Horror Extreme Movie Catalog

What is it with my favorite Horror franchises just majorly falling apart around their eighth (and usually final) entry? Michael Myers becomes a game show contestant in Resurrection, Freddy Krueger gets "real" in New Nightmare, Jason Voorhees buys a ticket-to-ride to the big apple and turns into a child in the process in Jason Takes Manhattan, and even Pinhead himself becomes a slasher-for-hire in Hellworld.

I guess when Horror characters get long in the tooth, the powers that be just try too hard to come up with something new for them to do, but alienates the fans that put them there in the process. Such with Hellworld, Hellraiser's eighth (and last, until dreaded "remake" time) installment. Director Rick Bota back around 2003 was given the opportunity to make two new Hellraiser films back-to-back to add to the franchise and give Dimension Films something to add to their bad sequel catalog. Strangely though, both scripts he ended up with were never intended to be Hellraiser films in the first place, but stand-alone projects that only were altered to feature Pinhead and company in small, cameo-like roles. His first, Part 7:Deader seemed more Hellraiser-ish to other direct-to-video chapters like Part 5:Inferno & Part 6:Hellseeker. More based on one character's slow trip through madness, ending up in Pinhead's clutches towards the end. Not the case with Hellworld, for the first time all the rules are out the window, Pinhead's going for it in ways he's never done before...or really should have either.

In it, there is a popular on-line videogame called "Hellworld" based upon the Lament Configuration (y'know..the box?) and it's guardians The Cenobites, with Pinhead being it's "Mario" of the bunch. In this movie everybody knows the Hellraiser legacy, however I'm pretty sure that unlike say New Nightmare or Blair Witch 2, they don't know of any of the actual movies based on them...whew! When one of a group of friends kills himself over too much playing of the game, the five surviving friends go their separate ways until two years later when they reunite due to a special invitation to a Hellworld themed house party. Once there they're host, always welcomed and enjoyed Lance Henriksen, takes to the group and shows them around his private collection of Hellworld rarities and oddities. And then strange things start to happen to each of them, making them question what is real and what is not, as if they were playing the game right then and there...and with Pinhead stalking them the whole way.

That's right, "stalking" them. Pinhead's never been one to play Jason or Michael but he does so here. And even though his new techniques are somewhat explained by the film's end, you sort of wince when you see this once great character lose his originality. Gone are the chains/hooks of death replaced with knives and wooden stakes, and early on you question how did Doug Bradley let himself get stuck in a script like this. At least the visuals look nice, with a decent (yet cheap) amount of gore, nudity, and flash, but all the way feeling empty and foreign to the Hellraisers we've seen before. So by the credits roll, you feel the same way as you did when you probably saw Friday The 13th V:A New Beginning..hopefully that won't spoil it for you too much.

So to a Hellraiser fan, it's a must once see film, but you won't stop watching at least four other chapters for it. Sure, you do get to see Pinhead more in this film compared to three chapters before it, but sometimes "less is more" is a phrase that isn't used often enough.
(RedSabbath Rating:6.5/10)

I thought "Bloodline" would go down as the least essential entry in the esteemed "Hellraiser" series. I was wrong; "Hellworld" isn't even up to the less than elegant standard of part 4. The problem here is not at the feet of director Rick Bota, who delivered the masterpiece "Deader" and the excellent "Hellseeker" prior to this one. It's the script, even more, it's the entire concept behind this film. It's another of the self-aware type of horror that was already proven to be useless with "Halloween: Resurrection". The story about internet Hellraiser games and revenge and hallucinogens, etc. etc. just doesn't work. The "Hellraiser" we have here is basically reduced to a teen thriller, and the only reason it's entertaining at all is because of Bota's deft hand and background in cinematography. Otherwise this would be unwatchable. Really.
This appears to be the final film of the original series. Too bad it had to go out like this.