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Hellbound: Hellraiser II

  • Film
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Time Out says

A disappointing sequel to Clive Barker's innovatory 'body horror' pic, which - while making some effort to flesh out the Cenobite mythology - simply performs cosmetic surgery on the original. This time, it's a skinned Julia (Higgins) who writhes up from a blood-caked mattress, while depraved psychiatrist Dr Channard (Cranham) summons Pinhead and his pals with the help of Tiffany (Boorman), a dumb teenager with a penchant for solving puzzles. And when Kirsty (Laurence) receives a message in blood from her Hell-bound father, she plunges into a subterranean labyrinth to save him. Directed with staggering ineptitude, this never approaches the visceral intensity and flesh-crawling terror of the first film. The teenage heroines are too insipid to elicit either interest or sympathy, Julia's graduation from wicked stepmother to Evil Queen erases a crucial element of moral ambiguity, and the labyrinth looks like a cross between an MC Escher painting and a '70s 'progressive rock' album cover. Only Channard's transformation into a Cenobite, and subsequent celebration of his perverse power, match the intellectual complexity and visual ferocity of Hellraiser.
Written by NF

Release Details

  • Duration:93 mins

Cast and crew

  • Director:Tony Randel
  • Screenwriter:Peter Atkins
  • Cast:
    • Claire Higgins
    • Ashley Laurence
    • Kenneth Cranham
    • Imogen Boorman
    • Sean Chapman
    • William Hope
    • Doug Bradley
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