TBJCSKCNRRQTreviews Review of Hellraiser: Inferno

Hellraiser: Inferno (2000 Video)

Um... well... for a direct-to-video sequel, it's not that bad... right?

[5/10 · 7 December 2004]

I haven't seen too many of the Hellraiser films... I've seen the first, which I thoroughly enjoyed as a gory horror flick, and I've seen the second, which I found provided excellent comic relief, as everything was terribly overplayed and the poor script didn't help much either. So, I found this in Blockbuster, at a cheap renting fee, so I thought, what the heck, it might be entertaining. That isn't far from the truth... but why it is entertaining is possibly part of the problem with the film. I think it has a pretty good(no, scratch that; a very good) idea/basic premise... but the execution is flawed. The plot is somewhat good, and the pacing is OK. The acting is pretty standard... for a direct-to-video film. The special effects range, but are mostly fairly good. The gore is good, and some of the shocks work. But the film just suffers from so many problems... the plot is a mess. I didn't manage to keep track of how many times the main character wakes up and realizes that it was a dream... and the very ending... well, yes, it does make sense, but it just seems so... empty, somehow. The film is very low on actual scares. Like the second one, it's horribly overplayed and usually inspires laughter rather than fear. I kind of liked how the cenobites were played down in the story, like they were in the first one... these are not main characters of the franchise, not at all. They are the most well-known, sure, but not the main characters. The film is more about the main character facing his own personal demons, with the cenobites being there to clarify this... which is good. Only, much like the second, the cenobites didn't really scare me... they were seen too much, and didn't seem as powerful or terrifying as they did in the first. I liked how the film kind of was about this man finding himself in his own personal hell, but, once again, it just felt empty and wrong. There were far too many times where I found myself questioning the characters' actions and not understanding what was going on or why... not even after the film was over. In the end, you're just left with that feeling of "was that it?" and that's really quite a loss, even for a direct-to-video production. I did find this to be an OK entry to the franchise, but it's really only worth watching for those who want to see anything that has any relation to the Hellraiser series. I recommend this only to big fans of Hellraiser and fans of crime/drama/mystery/horror films, and, be warned, you might not like it at all... even if you are a very big fan of the franchise or of aforementioned genres. 5/10