to Randel, an inexperienced assisting editor on Hellraiser. He performed reasonably well and early on the sequel retains some of the gruesome ethics of Barker’s film, detouring a little to delineate details of Pinhead’s history, but there are several problems that arise. One: the location, despite apparently being the same (Larry’s house is present), inexplicably switches from England to America, something I never noticed until viewing the two films back-to-back. Two: there is inconsistency in the mythology - Julia looks like her human self on return to completeness whereas Frank took on the appearance of his final ‘donor’ (due to using that flesh) in Hellraiser. Three: there’s the time discrepancy - Channard’s assistant returns to the hospital to tell Kirsty he believes her but, before their trip back to the house, Channard somehow manages to acquire a large amount of bodies for Julia to consume as if a week or two has passed. Four: (not that I like picking flies you realise) the overly ambitious nature of the project hinders, notably with a depiction of Hell that isn’t supported by available visual FX resources. And finally, worst of all, is the introduction of one-liners after Channard’s Cenobite transformation (e.g. “the doctor is in,” and, “your case is closed… I’m afraid it’s terminal,” etc.). That latter issue became an abhorrent feature of many 80s genre films onwards (continuing into Hellraiser 3) and almost always results in dialogue that is at best unfunny and a waste of space, at worst irritating and distracting. Essentially the better elements of H2 are swamped by the pitfalls.
Anchor Bay’s R1 DVD somehow managed to acquire THX approval, but you wouldn’t have guessed viewing this often grainy print. It looks sharp during lighter scenes but the visually darker material suffers noticeably. The welcome 5.1 audio is much beefier than its original surround track and the disc comes with some informative extras. It also includes the cropped 4:3 version should one’s tastes extend to such aesthetic atrocities. Once heavily censored in the UK the uncut H2 has since been released over here, also by Anchor Bay.