Hellraiser: Revelations Review

2 star after thought to a horror franchise.

Hellraiser: Revelations is the eighth sequel to the magnificent Hellraiser 1987. It is very loosely based on the characters created by horror legend Clive Barker (Nightbreed) and is directed by Victor Garcia (The Damned, An Affair to Die for).

Made in just three weeks to fulfill contractual obligations, this installment definitely marks the end of an era.

“You opened it. Summoned us and we came for you, Nico. We are the light in the darkness, and paths to higher sensation. Guardians of ultimate experience and now you will come with us.”

Nico (Jay Gillespie – 2001 Maniacs, Android Cop) and his best friend Steven (Nick Eversman – Wild, Once Upon a Time) are fed up of their mundane existence and leave their lives and families behind in search of excitement. Their ever more desperate search eventually takes them to Mexico, what better place? Steven documents their entire trip on his hand held camera.

After an unfortunate encounter with a hooker, the two are approached in a bar by a strange, filthy vagrant (Dan Buran – True Blood, General Hospital) who offers them a very familiar looking puzzle box, saying it leads to the ultimate pleasure. They offer to pay but he tells Nico it always belonged to him and leaves them to it.

Back at their hotel, Nico manages to open the box and a familiar scene unfolds, the room turns blue and in come the Cenobites, leather clad scaries with torture on their minds, lead by Pinhead (Stephan Smith Collins – Criminal Minds), an eternity of suffering and pleasure awaits our hapless friends.

“They’re coming. The ones that creepy pastor, that vagrant, called the Cenobites.”

A year later we see Steven’s mother Sarah (Devon Sorvari) in his room, watching the video footage of their final moments after his personal effects were returned to them from Mexico. Waiting downstairs are her daughter Emma (Tracey Fairaway – Patchwork) and husband Ross (Steven Brand – The Scorpion King), who are waiting to greet Nico’s parents.

It is now their ritual to meet up for dinner parties, but never to discuss their kids. Peter (Sebastien Roberts – One Way) and Kate (Sanny van Heteren – Unknown) arrive but the proceedings are soon thrown into chaos by the arrival of an exhausted and confused Steven who appears to have escaped, but the Cenobites will almost certainly be coming for him.

Hellraiser: Revelations has one main problem, Pinhead is, for the first time not played by Doug Bradley. For fans of the franchise this is unthinkable, Doug Bradley IS Pinhead simple as that. One questions why they went ahead and made it without him, the new version has none of the graceful and elegant black humour of the original character.

The story isn’t too bad and there’s a good twist, however the acting is very hammed up and not very believable. This film was a real rush job and it shows, it feels thrown together.

For horror fans, there is plenty of gore and pretty good special effects and makeup but if you’re familiar with the other films this may be one to avoid.

“Let me ask you something. How can we experience ultimate pleasure without experiencing ultimate pain? How can we taste the truly sweet without a little bit of the sour?”