I’m late coming to the Hellraiser fandom, and I can’t believe what I’ve been missing. Hellraiser is one of those movies I put off watching despite how interesting Pinhead looked. My reason for not watching? It’s a weak one because it goes against my own rule about judging something myself and not being swayed by someone else’s opinion, good or bad. Years ago a friend whose taste in movies was opposite mine went on and on about how scary Hellraiser was. He loved it, so I was certain I wouldn’t.
When Hellraiser recently came to Netflix, I turned it on one night and was hooked (no pun intended). I didn’t find it frightening, but fascinating. It was a story about literal demons and figurative ones that sprang from a relationship built on lies. I watched Hellbound right after and enjoyed it even more than the first movie. I was thrilled to learn that there were several more movies as well as multiple comic books and of course the original novella and its sequel. The Scarlet Gospels is now one of my favorite books and the gruesomely beautiful Pinhead has been added to my list of favorite fictional characters.
I’ve just finished watching all the movies and thought I’d rank them in order of most to least favorite. So here goes:
Bloodline – This is number one to me because it has my favorite plot in the series. I love how the movie spans so many generations and I love the idea of Cenobites in space. Other than Pinhead, Angelique (Valentina Vargas) is probably my favorite Cenobite.
Hellbound – After the first movie, this one fulfilled my desire to see the Cenobites’ world. The final scene with Kirsty (Ashley Laurence), Pinhead (Doug Bradley) and the Channard Cenobite (Kenneth Cranham) is one of my favorites in the series.
Hellraiser – A gripping story and great acting all around. Clare Higgins was intensely charismatic as Julia.
Hell on Earth – This would have been ranked even higher if there had been more Elliot. I also enjoyed Terry Farrell as Joey. Pinhead in church was a guilty pleasure.
Hellworld – This movie was gruesome fun, plain and simple. The tongue-in-cheek humor of a game about Cenobites and seeing a character wearing a Pinhead T-shirt was terrific. Lance Henriksen was an added bonus to this movie.
Inferno – I liked the plot and the way everything felt like a nightmare. I enjoyed Inferno, but it felt like the movie could still exist without the Hellraiser elements.
Hellseeker – I love the idea of Pinhead and Kirsty together again. Unfortunately neither had large enough parts in the movie.
Deader – In many ways this reminded me of Inferno and Hellseeker. It didn’t really offer anything new, but it had some interesting scenes, like the ones on the train. Kari Wuhrer was great as Amy.
Revelations – This one is my least favorite because I wasn’t as into the plot as I was with the previous movies. While I have no problem with a character being played by various actors, I prefer Doug Bradley’s version of Pinhead. He has truly been the highlight of the previous movies.
Are you a Hellraiser fan? If you are, how do you rank the movies?
Links courtesy of IMDb.