Hellbound: Hellraiser II

Hellbound: Hellraiser II (1988)

Runtime: 99 minutes

Directed by: Tony Randel

Starring: Ashley Laurence, Clare Higgins, Doug Bradley, Kenneth Cranham, Imogen Boorman

From: New World Pictures/Film Futures

A long while ago I talked about the first Hellraiser, a movie that I do enjoy. I figured it was about time I saw its first sequel, which I heard some strong things about. I realize that all NINE movies in the franchise can be watched on Netflix Instant but I know not to go down that rabbit hole as most of the sequels aren't any good. The Letterboxd review of this sequel is below:

Two nights ago I watched again the first Hellraiser, which I think is a 4 star film. Last night on Instant I saw this movie for the first time. I'll explain why I thought this was a 3 star affair.

The plot follows up on the original, and now Kirsty is in a psych ward and it's one of those places that are corruptly run and the head doctor has been interested in years in the Lament Configuration, which he has a few of. But of course. From there things get pretty weird and include such things as a long look at the world of the Cenobites, the return of stepmother Julia and a mute girl who is an expert at... solving puzzles.

The plot is rather ridiculous and doesn't always make sense and there are moments both of “Well, THAT escalated quickly” and “Well, wait a minute...”. Yet, I can still say that this was fine. I was at least entertained by the imaginative story, brought to life by nice practical effects. It was also nice to see the Cenobites and their backstory expanded upon. This is grosser, weirder, and wackier than the first movie, for sure.

What doesn't help its case is that a few times, I was reminded of A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors, and not just with the setting and how you have a young blonde lady playing a key part in the plot. When out of nowhere one of the villains starts spouting out puns at an even faster rate than Freddy Krueger... I do realize that such “inspirations” happen often in the genre so that's fine. I just think that Dream Warriors is a better film. At least like I said this is still a fine movie.